NEW MARKET — For a second consecutive night turnovers doomed North Montgomery. The Chargers fell Saturday 47-40 to Western Boone in the consolation game of the Sugar Creek Classic at Southmont.
North Montgomery held a narrow 34-33 lead after a Makinze Rominger basket with 6:49 to play, but was unable to overcome 34 turnovers despite a 16-of-31 shooting effort.
“We shot the ball very very well, but when you have over 30 turnovers that means that’s 30 possessions where you don’t get a shot,” North Montgomery coach Ryan Nuppnau said.
The Chargers (2-2) were a perfect 7-of-7 from the field in the third quarter, but only outscored the Stars (1-5) 16-14 in the period. The game was tied at 30-30 heading into the fourth.
Katheryn Rutherford had back-to-back baskets followed by a Carlie Pennington bucket to give Western Boone a 39-34 cushion with 3:45 to play. Rutherford and Macy Woodrum reached double-figures for the Stars with 10 points apiece, while Emily Conyer knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and led all scorers with 15 points.
North Montgomery’s Rominger, Madi Welch and Lydia Dugard each scored 10 points.
The Chargers, who had more than a week layoff due to COVID-19 were shorthanded all weekend without the services of guards Nina Gable and Grace McClaskey for both losses, and without Katie Rice in Saturday’s game.
“This was tough,” Nuppnau said. “We were out for eight days, had two days of practice and you could definitely tell we were fatigued, and with no subs it makes it even worse. But these girls fought hard and dug as deep as they could go, we just didn’t quite have that energy in the fourth quarter,”
