They and all the Mounties certainly played well Friday night. The present and future came together, and South Williamsport continued pulling closer as a team, defeating Montgomery, 59-22. Abby Akers scored 18 points, Ella Moore 15, Apker eight and the Mounties (10-7) made 29 steals, while winning a fourth straight game and moving within a victory of clinching a District 4 Class AAA playoff berth.

“It’s really nice, especially with where we are at this point in the season, putting it together,” Apker said after adding four rebounds, two assists and two steals. “I’m happy about it.”

South is happy it has Apker.

The senior co-captain not only plays well but also leads well. She and fellow senior Akers have helped Quimby and Reidy make steady progress throughout their first seasons starting while becoming weapons themselves.

Abigail Holbrook (20) of South Williamsport pulls in a rebound against Montgomery in Montgomery. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

That shined through during the first quarter when Quimby and Reidy each made three steals and helped South build an 18-5 lead. Apker scored six of her eight points in that quarter and all five starters combined to make a remarkable 15 steals.

“Just Kaitlyn mentoring some of the girls and taking them under her wing and showing them the ropes has been a huge help,” South coach Aaron Green said. “She’s very good at picking people up when they’re down and encouraging people. She plays that role to perfection, and you need a player like that.”

Apker playing a sisterly role has especially helped South in exciting, hard-fought road wins at Meadowbrook Christian, Line Mountain and Bucktail. In all those games, young players made huge plays late to help the Mounties win.

South erased a 13-point fourth quarter deficit at Meadowbrook and freshman Coco Kline hit the game-winning free throws after Reidy helped force overtime. Last Wednesday, Quimby hit the game-winner in a comeback overtime win at Bucktail.

Excellence is not just being good oneself but bringing the best out of one’s teammates, too. Apker is thriving there.

Abigail Holbrook (20) of South Williamsport passes out of the Montgomery defence in Montgomery. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“It was hard at the beginning of the season,” Quimby said. “It’s gotten easier as the year has gone on, especially with my teammates helping me.”

Quimby helped South again Friday, reading the defense well and playing super defense. She scored six points in the middle quarters, collected five steals and added two assists.

“(My teammates) have helped me a lot,” Quimby said. “They guide me what to do and if I’m not doing great on the floor, they tell me to keep my head up and stay in a positive mindset.”

As with Apker, what Quimby does goes beyond what the stats say. Green looks at Quimby and sees a young Akers, a player capable of hurting opponents in a variety of ways. He also sees a relentless worker who keeps getting better as she gains more experience.

South has made a three-win improvement since last season. Quimby’s talent certainly has helped along the way but so has her determination.

Ella Moore of South Williamsport puts up a shot against Montgomery in Montgomery. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“She puts in extra time at practice and stays late and shoots and is always picking our brains on what she has to do to get better,” Green said. “When you have a freshman that does that, the sky is the limit.”

Apker and fellow returning starters, Akers and Moore, are helping the younger plays reach toward those heights. South has won some thrillers but also lost some heartbreakers. Instead of crumbling, however, the Mounties have started surging down the stretch.

It started with a strong performance in a close loss at Central Mountain two weeks ago and continued Friday with South landing an early knockout blow and building a 41-9 halftime lead.

“A lot of the younger players can get in their heads, but they’re getting out of that and moving on and that helps us a lot,” Apker said. “Last year was really rough. As a team we weren’t as close as a team and this year we’ve really come together and it’s great to see it work.”

Apker talks the talk, but more importantly is walking the walk. Watching how she approaches the game before, during and after has helped the first-time contributors. That includes Kline, Brielle Borgess, Abigail Holbrook, Ava Oeler and Kloey Persun, players who all either scored, assisted, made steals or grabbed rebounds against Montgomery.

Ella Moore of South Williamsport puts up a shot against Montgomery in Montgomery. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Coaches can talk until they are blue in the face. Sometimes, though, it takes a teammate setting an example to get the message through and that is where Apker is especially valuable.

“She is very competitive, but you hardly ever see her get down on herself,” Green said. “When she makes a mistake, she owns it and tries to hustle to make a play after it. That’s what we preach, the next play. She really buys into that, and you see it on the court.”

South seemingly saw everything on the court Friday, making 22 steals by halftime. That vision translated to the offense and the Mounties brilliantly moved the ball, producing 16 assists on their 19 field goals. Akers dished five assists and Moore three. Moore made a team-high eight steals and helped South break open the game in the second quarter when she scored 10 of her 15 points.

Akers scored 17 of her 18 points in the first half and drained four first-half 3-pointers. She and Moore both grabbed five rebounds as well. The backcourt duo also scored seven straight points in 30 seconds after Montgomery pulled within 19-7 early in the second quarter. That sparked a 23-point quarter as South continued building momentum.

“We want to get steals, not by reaching, but by playing smart and getting into passing lanes and deflecting a lot of passes,” Green said. “That’s a byproduct of the press that we’ve been working on every day in practice. It’s nice to see them rise to the challenge. It was a good team win.”

Kaitlyn Apker of South Williamsport is fouled by Anali Pick of Montgomery in Montgomery. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Montgomery continued fighting and put together a 9-0 third quarter run before South settled back in. Sophomore Paige Winters continued her strong debut season, scoring 11 points and making four steals. Addi Muhl scored seven points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Delilah Preitz totaled five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

SOUTH (59)

Abby Akers 5 4-6 18, Ella Moore 5 3-6 15, Kaitlyn Apker 2 4-4 8, Maddie Reidy 2 1-1 5, Carly Quimby 2 1-2 6, Coco Kline 0 1-2 1, Abigail Holbrook 0 0-0 0, Brielle Borgess 2 0-1 4, Ava Oeler 1 0-0 2, Kloey Persun 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 14-22 59.

MONTGOMERY (22)

Paige Winters 4 2-2 11, Addi Muhl 3 1-2 7, Anali Pick 0 0-2 0, Rihanna Arrendondo 0 0-0 0, Delilah Preitz 1 0-0 2, Aubrey Hetner 0 0-0 0, Adelyn Brown 1 0-0 2, Avelyn Moore 0 0-0 0, Gabby Hill 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 3-6 22.

South 18 23 10 8–59

Montgomery 5 4 11 2–22

3-pointers: South 7 (Akers 4, Moore 2, Quimby); Montgomery 1 (Winters).

Records: South 10-7. Montgomery 3-15.

Carly Quimby of South Williamsport and Gabby Hill of Montgomery in Montgomery. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Maddie Reidy of South Williamsport tries to steal the ball from Abby Brown of Montgomery in Montgomery. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette