| 12/13/2008 2:30:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | |||||
Southmont folds in fourth-quarter collapse By Cale Stephens For The Paper DANVILLE – Danville’s pressure defense got to the Southmont High School girls basketball team. In their Sagamore Athletic Conference opener, the visiting Mounties folded in the fourth quarter, giving up a 10-point lead and suffering a 38-35 loss Friday night against Danville. Southmont senior Elizabeth Sparks had two chances to tie the game in the last 22 seconds. Senior Brittany Byers rebounded Sparks’ first three-point miss. Byers missed on the putback attempt and corralled her second offensive board. Then she immediately kicked the ball back to Sparks for a last three-pointer for the tie. The ball bounced off the rim as time ran out. “I think we just ran out of gas there at the end,” Southmont coach Reasley Thompson said. “I think Danville made some plays there at the end, hit some threes, got some steals, got some turnovers. Those are some things we can learn from and get better.” Southmont (3-5, 0-1 SAC) used a 7-2 run at the start of the third quarter to extend its halftime lead to 27-17. They kept that lead until the very last minute of the game. Danville (6-3, 1-0 SAC) applied some full-court pressure and forced seven Mounties’ turnovers in the fourth quarter. Those turnovers led to baskets by Warriors senior Liz Scott. Scott scored the last 12 Danville points and the last seven points of the game. She shot 4-of-8 from the floor and 2-for-3 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to finish with 14 points. On the other hand, Southmont’s shooting went ice cold in the final eight minutes of the game. The Mounties shot 1-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-6 from the foul line. “[Danville’s] intensity picked up at the end,” Thompson said. “They got a few steals that led to easy baskets. We were trying to match their intensity. Danville did a good job applying pressure. Once we broke the press, I think they just wore us down. But we were only playing six girls there at the end. I thought our girls still gave it everything they had.” A Sparks jumper with 1:50 to play in the opening quarter gave Southmont a 9-8 lead. It’s a lead they did not give up until the 44-second mark in the fourth quarter, when Scott sank a three-pointer to give Danville a 37-35 edge. Sparks had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Crystal Flowers added eight points. Byers pulled down eight rebounds, as well. Danville was led by junior Amy Kramer’s 16 points and 10 boards. Kramer was the focal point of the Warriors’ offense through the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, junior Kyra Burton guarded Kramer and kept her off the offensive boards. “Kyra, I thought, had one of her best games of the season,” Thompson said. “She’s continuing to improve. This is only her second year ever playing basketball. So, for her to provide important minutes like she did tonight, is going to be crucial for us the rest of the season.” Senior Kylie Demoret sat out the last three quarters of the game after banging her head on the court. Thompson was unsure of her status but hopes to get her back by next week. Fellow senior Creasy Clauser isn’t expected to start practicing until after the Christmas break. She is still healing from a cross country injury she suffered at the end of the fall. It doesn’t get any easier for the Mounties as they will take another whole week off. They will face conference foe Western Boone at Southmont this coming Friday. | ||||||
