BB: Danville makes statement in victory over North Montgomery

Sagamore
Athletic Conference rival and Class 3A No. 2 Danville held the Chargers
to just 33 percent shooting in a 63-42 road win.

Danville (11-0,
4-0 SAC) used a smothering defense to limit North Montgomery (5-7, 3-1
SAC) to 13 of 39 from the field and take hold of the conference lead.

But North Montgomery coach Scott Radeker said part of the problem also lied with team.

"Danville
was in our face," Radeker said. "I thought we did a nice job of getting
to the rim but we just couldn't finish. We had a few balls roll in and
out that didn't fall for us."

One big reason the Chargers didn't
score under the basket was because of 6-foot, 10-inch Purdue recruit
and Danville senior Travis Carroll. He was always around the basket
forcing the Chargers to adjust their shots.

No example of the
Chargers' inability to score in the paint was more evident then leading
-corer Colin Maltsberger. He was held to just three points and was 0 of
10 from the field. Time and time again, the senior took the ball to the
hoop and came up empty.

"There is a reason why we had problems
scoring and that was because of Carroll in the paint," Radeker said.
"Carroll is 6-10 and it is hard to get a shot over him. He plays clean
up top but he does get the man with his body."

Offensively, the
Chargers shut Carroll down in the first half. Danville had a 27-15
halftime lead but Carroll had just a mere two points

North
Montgomery senior 6-3 center Patrick Williams got his first start of
the season and drew the responsibility of guarding Carroll.

"I
was trying to contain him and get some help from my teammates,"
Williams said. "We had a great team effort. We tried to keep him
uncomfortable and for the most part we did a pretty good job on
Carroll."

But Carroll scored 13 points in the second half to
finish with 15. Senior Jordan Weidner led the Warriors with 17 points
and senior Michael Humphrey added 12.

North Montgomery cut
Danville's lead to just nine early in the third quarter on junior
Andrew Airey's three-point basket. But Danville responded and outscored
the Chargers 18-11 in the period.

Juniors Jake Thomas and Austin Krutzsch scored 12 points each to lead North Montgomery

But players don't think they are that far away from playing with one of the elite teams in the state.

Williams
thinks the Chargers can play better if the two teams meet again in
Indiana High School Athletic Association sectional play.

"I
think if we can work on a few things in the next few weeks, we can play
with Danville in the sectional," Williams said. "We didn't have our
best performance tonight I feel, but if we can put it all together, we
have a chance of beating Danville down the road."