Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

FRIDAY - vs SOUTHMONT It was business as usual in the Sagamore Conference as Southmont and Western Boone’s boys battled it out. Four lead changes in the first three quarters. Punch, counter punch- The Mounties were solid inside, and the Stars were hitting a couple three’s. South went on a 9-0 run at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter to take a 40-34 lead with 5:55 left. Business as usual stopped. The Stars went on a 14-0 run and walked away with a 58-45 win. The victory moves WeBo to 2-5 overall and gives them a much-needed Sagamore Conference win. They are now 1-2 in the conference. The Mounties fall to 2-3 and 1-2 in the league. “We made some things happen in the fourth quarter,” WeBo coach Dustin Oakley said. “This is a young team, learning and figuring things out. They battle and they compete. It’s all part of being an athlete at WeBo– our kids just never give up; they are always ready to play. They put the time in with the weight training, and are patient. They pay attention to details and they continue to get better and better – more confident as they go. This is a real confidence booster. It is a rare and good conference win.” Things started with a career-best 28 points from Marcus Fortner. The junior point guard, who had left a game earlier in the season with an injury, was exquisite as he shot. Going 9-of-13 from the field and 10-of-11 from the line, he was 6-of-6 from the field during the rally and 6-of-7 from the line in that same span. “The guys rallied around him,” Oakley said. We also got big games from (Drew) Gott and (Philip) Talbott. Talbott is a football guy and we are getting him into basketball shape.” Tristyn Faulk was also in double-figures with 10 points. Southmont was led by the double-double from Carter Hubble. The senior had 17 points and 12 boards. “It came down to our defense,” Mounties coach Michael Byrum said. “When we play good defense, we play good offense. We let some missed shots frustrate us, and that led to not focusing on defense. We can’t let the game be dictated by made or missed shots.” SATURDAY vs. Fountain Central DOVER - Visiting Fountain Central came out firing on all cylinders on Saturday night against Western Boone, and the Stars didn't have the response. Fountain Central jumped out a 29-6 lead in the first quarter, and WeBo never got closer than 15 the rest of the game in a 74-57 loss. "They were 8 of 10 from first half from 3 and I take full responsibility - we just weren't ready," Western Boone head coach Dustin Oakley said. "We haven't played well on back-to-back nights this year. We struggled with our man-to-man defenses and our rotations. It was just a really long first half." Both teams made their opening shots of the game, but then things went in opposite directions. Western Boone went 12-straight possessions without a field goal, hitting just one free throw in the process as they went 0-of-7 from the field with five turnovers. Fountain Central on the other hand went on a 25-1 run, as they made 9 of 10 shots, including a perfect 5-of-5 from behind the arc. While it is still a relatively small sample size, in the three back-to-backs the Stars have played this year, the second game has gone worse in all three. The last two in particular, the Stars have lost by 25 and 17, their worst two losses of the season. "I'm not sure what the difference is," Oakley said. "We are playing the same guys, obviously we are still working on our depth, but both the starters and bench didn't really bring anything tonight. We had (Marcus) Fortner tonight, he had good energy and Philip Talbott brought some good energy off the bench, but just one or two guys out of our rotation isn't going to get it done." If there was a positive for the Stars in the game, it was that they continued to battle throughout the 32 minutes. WeBo won the second half, and shot better than 50% of the field (14 of 26). "We took care of the ball a little better and were a little more physical," Oakley said. "We let Fountain Central come in here and dictate the game. They were the aggressors and that's why they got more calls. We flipped it on in the second half, and kind of get going, it's just deflating when you make a few in a row and you are still down 25." Marcus Fortner had 18 points for WeBo, and Tristyn Faulk had 14 points and six rebounds. Luke Adkins added eight. Western Boone is now off until January 5 when they face Crawfordsville in the Sugar Creek Classic. "We are going to give them a few days off for the holidays - all of our kids play fall sports too, so they could use a little break," Oakley said. "We are going to come back and figure out what defense we can play well and work on some skill development, just trying to get better at what we do." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems. The JV Stars hosted 2 games this weekend and came away 0-2. The Stars played some of their best basketball this season on both nights but couldn't come away with a win. On Friday the Stars took on Southmont and fell 61-42. Scoring for the Stars was Dylan Sheets with 19, Luke LaGrange with 13, Burke Cavins and Reese Young with 4, and Layton Yancey and Owen Oakley finished with 1 apiece. On Saturday the Stars took on Fountain Central and lost 42-38. The Stars had their chances but couldn't quite make the plays to finish the game. Scoring for the Stars was Dylan Sheets 12, Laytain Yancey and Burke Cavins with 6 apiece and Luke LaGrange with 4.