NEW MARKET — “Get on my back”. That’s what DeLorean Mason told her teammates Tuesday evening as the Southmont Mounties hosted the Covington Trojans. The visiting Trojans and Mounties went back and forth the entire game, but Mason wasn’t going to let her team fall. The junior guard poured in a career high 25 points including 11 in the third quarter as South held off a feisty Covington team for a 43-42 win.
With the game in hanging in the balance in the final minute, Mason stepped up to th line and hit both free-throws to put her team up 41-36 with 28.8 left. A Peyton Brown three made the game 41-39, but Cheyenne Shaw calmly went to the line and drilled two more shots to put the Mounties up 43-39. A late Sydni Crane three with just .6 left in the game allowed the Mounties to in-bound the ball for the win.
Afterwards Southmont coach Dan Burkman credited his team for a gutty performance.
“We were a little short-handed tonight not having Olivia (Gray) (concussion) so we had to play some other girls,” he said. “All in all I’m happy we came out with the win.”
Burkman sent extra praise towards Mason as in the last few weeks he’s seen her develop her game and have a killer instinct as she leads the Mounties.
“She just said I’m not losing tonight,” Burkman said of his standout junior. “I think these last few weeks she’s really matured especially in the Crawfordsville game. She was looking for her teammates that night and then tonight she just had everyone on her back and she obviously carried us. I’m really happy for her especially since she battled foul trouble in the first half. I got on her a little bit and she’s the type of player who can take it.”
Alongside Mason’s 25, Cheyenne Shaw added seven, and Chloe Jenkins five. The trio of Saylor Woods, Chelsea Veatch and Kenzie Douglas all added two. The Mounties shot 13-50 (26%) from the field in the win and went 14-21 (67%) from the foul line.
The free-throw shooting especially down the stretch in the fourth quarter when they needed it most stood out for Burkman as for a majority of the season, South has struggled from the charity stripe.
“It’s good to see that we hit them when we needed to,” he said. “I like that the work is starting to pay off for us with how many we shoot in practice. Although if we shoot that well in the first half we wouldn’t have been in that situation.”
Covington was led in scoring by Crane’s 17 points. Kali Pettit also chipped in 10. The Trojans shot 16-37 (43%) from the field, 5-15 (33%) from three, and just 5-12 (42%) from the foul line. They grabbed 39 total rebounds and turned the ball over 27 times.
Also on the night for the Mounties it was senior night as they honored their two seniors in Woods and Veatch before the game. Burkman noted how he was happy to send his seniors out with a win in their final home game while also mentioning what they’ve meant to the program in his first three seasons at the helm.
“Both of them mean a lot to me as kids and people first and foremost,” he said. “The leadership that they both provide is going to be difficult to replace. I’ve really enjoyed having them around the last three years and I can’t say enough about them.”
With the win Southmont improves to 11-9 on the season The Mounties were supposed to have another game on Wednesday against Sheridan, but due to the incoming weather that game has been canceled. South will conclude the regular season on Friday when they travel to take on SAC rival Lebanon in a girl/boy double-header beginning at 6 p.m.
