VEEDERSBURG — “Winning a sectional championship is hard”. That was what Fountain Central boys basketball coach Greg Dean said after his Mustangs narrowly defeated Rossville 44-40 for the program’s first sectional title since 2015 on Saturday. The Class A Sectional 54 champions got to cut down the nets on their home floor in front of a sea of the Mustang faithful.
This championship was one a little differently than most as that win was FC’s second victory of the day after a power outage Friday night pushed the semi-final games to Saturday morning. FC took care of North Vermillion at 10 a.m. then had to wait around until the 8 p.m. start.
From the opening tip, Rossville wasn’t going to let the Mustangs cruise to an easy win. The visiting Hornets led 9-6 after a quarter and their quick guard play and ability to quickly move the ball around gave FC some fits early on. A Luke Foxworthy three at the horn gave Fountain Central a 19-15 lead going into halftime. However the third was mostly controlled by the Hornets and they took a 29-28 lead into the final period. A quick 6-0 burst to begin the final quarter by FC allowed them to take a 34-29 lead as Rossville didn’t get their first points until the 4:52 mark. Even leading by eight at 40-32, the Hornets hit a couple of late threes, but the Mustangs made their free-throws down the stretch when they needed to and Fountain Central was able to capture a sectional title as it’s magical season continues.
“Those guys right there (pointing to his team) just kept battling all night,” Dean said. “We got down at times but they stayed the course. We’ve had games like these before and they know if there’s still time on the clock, we have a chance. Coach Dunn (Rossville’s coach) has done a tremendous job of creating a great program over there and they know how to win. We knew that this one was going to be a battle and it was a great Indiana high school basketball game.”
Foxworthy who is a senior for the Mustangs has been one of their leaders all season long. He ended the game with 10 points and was tasked with guarding Rossville’s Hunter Bray and held him to just 11 points. He noted how this is just another check mark and goal for what the Mustangs have been looking to accomplish all season long.
“Before the game tonight I knew it was either going to be a really great night or a bad night,” Foxworthy said with a big smile. “When I saw the clock hit zeros, that’s when it hit me and I couldn’t be any happier for us a team. The community believed in us every step of the way this season even more than we believed in ourselves at some points. They give us the faith and desire to come out here and play for them.”
In the championship win Isaac Gayler led the Mustangs with 14 points. He averaged 18.7 in the three games in the sectional. Will Harmon added 12 to go along with Foxworthy’s 10.
In his first two seasons at the helm of the Mustangs, Dean has led the Mustangs to an overall record of 36-17. This season they accomplished the goals of winning a bi-county title, winning the WRC title out-right for the first time since 1991, and now can add a sectional title to that list.
“Coach Dean has came in here and created a family,” Foxworthy added about Dean. “I feel like I can go to him about anything and that I should have him over for Sunday dinner. He keeps us disciplined, keeps us hard working, and he makes us want to play for him because he puts in a ton of time for us, so we feel like we owe it to him to return that on the court.”
Fountain Central with the win improves to 22-4 on the season. The Mustangs are one win away from tying the school record for most wins in a season with 23. With the sectional championship they advance to Saturday’s Regional Championship at Frankfort where they will take on Liberty Christian (15-9) who won Sectional 55. The game at Frankfort on Saturday will tip off at 4 pm with the winner punching their ticket to the semi-state round.
