LINDEN — North Montgomery got closer to playing four quarters of basketball at home Saturday against Covington. However, the Trojans outscored the Chargers 22-13 in the final quarter to win 60-47 keeping North Montgomery winless on the season.
A disappointed Charger coach Chad Arnold said his team has yet to play a complete game. He said too many mistakes led to the loss, including 26 turnovers in the game. The Chargers committed seven turnovers in the first four minutes of the game helping Covington jump out to an 8-0 lead.
“It is a lack of concentration and we are better than that,” Arnold said. “We didn’t play hard for four quarters and it is a hard pill to swallow.”
The Chargers did recover the slow start and even took a 18-15 lead when Kelby Harwood hit a three-pointer.
Arnold said his team needs to find a way to play harder and do things correctly more consistently.
“We have stayed in the games because we have played hard at times,” Arnold said. “But, until we start doing things right, we will struggle. Our kids know that when we play hard and smart, we can play with anybody. When we start doing more things right, we will be a lot better team than what you see right now.”
The Chargers have struggled scoring points this season. Saturday’s 47 points was the first time the team eclipsed the 40 point mark.
The one bright spot offensively was Harwood. The freshman showed more aggressiveness on offense and scored a game-high 20 points. He connected on seven out of nine shots which included hitting six treys.
Arnold complimented his freshman guard after the game.
“Kelby was on fire and was hitting his shots,” Arnold said. “Kelby is going to be a good player but he knows he has to get better defensively. Knowing how much loves basketball, he will get work to get better.”
Covington first-year coach and Crawfordsville High School alum Evan Morgan was happy with his team’s effort and especially in the second half. He mentioned his team’s leading scorers, Savion Waddell and Duncan Keller who scored 19 and 17, respectively.
“Every game so far we have played better in the second half,” Morgan said. “It was good to see Savion and Duncan get it going offensively. We have been wanting Duncan to shoot the ball more and tonight he did. This was a good win for us on the road against a physical team.”
North Montgomery will look for their first win in the Delphi Kitchen Classic when they play two games Tuesday. The first against Rossville at 11 a.m. then against host Delphi at 8 p.m.
Covington 60, North Montgomery 47
Score by Quarters
COVINGTON 14 8 16 22 – 60
North Montgomery 13 7 14 13 - 47
Covington (3-4)
Made FG FT-FTA PTS: Savion
Waddell 6 7-12-19, Duncan Keller 7 1-1 17, Alan Karfatt 3 0-0 6, Jonas Burris 2 0-0 5, Isaiah Edwards 0 3-4 3, Calvin Springer 1 0-0 3, Neil Elmore 1 0-0 2, Dane Garing 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 13-21 60.
North Montgomery (0-5, 0-2 SAC)
Kelby Harwood 8 0-0 20, Jarrod Kirsch 4 0-0 10, Jakob Kirsch 3 0-0 7, Colton Zachary 1 1-2 4, Nolan Graham 2 0-0 4, Drew Norman 1 0-0 2 Totals 19 1-2 47.