VEEDERSBURG — Both Fountain Central and Crawfordsville girls’ basketball teams came into Tuesday nights matchup looking to build off each of their wins in their last games. The Athenians, despite being down the entire game, never gave in and had multiple chances to take the lead, but weren’t able to capitalize as the Mustangs held on for a 35-32 win.
Fountain Central (2-2) got off to a hot start leading 14-4 after the first quarter. The Athenians (2-7) were able to keep coming back in the game because of their 3-Point shooting led by Olivia Reed who connected on four shots from behind the arc.
“We had some panic moments down the stretch but we’re still learning how to finish a game,” Fountain Central coach Jason Good said. “Rebounding has been a struggle for us but we were able to come up with some loose balls. We did the things that I wanted us to do tonight.”
The Athenians slow start proved to be just too much to overcome. They recorded just one made field goal in the opening quarter.
“We felt like we outplayed them for three quarters, but that slow start was just tough to overcome,” Smith said. “We emphasized having a good start to this game but it just didn’t happen. This one will sting a little bit when we look back at it. We practiced late game situations at practice just a few days ago, so to not execute and not know what we were doing in those situations stings.”
Senior Dakota Borman led all scorers in the game with 15 points. She scored eight straight points for the Mustangs between the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth. Jerzi Hershberger added seven.
“She (Borman) was so important for us on the defensive end getting some steals and loose balls,” Good said of the senior. “Her effort on that side of the ball I thought was the difference in the game. Some of our other girls are starting to pick up on what she does.”
“She’s a great player and we talked about how we can’t lose her especially in transition,” Smith said.
Reed led the Athenians with 13 points in the loss and Taylor Abston added eight.
The win for Fountain Central marks their second straight win and Good can see the confidence starting to improve for his team with each game.
“It’s nice for the girls to start winning,” he said. “In our last two games when we thought the other team was getting back in it, we’ve been able to hold on to the lead.”
The Athenians will be off until Monday when the travel to take on county rival North Montgomery.
The Mustangs will be back at home on Thursday hosting North Vermillion.
