By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
CRAWFORDSVILLE – Ah, the little things. They drive basketball coaches crazy because they DECIDE GAMES!
A case in point was the Dec. 21 opening game of the Sugar Creek Classic between Crawfordsville and Southmont. This was a hotly contested and generally well-played game that came down to a couple of little things.
The result was a 59-55 Crawfordsville victory at North Montgomery.
Early on, this game was a contest between the effort of Southmont and the efficiency of Crawfordsville. In the first quarter, effort won – barely – as the Mounties held a slim 15-14 lead after one stanza. The Mounties, however, had a big leg up because they were already in the bonus from the foul line.
Crawfordsville used an 8-2 run at the start of the second quarter to take a lead the Athenians would keep until halftime. They were able to do so because Southmont could not take advantage of being at the free throw line throughout the quarter. (There is one of those little things.)
Poor shooting from the stripe and a two-and-a-half-minute drought from the field allowed Crawfordsville to head into intermission with a 28-22 advantage. But an 8-2 run to start the third quarter brought Southmont back to even.
Then another of those little things reared its **** head. An unforced turnover and an ill-advised shot from the Mounties led to back-to-back 3-pointers by Crawfordsville, and the Athenians had regained their six-point cushion at 36-30.
Southmont fought back, however, and ended the quarter in much the same position it had been in after one quarter. The Mounties trailed 43-39, but Crawfordsville had once again placed them in the one-and-bonus with 1:15 left in the third.
It is very much worth noting that one of the main things that was keeping Southmont in the game was its outstanding defensive rebounding. Through three quarters, Crawfordsville had gotten very few second chances on the offensive end.
Southmont continued to battle through the first part of the fourth quarter and, when the Mounties hit back-to-back threes themselves midway through the period, they regained the lead at 47-46. It was short-lived, though, as the Athenians answered with a trey of their own to regain the advantage, 49-47.
From there the battle was on.
Southmont again tied the contest with less than two minutes to play when sophomore Jordan Burkett stripped an Athenian guard off the dribble and headed the other direction for an easy bucket. The play made it 53-all.
From there, those gremlins wearing the “little things” sweatshirts wreaked havoc on the Mounties. With the score tied at 55 and Crawfordsville at the free throw line, the Athenians missed the front end of a one-and-one.
However, for perhaps the only time the entire evening, Southmont failed to block out on the boards. The result was an easy putback bucket and a two-point lead for Crawfordsville.
Southmont would have a chance to tie at the line a few seconds later but failed to connect, and Crawfordsville was just efficient enough at the line in the last minute to seal the four-point victory.
In the end, Southmont coach Dan Chadd can use this game to teach a very valuable lesson to his players. Although they were in the bonus for over half the game, the Mounties managed to shoot only 12 of 25 from the free throw line. Despite dominating the boards for most of the evening, one missed blockout led to the game’s biggest play.
How much do you wanna bet that coach Chadd has a speech ready about the “little things”?
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