NEW MARKET – Trip Ward grabbed the ball and waited for the inevitable opponent contact.
Then the Southmont junior guard walked the length of the floor and calmly sank both free throws with 10 seconds left to put the icing on a 58-51 Sagamore Conference victory over Frankfort Friday evening in the Tandy Gymnasium on senior night.
The pair of shots capped off a 14-point fourth quarter where the final 11 came from the stripe. The Mounties finished a welcomed 18-of-22 from the line.
“We’ve been shooting better the last couple weeks,” South coach Jake Turner said of his team, which shoots 55 percent. “We needed every one of them tonight, but it was huge we stepped up there and hit them down the stretch.”
The win clinches third place for the Mounties (15-6, 4-3 SAC) in a game that took several twists and turns.
South led 20-7 at the end of the first quarter on the strength of nine of a game high 21 from Ward. The defense held the visitors scoreless the last 3:50 of the period.
“I thought we had a really good game plan. We had a box-and-one on a post, which you really don’t see that much. Coach (David) McCullough has won over 600 games for a reason. He made an adjustment. I had to go back and mix in a zone. We tried to go man-to-man a couple possessions. With Carter (Hubble) out and Carson (Chadd) in foul trouble we had to go back to the zone.”
Hubble was sidelined as his knee injury flared up. Chadd was matched a lot of the night against 6-foot-5 Jayce Strode. He sat significant amounts of the third and fourth quarters after picking up his third and fourth fouls.
“We just executed really well in that first quarter and to hold them to seven. But they’re a well-coached team and Strode is probably the best post player we’ve faced.”
South was on top 31-23 at the half and, despite going 3:22 without points, led 44-36 after three quarters.
Frankfort would rattle off eight straight to open the fourth frame to tie the contest at 44-44. Ward nailed his third three-pointer with 2:57 left for the only field goal in the fourth and end a five minute drought for the Mounties.
Then the parade to the line started. Chadd, Ward, Vince Reimondo and Hayden Hess all contributed in a 12-13 spree. Frankfort would go without scoring over a four-minute stretch.
Chadd added 12 points and six rebounds in the win despite the foul issues. Fellow senior E.J. Brewer scored 11 to go with three boards. Hess dished out four assists to go with seven points. The offense also forced two Hot Dogs to foul out.
Alex Farley led Frankfort (10-11, 3-4) with 15 points. Strode, who did not start, contributed 13 with six rebounds.
South shot 18-35 from the field to go with the great night at the line and only had six turnovers. The defense held the visitors to 19-40 from the floor, only eight trips to the line and forced nine turnovers.
“Our guys won’t let us blow anybody out,” Turner said and laughed. “They stress me out. But again, I tell the guys when we don’t turn it over and take good shots we’re good. Everybody stepped up and took care of the ball. We did a lot of good things.”
Chadd and Brewer were honored before the game as the only seniors.
“I’m especially happy for our seniors. They’ve been with the program not just the four years, but put a lot of work in with coach (Dan) Chadd with travel basketball. Carson is the wins leader in Southmont boys basketball history. We’ve had a lot of success over the last few years because of those two guys. I’m proud of them.”
South closes the regular season Tuesday at home against a tough Parke Heritage team.
“They’re well-coached. We could see them again in the sectional. We have to be ready.”
SOUTHMONT 58, FRANKFORT 51
Score By Quarter
FF 7 16 13 15 — 51
SM 20 11 13 14 — 58
Frankfort (10-11, 3-4 SAC)
FG-FGA FT-FTA Pts: Doug Wood 4-7 2-2 10, Quentcy Perry 0-2 0-0 0, Kris Russell 2-4 0-0 6, Cayden Jarmen 0-3 0-0 0, Victor Cruz 3-6 0-0 7, Jayden Skinner 0-1 0-0 0, Jayce Strode 5-6 3-4 13, Alex Farley 5-11 2-2 15; Totals 19-40
Southmont (15-6, 4-3 SAC)
Carson Chadd 4-7 4-4 12, Vince Reimondo 1-3 2-2 5, Trip Ward 7-11 4-4 21, Kyler McCandless 1-3 0-0 2, Lucas Oppy 0-0 0-0 0, Hayden Hess 1-3 5-7 7, EJ Brewer 4-8 3-5 11; Totals 18-35 18-22 58
3 pt shooting: FF 6-18 (Farley 3, Russell 2), SM 4-12 (Ward 3, Reimondo)
Rebounding: FF 23 (Strode 6, Cruz 5, Jarman 4), SM 20 (Chadd 6, Brewer 3, McCandless 3)
Turnovers: FF 9, SM 6