VEEDERSBURG – Fountain Central’s girls basketball team lost a 37-29 non-conference game to Clinton Central, but the season-long building process continues to show improvement.
“We are 100 percent better tonight after four games than we were before the first game,” Mustangs first-year coach Sammy Karr said. “We are a young team, but the effort is there. These girls are very coachable – they are working very hard. Sure there will be some growing pains, but what we are seeing now is fixable. We are getting better.”
The Mustangs, who fall to 1-3 on the season, jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs, who move to 3-0 with the win, made some second-quarter adjustments that turned into a 19-3 scoring margin.
FC made their own adjustments in the second half, and outscored the visitors 18-14 in the second half, mostly by denying the open shot that plagued them in the second.
“Turnovers come in bunches for us,” Karr said, noting the 11 first-half miscues that became plenty of Bulldogs points. “We are getting that figured out. We are showing some more poise as we gain experience too.”
The Mustangs had only four turnovers in the second half.
Leading the way on the score sheet for FC was sophomore Hannah Prickett with a dozen points. Next up was fellow sophomore Rylee Simko with 10 on five field goals.
“Prickett has carried us three of our four games,” Karr noted. “We’ve had some players miss time with injuries, and getting them back will help our depth and our scoring.”
Overall, FC was 12-of-34 from the field, hit only one three-pointer in five attempts, and had a 4-of-11 night at the line.
Their 15 turnovers were four fewer than Clinton Central, and the rebound tally finished at 29 per side.
A third sophomore, Brailey Hoagland, led the Mustangs with five boards.
The Bulldogs got their gal in the paint going in the second quarter, and Sara Parkison responded with a 13-point, six-rebound effort. Both were team-highs.
“44 (Parkison) was the difference,” Karr said of the junior center. “Clinton Central is a good team, and well-coached. They will have some success this year.”
The visitors finished 12-of-36 from the field, 2-of-8 from long range and 11-of-16 from the line. They hit six in a row in the fourth quarter to keep the lead better than five points.
Carly Davison added six points and six boards.
“I’m super proud of the girls,” Karr said of his squad that started four sophomores and a junior. “We fought back from down a dozen at halftime one possession at a time, and got it to within five a couple times. We are going to establish a culture here, and it starts with the great effort these girls are giving. We are getting better, and I expect to be able to say that a lot more as the season goes along.”
The Mustangs travel to Southmont Thursday, and after a home game Saturday against Rossville, they travel to Crawfordsville on the 15th.
