ATTICA – Basketball is a finesse game.
Sometimes it is the finesse of a dancer, moving, cutting, finding an open spot for a shot.
Sometimes it is the finesse of a football game, blocking tackling, knocking down a foe or two.
Fountain Central’s Class A, Sectional 54 semifinal was nothing but the football variety, as their season came to an end with a 39-27 loss to Clinton Central.
The Bulldogs were the aggressor, and the game was called as a physical one, which most postseason games are.
The Mustangs could not match up in all five spots at once to that physical brand of basketball, especially on their offensive end, and the end result was a lack of scoring.
Shots that weren’t challenged wouldn’t fall, and most were challenged as the Bulldogs had seven blocks.
In the end, Clinton Central showed just why they are the No. 2 ranked team in Class A, and they run their record to 23-1, giving notice that they will be a tough out in this year’s tournament.
“We want to drive it, drive it, drive it,” noted Mustangs coach Sam Karr. “They (Clinton Central) moved us sideways in our offense and we couldn’t run our primary offense. They blocked all those shots and leaned on us, so it was hard to get anything going on the offensive end. We played so well defensively; our defense is so good – now we gotta get better on the offensive end.”
That defense led to 14 Bulldogs turnovers, and the Mustangs worked those into 18 points. It was the best offense of the night, getting to the other end after a steal. Two three-pointers, both after steals, had FC up 15-11 midway through the second quarter.
It was then, however, that fortunes changed, as Mustangs point guard Henley Good picked up her third foul, and the freshman, who leads her team in scoring and assists, was idle on the bench.
“We don’t want to play without Henly ever,” Karr said. “She handles the ball, drives the ball, defends, all the rest,” the coach noted. “Tonight was a learning experience for this freshman.”
During her absence, CC went on a 9-2 run, including the last six of quarter, and led 19-17 at intermission.
The Mustangs kept it close in the third, but the lack of scoring never set up a scoring run, and they trailed 29-23 after three.
An 8-1 run to start the fourth quarter sealed things, as the Bulldogs move to the championship game Saturday.
There was not a double-digit scorer in the game.
The Bulldogs were led by Erika Robbins and Landree Whiteman with nine each. Sara Parkison had a dozen rebounds. CC was 14-of-35 from the field, 4-of-9 from long range and went 7-of-7 from the line, all in the first half.
“We held their two leading scorers without a point in the first half, that’s how good our defense is,” Karr said, referring to Parkison and Carly Davison. Both were held 12 points under their season averages.
The Mustangs were led in scoring by Good and Kacey Kirkpatrick with six each. Both were saddled with foul problems. Good’s six rebounds led FC. They were 11-of-36 from the floor, 3-of-7 from deep and only 2-of-8 from the line. The rebound tally finished at 26 per team. The Mustangs had 14 turnovers, one under their season average.
The loss spells the end of the basketball road for Kirkpatrick, along with fellow senior Katie Brown.
“Brown is our locker room leader,” Karr said, “and of course we will miss Kacey’s floor leadership. They are both going to be very missed and they leave large roles to fill. There are younger players who we are going to depend on, and we need them to be ready to lead.”
One of those leaders will be Good, who after the game was shooting free throws in the auxiliary gym with her game uniform on while this interview was taking place.
“We have a lot of the pieces of the puzzle still here,” Karr said of the future. “We have to figure out who wants those spots, and how hard everyone is willing to work for it. I really challenged the girls in the locker room. We have won the most regular season games in just about any two-year stretch, but we can do more, and this team can be special, but they have to work for it. It starts with open gym every day. If you want to be special, you have to get in there. I have to become better at developing players. We started with the basics, and now we have to move past that. Our defense is so solid, and everyone is in on that, but now we have to be able to score more points. We hope the girls will come in and shoot, but shoot with a purpose, work on their release points, and get better going left and right.”
The coach noted his returning core players, starting with Good, but moving quickly to more.
“Kaylee (Spragg) is going to be a senior, and we need her as a leader,” Karr said. “She has so much ability and has great length for both the offense and defense. We are also really counting on the other three freshmen, Bella Bacon, Aubrey Ashwill and Savannah Bowers, to really work hard and come ready, as well as our sophomore, Scarlett Parker. We finished second in the state in scoring defense, we won the Bi-County Tournament and there has been so much improvement from last year to this. I’m really excited about getting to work and starting next year pretty soon. We are proud, but not finished.”
The Bulldogs will take on Rossville in the sectional championship game Saturday.
