VEEDERSBURG. – It was supposed to be a doubleheader when Fountain Central hosted Attica on Friday night, but with the Red Ramblers down too many boy players to field a team, the night turned into a single game between the girls’ varsity squads.
The contest saw both teams struggle to score from the field as Attica shot 6-for-22 for 27 percent while Fountain Central made only 13-for 43 for 30 percent in a game that ended 33-19 in favor of the hosts.
Mustang head coach Jason Good reacted to the shooting stats by saying, “Usually when you shoot like that, you lose, but we got the win and it’s a conference win for us.”
Rylee Simko hit the opening basket for Fountain Central off a pass from Brailey Hoagland with just over three minutes gone in the game.
No one would score again for the next three-and-a-half minutes until Hoagland made a pair of free throws and 60 seconds later, Jerzi Hershberger did the same.
Kacey Kirkpatrick, making a partial game return from injury, hit the final bucket in the period to give the Mustangs an 8-0 lead after one quarter.
It was about 30 seconds into the second period before Attica reached the scoreboard, getting a trey from CeCe Rice who would go on to tally fifteen of the eventual 19 points scored in the game by the Ramblers.
With the ice now broken for both teams, they began to trade baskets with the hosts pulling away to a 17-8 lead at the half.
“We’re still learning where we need to be,” Good said of his injury-depleted team. “We were getting shots, but not what we wanted.”
The third quarter saw three-pointers dominate as Rice made two for Attica while Hershberger hit one for Fountain Central in a period that the Mustangs “won” 7-6 for a 24-14 lead going into the final eight minutes.
The fourth quarter pleased Good as he noted his team – with young players on the floor – forced several turnovers and went the length of the court for scores off some of them to win 33-19.
“I was proud of how we played, especially the defense,” Good said. “One player who came off the bench and did well for us was Kaylee Spragg who scored a little [four points] but got some rebounds and helped on defense.”
He closed by saying that he like how hard his team played all game in getting the victory. The Mustangs return to action Dec. 29 vs Covington for the annual Bi-County Tournament.
