BBB: North Montgomery runs past Attica for second straight win 59-42

Basketball is a game of runs, and for a second straight night, North Montgomery used a streaking offense and strong defensive effort to beat Attica 59-42 on Saturday night in boys basketball to complete a two-win weekend. The Chargers jumped out to a 16-5 lead after one quarter, only to watch the Red Ramblers climb back into the game with an 18-point quarter to cut the lead to 24-23 at the half. But, North Montgomery (4-13) responded out of the half, playing some of its best basketball of the season, outscoring Attica 35-19 in the last 16 minutes. “It was great to see our guys come out with some intensity,” Chargers coach Andrew Evertts said. “I’ll be honest I was terrified going into this game, just because after last night’s performance, we played really well on the road, because I thought it was a trap game.” The Chargers carried their hot offensive hand that led to their come from behind win at Western Boone on Friday right into Saturday night. They connected on 23-of-42 shots, including 7-of-11 in the first quarter. Attica switched into a zone defense in the second quarter that flustered North Montgomery, but the Chargers refueled at halftime, and took control of the game early in the third quarter, putting an end to the Red Rambler’s (7-9) five game winning streak. “It was great, it was just like the first quarter,” Evertts said. “It was great for us to come in here and refocus, and I think our guys knew if we wanted to win this game, we had to go on a little run to start the third, and just played phenomenal defensively.” North Montgomery shutout Attica in the third quarter 13-0, connecting on three 3-pointers, two from Jaron Bradford, and one from Kade Kobel. The junior duo led the Chargers in scoring with 11 and 16 respectively. Preston Shaw added nine, and Jack Thompson six, as nine Chargers found the scoring column in the win. A balanced offense behind a strong shooting night is something Evertts is very encouraged by. “We’ve preached a lot of that, and we shoot a lot of shots in practice, because we weren’t hitting shots early on,” he said. “And I knew it would take a while for that stuff to click, and I hope that we are finally figuring it out, and I preach to our guys to just be confident and step up and take shots and they are,” he said. “It’s nice to see a balance, and teams like that I like to coach a little more, because any guy can step up on any given night, and we have some pretty balanced books mosts nights.” North Montgomery returns to floor on Thursday at Benton Central at 7:30 p.m. North Montgomery 59, Attica 42 NM 16 8 13 22 — 59 A 5 18 0 19 — 42 North Montgomery (4-13): Bradford 3 3-4 11, Jackman 1 0-0 3, Fritzen 2 0-0 4, Kobel 7 1-1 16, Shaw 4 1-4 9, Verduin 2-4 2, Warren 0 0-0 0, Thompson 3 0-0 6, Carmean 1 2-2 4, Cain 2 0-0 2; Totals 23-42 9-13 59 Attica (7-9): Martin 5 1-2 13, Burris 3 1-2 8, Suerman 2 0-0 4, Little 3 2-4 11, Kirkpatrick 2 0-0 4, Bush 1 0-0 2; Totals 16-48 4-8 42 3-Point Shooting: North Montgomery 4-14 (Bradford 2, Jackman, Kobel), Attica 6-17 (Little 3, Martin 2, Burris). Rebounds: North Montgomery 36, Attica 20 Turnovers: North Montgomery 9, Attica 6