NEW MARKET — Southmont took advantage of a shorthanded Covington team on Tuesday night, dropping the Trojans 65-18.
Covington, who dropped to 4-17 on the season, was without its top-6 players — but first-year Mountie coach Dan Burkman still found plenty for his team to work on during their home finale.
“Seeing different combinations and seeing kids maybe a slightly different role with a different group,” he said. “I tried to focus on what we’ve been working on, which I saw progress on. We were actually making outlet passes up the court, instead of down to the corner.”
The Mounties (12-3) pushed the ball of the floor early and often, taking a 21-1 lead after a quarter and a 38-8 halftime advantage. When the transition shots weren’t falling, they cleaned up with second-chance baskets. Southmont had 12 putback points in the first half on 17 offensive rebounds. Sidney Veatch scored all 19 of her game-high points in the first half, while fellow post-player Belle Miller reached double-figures with 10.
In the second half the Mounties worked on their half-court offense and playing with a multitude of player combinations.
“Second half we wanted to continue working on our outletting, and then transitioning to pulling it up and running our half-court offense, which is something we needed to work on as well,” Burkman said. “We found things to work on during all of it.”
The Mounties knocked down five 3-pointers in the second half, as Addison Charles dropped in eight second half points. Natalie Manion, who joined fellow seniors Charles, Veatch, Marissa Craig, and Abbey Gass on their home floor for a final team, reached double-figures with 12 points.
Southmont was 29-of-66 from the field, and held Covington to a 8-of-31 effort. The Mounties outrebounded the Trojans 44-21, and forced 35 Covington turnovers.
Emma Holycross led the Trojans with seven points.
Southmont closes out the regular season on Thursday at Lebanon, who is 12-7 and on a four-game winning streak.
“It’s going to be a challenge for us, but if we can handle their man press and take care of the basketball,” Burkman said. “I think we have a very good chance to be there at the end and sneak one out.”
