Montour finished the regular season with a 60-50 victory over Moon behind another monster performance from Ama Sow.
Montour stormed out of the gates in this one, scoring a whopping 25 points in the first quarter. Everyone was getting in on the action early for the Spartans with senior, Kaleb Platz, draining multiple threes in the quarter. Montour jumped out to a 12-3 lead when Platz pulled up from the top of the key and made his first three of the night.
Montour kept their foot on the gas, as Tre Hooper and Platz sunk back-to-back threes to push the lead to 23-9 in favor of Montour.
Ama Sow nearly brought the house down with one of the biggest poster attempts I’ve ever seen. The 6’11” big man has really improved his ball-handling ability this year. He crossed up one defender on the left wing, drove to the rack, and tried to hammer a two-handed dunk on another Moon defender. He didn’t make the dunk, but he did get fouled and sink both free throws. At the end of the first quarter, Montour led 25-11. Platz matched Moon’s team total with 11 in the quarter.
The second quarter was a bit more even, but Moon still had a very long way to go if they were going to make this a game. Sow continued to put his athleticism on display, this time on the defense end on a chase down block where he blocked the ball high off the glass.
Montour was rolling. They took a 33-16 lead into halftime.
Carter Tumulty gave Moon some life in the early parts of the 3rd quarter by knocking down two threes early in the quarter. The 6’6” senior is a legitimate sharpshooter, and I’d be surprised if some of the local colleges haven’t reached out to him lately.
Montour and Moon traded shots in the quarter and were pretty even throughout the third. Both teams scored 13 points in the quarter and Montour led 46-29 after the 3rd quarter.
Everything changed in the fourth quarter as Moon began to mount a massive comeback. Tumulty stayed hot from three, hitting several more in the quarter as Moon chipped away at the Montour lead. After a dunk by Amir Turner and another three from Tumulty, Moon had cut the Montour lead to single digits. The Tigers were back in the game and with 3:30 left they trailed by just 7 points.
I Moon Head Coach, Gino Palmosina, spoke after the game to his team’s heart during the comeback stretch. “I think we just fought. We were in the hole from the first quarter on, and I told them, we’re going to find out a lot about ourselves.” He gave credit to his team and Montour saying, “Going into the 4th it was still a 17-point lead, so you’ve got to give a lot of credit to our guys, but you have to credit Montour too. They were ready tonight.”
Sow continued to dominate in the quarter for Montour as he posted yet another 20 point and 20 rebound game.
Tumulty hit his 6th three of the night to get the lead back to 7, but that was as close as Moon would get. Sow capped his massive night with another two-handed slam and Montour went on to win 60-50.
Sow was fantastic in this one. He finished the game with 23 points, 24 rebounds, and 6 blocks. I spoke to the Montour star after the game and he was as humble as any player could be, saying, “I’m just thankful for my teammates. They work as hard as anyone else.
Give credit to AJ Alston and Trey Hopper. They may not score very much, but they make big plays and guard the other team’s best players.” He continued to pour on the praise for his teammates, speaking to how they’ve stepped up all year. “Colton Straight and Kaleb Platz also showed up when teams double-team me. I don’t have to score 20 points every game, and their presence on the floor helps me get open.”
The Spartans have one more conference game left on the regular season schedule. They play Ringold on Monday where they will be heavy favorites. If they can get the win there, they’ll finish the regular season with a record of 21-1 and a perfect 13-0 in conference.
Montour is set to be the number one seed in all of 5A. I spoke to Montour Head Coach, Bill Minear, after the game and asked him how he feels about his team heading into the playoffs next week.
“I think on any night we can beat anybody, but we’ve got to get a little more disciplined,” Minear said. “I think we lost our discipline in this game a little bit and let Moon back in the game. They’re good. They’re well coached.”
Moon is heading to the playoffs as well, finishing the regular season with a 17-5 overall record and an 8-4 record in conference. It will be interesting to see where they get seeded when the brackets are revealed on Monday. Montour and Moon are undoubtedly two of the best teams in 5A. These guys may very well see each other again in the playoffs.