NEW MARKET — After a tough conference loss to Danville on Tuesday, Southmont girls basketball needed to get back in the win column as the Lady Mounties welcomed Attica. After a dominating 14-5 first quarter by Southmont, their offense stalled in the second only scoring three points, however the Mounties still led 17-10. The second half was a completely different story as everything clicked as the Mounties pulled away for a dominating 55-19 win.
“Despite only scoring three points in that second quarter, I felt good with how we were playing and the effort we were giving,” Southmont coach Dan Burkman said. “The ball was simply just not going in for us. I reassured them in the locker room that wasn’t going to happen.”
Burkman was 100 percent right as Southmont outscored Attica 38-9 in the second half. At one point the Mounties used a 25-0 run which spanned the third and fourth quarters to officially put the nail in the coffin.
“We picked up our defense and that was able to get us going,” Burkman added. “That allowed us to settle down and move the ball on offense and of course we started to make some shots which always helps.”
The defense that Burkman talked about forced 35 Red Rambler turnovers in the win. Senior Dori Frederick dropped a career high 20 points which included six made threes for the Mounties. DeLorean Mason added in 10 in the win.
“When Dori sets her feet and has a little time, she’s automatic,” Burkman said of his seniors career night. “In the first half she was hurrying her shot a little bit and not getting set, but she settled into the flow of the offense in the second half and got good looks and was able to knock them down.”
Nine different Mounties scored in the win as Burkman was able to utilize all of his bench players as his team built an insurmountable lead. That depth proved to be handy and for the Mounties and also bodes well for later in the season come sectional time.
“I feel pretty good about our bench and the players we have there,” Burkman said. “I don’t hesitate to put any of them in the game right now. They have a lot of potential that depth is really going to help us come the post-season.”
To go along with Frederick’s 20 and Mason’s 10, Belle Miller scored six, Chelsea Veatch five, Jade Gann and Olivia Gray both added four. Saylor Woods, Cheyenne Shaw, and Chloe Jenkins all scored two in the Mountie win as Southmont improves to 6-7 (0-3 SAC) on the season.
McKenna Massey scored seven points to lead the Red Ramblers in the loss. CeCe Rice added five, Madalynn Beck scored three, Kaycee Askren two, and Kendyl Clevinger and Aleah Cruz each knocked down a single free-throw to score one. Attica despite their strong first half effort, is still in search of its first win on the season as they fall to 0-13.
Southmont will have little time to rest as they travel to Seeger tomorrow night for the girl/boy double-header with the Patriots. They’ll play in the first game beginning at 6 p.m. Burkman hopes to see momentum for his team carry over into tomorrow night against a difficult opponent.
“For us just mentally heading into tomorrow, I think tonight was good for us,” he said. “We feel good about ourselves and we need to take that into Seeger tomorrow night. We’ll have to bring the same energy and intensity as we did tonight as well as the same mental attitude in order to win.”
