NEW MARKET — Southmont boys basketball had never started a season 5-0. Southmont boys basketball hadn’t beaten Danville in 25 years dating back to 1996. The Mounties can now put both of those things in the review mirror as Friday they welcomed the Warriors and came away with a thrilling 64-59 win.
With 3:55 left in the game Southmont had a comfortable 15 point lead at 56-41. The Warriors would proceed to go on a 15-1 run to cut the deficit to just a single point with 55.7 seconds remaining in the ball game. After Kion Cornelius hit one of two foul shots to give the Mounties a 58-56 lead, Logan Oppy would then go a perfect six of six from the charity stripe to close out the game as the Mounties held off the late Warrior rally.
“I told our guys to do everything you need to do to get us to this game and I’ll tell you how to win it,” Southmont coach Jake Turner said referencing an old Bobby Knight quote. “The coaching staff did a great job getting them prepared and we did everything right for about 29 minutes. The last three were a little dicey but we stepped up and were able to hold off a great Danville team.”
Oppy led the way for the Mounties in their historic win leading all scorers with 28 points including six made threes. Avery Saunders added in 15 points while Carson Chadd recorded a double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds. E.J. Brewer scored eight and Cornelius made a free-throw to round out the scoring for the Mounties.
“Logan is a terrific shooter,” Turner said of Oppy. “He hadn’t been super hot thus far this year, but I know how great he is and he hit some big ones for us early and it was just another example of one of seniors stepping up when we need them to.”
Danville (2-1, 0-1 SAC) was led in scoring by Brady Ruggles who ended the game with 20 points. Brayton McMahon added 17, and Jace Scrafton rounded out the double-figure scoring with 11.
Oppy talked about his outstanding performance and helping his team in the biggest win of their season so far and getting to experience it with his fellow classmates and fans.
“I love how everyone showed out for the game tonight,” he said. “We played our best that we have all year. My teammates were able to just find me after the defense collapsed. That was our game plan coming in and we stuck to it and it worked. This team is like a group of brothers and to be 5-0 for the first time in school history is pretty amazing.”
The bar has been set pretty high for the Mounties by Turner and the coaching staff this season. So far with a 5-0 record and 2-0 in the Sagamore Conference, Southmont couldn’t have asked for a better start.
“We set high goals for ourselves,” Turner said. “We can just control each day that’s in front of us. Nick Saban talks a lot about the process and it just comes to doing everything right, preparing the right way, and simply working hard every single day. Sometimes it’s hard to get high school kids to understand that. This by no means is the end for us. We still have room to grow and have another game to prepare for tomorrow.”
Southmont travels to Greencastle who moved to 1-3 on the season, picking up their first win over South Putnam 42-26.
“We want them to enjoy this with their friends and families tonight, but when they come in tomorrow, all the focus shifts to Greencastle.”
