VEEDERSBURG — Thursday Fountain Central girls basketball went up against one of the toughest teams on their schedule as they hosted the 15-5 Parke Heritage Wolves. For three quarters the Mustangs didn’t back down from the challenge trailing just 10-8 after one quarter and continued to keep things close at the half as the Wolves held a 17-11 advantage. Parke Heritage would eventually pull away in the fourth to bring home a 46-26 win over the Mustangs.
The Wolves coming into Thursday’s contest averaged nearly 60 points per game and the Mustangs held them well below that. Mustang coach Jason Good was very pleased with how his team performed overall against a very tough opponent.
“I was really proud of how we played overall tonight,” Good said. “I think we just got a little winded and started to miss some shots we normally make. We handled their pressure well and that’s something we haven’t been doing as of late.”
Hannah Prickett led the Mustangs with 10 points in the loss and grabbed 10 rebounds as well. Kacey Kirkpatrick added in six while Jerzi Hershberger scored four and Rylee Simko, Brailey Hoagland, and Larissa Bowers all scored two each.
Grace Ramsay led all scorers with 15 for the Wolves and hauled in 10 rebounds. Emma Simpson scored 12 and Hannah O’Brien added in nine. Ramsay is now just 12 points shy of 1,000 for her career.
“I want to give Fountain Central a ton of credit for how they came out and played tonight,” Parke Heritage coach Mark Harper said. “They are a scrappy team and do some things well offensively. We weren’t as effective as we would’ve liked to be tonight but were still able to come out on top.”
The Mustangs defense has slowly started to improve each week as the season goes along and that was surely the case against the Wolves. Good pointed out the things he liked as the Mustangs made things difficult for the Wolves for three quarters.
“We’ve started to rebound the ball better than we have been,” he said. “That has hurt us this year at points. Some of our freshman girls really got in there and fought. They’re really coming a long way in terms of learning how to play.”
The Mustangs fall to 6-13 (1-4 WRC) with the loss while the Wolves improve to 16-5 (5-1).
As the season approaches its final week next week Good hopes this game gives his team some confidence as they get ready for the post-season.
“They’re starting to understand what we need to do to be successful,” he said. “You see the improvements, but we still have those moments sometimes. Our three seniors have really started to mold into great leaders by talking with the younger girls by keeping them focuses. We’re getting there for sure.”
The Mustangs will close out the regular season next week with two home games. The first coming on Tuesday against South Vermillion, then they will celebrate senior night next Thursday against Riverton Parke.
