By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
CRAWFORDSVILLE – Purdue-bound D.J. Byrd has an injured ring finger on his shooting hand. The result is that North Montgomery’s 66-53 victory Dec. 19 over Crawfordsville was a case of addition by subtraction.
The supposed loss of Byrd’s explosive offensive talents caused his Charger teammates to step up in the manner people had been waiting for. Byrd’s inability to shoot his normal long-range jumpers led to fewer questionable shots.
In fact, his shot selection was impeccable. In the end, one less finger went a long way to producing one additional win for the hosts.
By the way, if you are wondering just how much Byrd’s output was affected by the injured digit, try this on for size. He scored a game-high 27 points – shooting left-handed most of the evening. He went 11 of 15 from the charity stripe, shooting southpaw.
In other words, he still dominated the Sagamore Conference showdown.
Crawfordsville stayed close through most of the first quarter. But a 10-0 run by the Chargers at the end of the period led to a 17-7 advantage at the first stop.
Honestly, that margin was due as much to the Athenians’ poor shooting as it was to anything North Montgomery (4-2 overall, 3-0 Sagamore) did. It wasn’t until the second stanza, you see, that Byrd and his mates really began to click.
In a four-possession stretch midway through the quarter, Byrd launched a nifty pass for an assist and then scored on three straight trips to expand the Chargers’ cushion from six to 12 points in less than a minute.
To its credit, Crawfordsville (2-3, 0-2) refused to fold. The Athenians gradually climbed back within six at the break, 27-21.
The third quarter was more of the same. Crawfordsville continued to shoot poorly, at one point falling to 9 of 32 for the game. Yet the Athenians outhustled North Montgomery for most of the period and kept the margin under 10.
That equilibrium ended with a 6-0 Charger run at the end of the period that made the lead 43-29 entering the fourth quarter – enough to turn the final period into a free throw shooting contest.
That was a competition North Montgomery welcomed. The Chargers were brilliant at the line, hitting 29 of 35 for the evening. Crawfordsville would never cut the margin below double digits again.
In addition to Byrd’s 27-point effort, North Montgomery got 20 markers from senior Clay Pierce in what was by far his best game of the year. Crawfordsville, which struggled to 17-of-53 shooting, was led by the 22 points of sophomore Trent Crabtree.
Before the game, Byrd was honored for becoming North Montgomery’s all-time career scoring leader during the Chargers’ game last week. He was presented with the game ball used in setting the record that had stood for over a decade.
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