COVINGTON, Ind. — The Fountain Central girls basketball team got revenge on Friday and then a third Bi-County Championship on Saturday.
Coming off a 40-32 win over Seeger on Friday, the Mustangs did not have a let down in beating Covington 55-15.
“We tend to be roller-coaster like,” Fountain Central coach Sam Karr said. “In a big game, we usually step up and play hard and if we are coming off a big game, we tend to have a let down. I thought after last night’s battle, I thought we would have a let down, but I didn’t think so at all and our defense was special tonight.”
The Mustang defense held the Trojans to single digits in three quarters on Saturday and scoreless in the second. With the effort, the Mustangs set a new record for fewest points allowed in the championship game.
“It’s pretty cool and it feels good,” Fountain Central junior Bella Bacon said. “I think the biggest thing that got us here was our defense. We always had good chemistry and we pride ourselves in that and it works out well for us.”
Like most of the season, there were multiple stars for the Mustangs. Kendyl Nolan had 14 points with four assists, Bacon had nine points with five steals, Citrus Wesley had eight points and eight rebounds, Henley Good had seven points, seven assists and two steals and Cadence White had six points.
“We were ready to play,” Bacon said. “Every single player is a role player and that is cool to see and you don’t see that with other teams. We are unselfish and that’s crazy for a team. We all support each other and that is great to see.”
“She (Wesley) almost had a double-double at half and she is great at rebounding for her size,” Karr said. “We are lucky to have 5-6 players that can score at any given time and can handle the ball well, so we are pretty tough to guard and the leading scorer of the night is different almost every night. We are unselfish and that bodes well in basketball to have girls that share the ball.
“I thought Henley Good was the glue, ran us and got people in the right spot and handled the ball. Henley had a good two days but Bella and Citrus also had some great moments.”
The Mustangs had a tougher assignment on Friday against the Patriots, who won their first game, 40-32, on Dec. 19. In that game, Bacon had 14 points, Good had 10 points, Wesley had seven points and Nolan added four points.
“Compared to the first game, we had a chip on our shoulder and we like to see that,” Bacon said. “We have grit and that is good. I think we overlooked them the first time and we changed that.”
Preslee Shaw had six points, while Ava Shaw added five for the young Trojans, who has no senior and one junior.
“Compared to them we are down in numbers and basic basketball knowledge,” Covington coach Reese Bodine said. “Two of my players were sick, so we are playing down, but they are a defensively sound team and it is hard to compete against that.
“They are a force to be reckoned with and they are going to be a force in this conference. We have a young group with one junior and mostly freshmen and sophomores, so I hope we can build things up for the future.”
The Trojans were coming off a 43-38 win over Attica on Friday and Bodine saw flashes of what the team can be in the future.
“I do have high hopes — especially after last night — and if we can continue to play like that and not like tonight, things can be different,” Bodine said. “I hope when we play them again, we can be more ready.”
This was the third time in program history that the Mustangs won three Bi-County titles in a row and with the break ahead, Karr hopes that the team will come out of it even better.
“We got a good program right now and we have young people involved at the junior high level and I think winning breeds that,” Karr said. “This basketball program is in great shape no matter who is coaching and we are proud of that.
“We are out until the 8th and we have some practice time right now that we need. It seems that we are going into the next gauntlet and we don’t have time to work on what we need to, so this is a much needed practice time and we want to get Cadence White up to par so I am looking forward to it.”