LINDEN — A 12-0 run to end the first quarter helped lift Bethesda Christian past North Montgomery 60-42 on Tuesday night.
The Chargers (0-2) jumped to a 7-2 lead, but a 6:40 scoring drought and a flurry of points from the Patriots (1-0) gave Bethesda Christian a 24-8 lead at the 4:29 mark in the second quarter, and they never looked back.
“We had a nice start there going 7-2 to get the lead and once again similar to Parke Heritage kind of a breakdown on the press-breaker here and there and they string in 12-straight unanswered points,” North Montgomery coach Ryan Nuppnau said.
A defensive adjustment by Bethesda Christian led to North Montgomery turnovers and easy baskets for Patriots leading scorer Kenzie Fulks.
The Patriots forced 26 Charger turnovers in the game, and Fulks led all scorers with 29 points as Bethesda Christian connected on 33-of-66 (50%) field goals.
“After that adjustment in their full-court, she (Fulks) started getting some steals, getting some fast-break layups and then everything just kind of snowballed from there,” Nuppnau added. “She’s tough and quicker than the Dickens, but we have to understand that when we play somebody that quick and good ball handling wise it’s 5 against 1.”
Once the Chargers stopped the bleeding, they played the Patriots even the rest of the way. North Montgomery trailed 30-15 at the half. Bethesda Christian’s biggest lead was 36-17 midway through the third quarter and led 38-23 heading into the fourth.
The Chargers’ biggest run came early in the final stanza when senior Katie Rice scored 10-straight for North Montgomery, including a pair of free throws at the 4:09 mark to make it 45-38 — but Bethesda Christian shut the door with a 7-2 run over the next two minutes.
Rice led the Chargers with 24, including 14 in the fourth quarter.
“It was good to see Katie Rice get going in the second quarter,” Nuppnau said. “We really started looking for her, trying to get a post presence down low and got them into foul trouble in the first half, but then again couldn’t take full advantage of the foul situation.”
Lydia Dugard added six for the Chargers, as they shot 17-of-37 from the field.
Paige Vawter and Sydney Goodin reached double-figures for the Patriots with 14 and 11 points respectively.
North Montgomery travels to Frontier on Thursday.
