NEW MARKET — Lebanon boys basketball junior Kaden Lark’s sensational season continued on Friday night when the Tigers visited Southmont. Coming into the game Lark’s 21.1 points per game led the Sagamore Conference and that average went up a little more after a 26 point outing against the Mounties lifted Lebanon (9-7, 4-3 SAC) to a 58-44 win over Southmont (6-5, 2-3 SAC).
From the get go the Tigers got whatever they wanted on offense scoring the games first 13 points and leading 21-6 after a quarter. A 16-9 second period gave the Tiger a commanding 37-15 lead going into halftime as it was smooth sailing in the second half. South’s reserves came into the game and were able to end the game on an 11-0 run to pretty up the score.
“We got off to a great start and played really good defense on them in the first quarter,” Tigers coach Albert Hendrix said. “We built ourselves a nice lead and were able to get some easy baskets in transition. I was very pleased with our entire team in how the played. We shared the basketball when we needed to and held South to run their stuff in the half court and now let them get out and run which is where they can be dangerous.”
Along with Lark’s 26, both Jack Ferrell and Wesley Byrd scored 11 for the Tigers and Bryce Jones added eight. Lebanon was a staggering 19-22 (86%) from two in the win. Overall from the floor the Tigers went 24-46 (52%) while shooting 5-24 (20;8%) from three. They went 5-8 (62.5%) from the foul line while snagging 26 rebounds and only turning the ball over seven times.
Southmont kept digging their own hole further and further as not only couldn’t they stop the Tigers on defense, offensively they couldn’t find any rhythm. First-year Mountie coach Michael Byrum credited Lark for his play while also adding that his squad just has to be tougher both mentally and physically.
“Lark is a tremendous player and we simply don’t have anyone that athletic who can do so many different things,” Byrum said. “I thought from the very beginning we weren’t very aggressive at all and that’s the mentality we have to have with no matter who we play. We have to be the ones on the attack and dictating the game. If you’re going to play as passive as we did, you’re opponent is going to make you pay.”
The Mounties shot just 16-40 (40%) from the field in the loss and 3-11 (27.3%) from three. They did go 9-13 (69%) from the foul line while grabbing 20 rebounds and turning it over 12 times. Junior Aaron McMasters led South with 10 points with eight other Mounties finding the scoring column. Evan Watson scored seven, Dawson Mason and Vince Reimondo six, Austin Foley and Lucas Oppy four, Jacob Fox three, and Hayden Hess and Cale Chadd each scored two.
Lebanon is now done with the conference portion of its schedule and ends with a 4-3 record. After losing some key pieces from last year’s SAC championship team, the Tigers still were able to finish with a winning record.
“We got off to a frustrating and slow start, but we’ve figures things out and this team’s culture is way better than it was early in the season. There’s a lot of good coaches and teams in this conference and you can’t have a single off night against anyone.”
Both the Mounties and Tigers will be in action on Saturday night. The Tigers will travel to Plainfield with Southmont making the trip to Covington.
Lebanon 58, Southmont 44
Score By Quarter
LEB 21 16 11 10 — 58
SM 6 9 12 17 — 44
Lebanon (9-7, 4-3 SAC) FG-FGA FT-FTA PTS: Kaden Lark 12-14 2-2 26, Bryce Nelson 0-2 0-0 0, Bryce Jones 3-7 0-2 8, Colton Pollard 1-3 0-0 2, Wesley Byrd 4-8 3-4 11, Ben White 0-1 0-0 0, Jack Ferrell 4-8 0-0 11, Collin Fouts 0-2 0-0 0, Curtis Hicks 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 24-46 5-8 58
Southmont (6-5 2-3 SAC): Evan Watson 3-5 0-0 7, Vince Reimondo 2-7 2-3 6, Austin Foley 1-1 2-4 4, Jacob Fox 1-1 0-0 3, Kyler McCandless 0-2 0-0 0, Lucas Oppy 2-3 0-1 4, Hayden Hess 1-10 0-0 2, Cale Chadd 1-1 0-0 2, Aaron McMasters 3-7 4-4 10, Dawson Mason 2-3 1-1 6; Totals 16-40 9-13 44
3-point Shooting: Lebanon 5-24 (Ferrell 3-6, Jones 2-5, Fouts 0-2, Byrd 0-4, Pollard 0-2, White 0-1, Nelson 0-2, Lark 0-1); Southmont 3-11 (Watson 1-2, Mason 1-2, Fox 1-1, Hess 0-3, Reimondo 0-3)
Rebounds: Lebanon 26 (Ferrell 8, Lark 5, Byrd 3); Southmont 20 (Hess 6, Oppy 6)
Turnovers: Lebanon 7; Southmont 12
