LEBANON — Playing full 32 minute game is what’s been the killer for North Montgomery girls basketball the last three weeks. Friday the Chargers beared the freezing temperatures to travel to Lebanon for a Sagamore Conference battle with the Tigers. For the good part of three quarters, North hung tough with Lebanon and with 2:27 left in the third only trailed 22-21. After that it was all Tigers as the home team on senior night scored 11 straight points and down the stretch out-scored the Chargers 18-6 to come away with a 40-28 win.
The primary damage was done by Tiger junior Claire Boling who scored 15 in the game and seven of the 11 straight for the Tigers.
“I was still very proud for the way our girls battled and hung in there for the entire game,” Charger coach Ryan Nuppnau said of his team. “They showed a lot of fight tonight and didn’t back down. They switched up their zone press and went to a man press in the third quarter. Lebanon is a little quicker and stronger than us so that switch went in their favor. We buried ourselves a hole that we couldn’t overcome.”
The physical style of play by the Tigers Nuppnau also noted got in his teams head a little bit when the Chargers didn’t get some of the calls to go their way.
Macee Norman led North Montgomery (8-14, 2-4 SAC) with 11 points in the loss while Piper Ramey added 10. Lilly Graham chipped in three with both Caelyn Carpenter and Sarah Hopper scoring two. For the game the Chargers shot 11-35 (31%) from the floor and just 1-8 (12.5%) from three. They also struggled at the free-throw line going just 5-12 (42%) while grabbing 27 rebounds and turning the ball over 15 times.
“One of our coaches noted how if we played as we did tonight against all of our opponents then our season would be a lot different,” Nuppnau added. “We’re starting to realize what we’re capable of doing and that’s a great sign going into the end of the year and into next season.”
Lebanon (9-13, 4-2 SAC) went 13-35 (37%) from the field in the win. The Tigers shot 3-9 (33.3%) from deep and 11-17 (65%) from the foul line while grabbing 26 rebounds and turning it over just 11 times and just three times in the second half.
The Chargers will conclude the regular season on Friday at home against the Western Boone Stars. They’ll also find out the post-season path on Sunday when the sectional pairings are announced.
Lebanon 40, North Montgomery 28
Score By Quarter
NM 6 7 8 7 — 28
LEB 6 9 16 9 — 40
North Montgomery (8-14, 2-4 SAC): FG-FGA FT-FTA PTS: Ella McManomy 0-2 0-0 0, Mady Holt 0-0 0-0 0, Piper Ramey 5-11 0-0 10, Macee Norman 3-11 5-8 11, Sophie Crum 0-0 0-0 0, Lilly Graham 1-4 0-0 3, Caelyn Carpenter 1-4 0-2 2, Sarah Hopper 1-1 0-0 2, Krestyn Bradford 0-2 0-2 0; Totals 11-35 5-12 28
Lebanon (9-13, 4-2 SAC): Claire Boling 7-8 0-0 15, Ava Lehmkuhler 1-2 1-2 3, Leila Richards 1-3 0-0 3, Sophie Kyker 0-1 2-2 2, Marina Barr 0-5 4-6 4, Riley Vanaman 0-4 0-0 0, Ciarra Hiatt 2-4 1-2 6, Jade Mount 1-2 0-0 2, Emily Sperry 1-6 3-5 5; Totals 13-35 11-17 40
3-Point Shooting: North Montgomery 1-8 (Graham 1-4, Ramey 0-2, Norman 0-1, Carpenter 0-1); Lebanon 3-9 (Hiatt 1-1, Boling 1-1, Richards 1-2, Barr 0-3, Kyker 0-1, Lehmkuhler 0-1)
Rebounds: North Montgomery 27 (Ramey 6, Norman 5, McManomy 4); Lebanon 26 (Sperry 5, Boling 3, Lehmkuhler 3, Mount 3)
Turnovers: North Montgomery 15; Lebanon 11
