VEEDERSBURG — Macee Williams was an Indiana All-Star, and is now one of the top women’s basketball players in the NCAA. Replacing the void she left behind at Fountain Central was never going to be easy, but piece by piece the Mustangs girls’ basketball program is once again starting to click.
Fountain Central is off to its best start since 2016-17 by posting an 8-5 record, including three-straight wins this week. Overall they’ve won six of their last seven games.
On Tuesday the Mustangs surpassed last seasons’ win total with their first win over Western Boone since 2002, beating the Stars 49-37. They followed it with a 42-33 win over Clinton Central on Wednesday and completed a back-to-back-to-back with a 39-23 victory over Indiana Deaf on Thursday.
Senior Dakota Borman poured in a season-best 31 points in Wednesday’s win, but first-year coach Jason Good has noticed a recent bump in the Mustangs’ guard play from Borman and teammates Marley Massey and Jerzi Hershberger.
“All three of them are coming along,” Good said “I think the difference in Jerzi’s confidence wise with the ball from last year and this year is amazing, and Marley and Dakota they are starting to come along to. And the thing I love about it to is they really listen. We talk about things that we didn’t do well one day, they’re often able to go do it without really practicing it.”
Fountain Central is averaging 41.5 points per game, up from a 37 average last season when they won just five games against 18 losses. Good, who previously won three sectional titles guiding the Fountain Central boys before taking over athletic director duties, took over the girls’ program this past offseason.
“The way they have just listened and learned to play with some composure,” Good said. “It’s been fun to watch. And getting a couple wins early made a difference. They’ve done everything I’ve asked and I’m pretty happy with their progress.”
Borman is the only Mustang averaging in double-figures with 16.9 points per game, while Hershberger is scoring at a 7.8 point per game clip. Fountain Central has also enjoyed the post play of Gracie Foxworthy, who is averaging 4.5 points per game and Larissa Bowers, who is averaging 7.6 points per game. Kacey Kirkpatrick has also emerged as a defensive threat off the bench, while Massey, the Mustangs’ point guard is averaging 2.6 assists per game.
Good feels like the Mustangs are buying into what they are trying to build as a program.
“I think something that’s hard to quantify, but they tend to blame others less,” he said. “It still comes out sometimes, but early on when things would go run there was a lot of ‘you didn’t do this, you didn’t do that,’ and we talk every day about when something goes wrong the first place you look is yourself, and you’ve got to be able to accept you made a mistake and almost every time something goes wrong there’s something everyone could have done better.
“I just think being being able to handle criticism very well. I think they play better together and have become better teammates. They’re all on the same page and understand what we are trying to do and are trying to help each other out.”
Fountain Central is back at home on Saturday, hosting South Newton.
