For the first and only time this season, all six Montgomery County basketball teams will hit the floor on a single Friday night. Crawfordsville will host Frankfort, North Montgomery will welcome Western Boone, and Southmont will host Lebanon.
Crawfordsville
The Crawfordsville girls’ basketball team picked up a key win on Tuesday night 55-48 over North Vermillion. The Athenians (5-16, 0-6 SAC) are in search of their first Sagamore Conference win when they take on the 2-18 Hot Dogs, who are also in search of their first league win.
“We’ve been trying to develop a defensive identity all season, and it has really come along in January,” Athenians coach Tyler Smith said. “We’d love to see another strong defensive performance on Friday night, which will lead to offense.”
Frankfort has lost seven in a row, and is led in scoring by Jordan Frazier’s 6.1 points per game. Lauren Kellerman leads the Athenians with 16.4 points per game, as Crawfordsville hopes to finish the regular season with its four wins in its last eight games.
“Winning four of our last eight games while also being close in the losses would mean a lot for our program,” Smith said. “We have to stay focused and not assume anything in the Frankfort game. We’d love to win for our seniors and fans, and continue to close out the regular season on a high note.”
Crawfordsville’s boys’ basketball team will look to bounce back from a loss to Southmont against a 3-9 Frankfort team that is 0-3 in SAC action.
The Athenians are 8-6 overall and 1-2 in the SAC and led by Jesse Hall’s 13.3 points per game. Trey Frazier leads the Hot Dogs with 14.9 points a contest.
Crawfordsville and Frankfort each average 59 points per game, but the Athenians allows just 51.2, while the Hot Dogs give up 69.6.
North Montgomery
The North Montgomery girls’ basketball team is hoping to not only end a seven-game losing streak to end the regular season, but get revenge against a Western Boone team they lost to 39-32 back in November.
The Stars (8-14, 3-3 SAC) are also on a skid, losers of their last four.
On paper the Chargers (9-12, 2-4 SAC) are similar to the Stars. Western Boone, led in scoring by Kara Brewer’s 13.1 points per game are averaging 38.8 points per game, while they give up 44.5. North Montgomery scores 38 points per game, while they allow 44.5.
North Montgomery’s boys’ basketball team is 7-8 on the season and currently on a three-game losing streak. The Chargers hope to avenge a 50-49 loss they suffered to the Stars back in early January.
It wasn’t Cortez Stoudemire’s 17.2 points per game that gave the Chargers trouble in their first meeting, but coach Chad Arnold knows Western Boone, who is also on a three-game skid will be ready to play.
“They are a well-coached team that plays hard,” he said. “Conner Hole killed us, and we let Spencer Wright get loose on the last play. We have to do a good job of being patient on offense, like we did against West Lafayette. We have to control the tempo of the game. We have to continue to play our game.”
Southmont
The Southmont girls’ basketball team saw a seven-game win streak come to an end with a road loss at Seeger on Wednesday night, but the Mounties are hopeful to end the regular season with a win over Lebanon.
A win would give the Mounties (13-8, 3-3 SAC) a winning season in the Sagamore Conference.
“It is one of the last goals that we have as a team as we come to the end of the season and conference play,” Southmont coach Dustin Oakley said. “We have been 3-3 the last 3 years leading into Lebanon game and we haven’t been able to get the job done. This group of ladies, especially our seniors are excited for the opportunity and I think mentally/physically prepared for this game. 4-3 conference record would just take our program to that next level of being considered a really good team/program.”
Lebanon is 13-8 on the season and 4-2 in the SAC, and led in scoring by Alexis Wines 10 points per game. Sidney Veatch leads the Mounties with 12.9 points per game, and 11.5 rebounds a game, but Oakley says it’s been multiple girls stepping up in the latter part of the season.
“We are just playing some great team basketball right now,” he said. “We have a lot of players that are contributing and making winning plays for this team to be successful. We are starting to look a little bit more fatigued the last couple games due to amount of games and schedule recently (similar to right before winter Break), but I think we are mentally tougher than ever to grind through this week. We will get some much needed rest for next week and be well-prepared for our first sectional game on Friday.”
The Southmont boys’ basketball team is riding a two-game winning streak and looking for a third Sagamore Conference win when they welcome Lebanon on Friday.
Despite just a 4-10 record, the Mounties hope to stop a 9-7 Lebanon team that is 5-1 in the SAC and led by Carson Burtron’s 15.7 points per game.
“Lebanon is a very fundamentally sound and disciplined team,” Southmont coach Jake Turner said. “They have a really good group of seniors - many of whom have played since they were sophomores. Coach Hendrix’s teams are always very good defensively and they take care of the ball. It will be crucial that we make them work for everything they get offensively and that we take care of the ball on offense because possessions will be at a premium due to their patience. Without Carson Chadd and Cale Hess (both of whom are out this week with ankle injuries), we will need everyone to step up and play more minutes. This is a great opportunity for some of our bench guys against a team that is 5-1 in the conference.”
