Coach Michael Byrum’s instructions to his team during the third quarter were simple.
“Keep playing.”
His Southmont boys basketball squad took a game plan and executed Saturday in an important 56-44 win over Crawfordsville in the Athenian Gym. The win clinched the Montgomery County championship for the Mounties
“We’ve got a lot of versatility,” Byrum said. “Psychologically, we have to be able to go grind things out. We want to go out and score 80 every night, but we have to be OK just grinding it out offensively and defensively.”
The victory also played three other key issues: bounced back from a loss the night before, remained unbeaten in Sagamore Conference play and avenged a Sugar Creek Classic loss to the same Athenians.
“We just couldn’t hit any shots,” CHS coach David Pierce said. “We figured we missed 18 shots within six feet and (made) 4-of-14 from the line. Game’s over. I thought we played well enough defensively to give us a chance.”
CHS also had 17 turnovers, 12 in the first half.
South (10-3, 4-0 Sagamore Conference) jumped to a 13-3 advantage in the first quarter and really never looked back.
The victory was South’s second consecutive county championship. The teams each had four county titles over the last 10 years going into the game.
Senior Vince Reimondo led the way with 12 points. Mason McCarty topped CHS with 20. Both scored from all over the floor. Junior Austin Foley had nine rebounds for South, seven in the fourth quarter.
The key for South was certainly the defensive effort and being able to adjust its game for the CHS changes on offense and defense. Also, getting into transition was accomplished, where it was not in the loss to CHS in the Sugar Creek Classic.
“Getting stops is the difference,” Byrum said. “It’s a lot easier to run when the defense isn’t set and when (opponent) is kind of scrambling. We have to contest every shot and get every rebound. Sometimes we lose sight of that.”
Four Athenian starters had at least two fouls during the first half. Pierce had to count on players deep on the bench for some support during the second quarter.
“There were some guys that had to drink out of a fire hose tonight,” Pierce said. “Young guys came off the bench in the second quarter. That was exciting for them. They made some mistakes and that’s going to happen when you get your first big time minutes in a county matchup. But I was proud of our kids.”
Pierce’s squad (5-8, 1-2) prepares for a road trip to Frankfort on Friday.
“Back to the grind. We have a big conference opponent Friday. We’ll lick our wounds and get after it.”
The same night, the Mounties and Byrum go to Lebanon for their fifth game in 20 days.
“We’re a work in progress. We’re nowhere near reaching our potential which we’re fine with. We need to start sharpening certain things up a bit.”
