HUGHESVILLE–Chance Quimby played stifling defense, skillfully ran the offense and stuffed the stat sheet. He repeatedly made hustle plays, frustrated the opposition and never tired.

Oh yeah, the South Williamsport point guard also scored a career-high 20 points and drained five 3-pointers.

Those points were a bonus because, take them away, and Quimby still played a marvelous game Monday at Hughesville. So did his teammates and South showed how good it can be, dismantling Hughesville, 61-18. Quimby added four assists and three steals, Andrew Walter (12 points, 8 rebounds) made a run at a double-double and every Mountie relentlessly competed while playing unselfishly as South (8-4) won its third straight game.

“Team basketball is absolutely the best basketball you can play,” Quimby said. “That momentum of everyone going all-out is exhilarating. That’s an awesome feeling. Everyone was going hard and that’s what we need.”

Quimby has never had an issue going hard. He is the kind of player a coach never needs motivate to give a little extra. The junior has done so throughout his basketball life and set the tone on both ends against a team which lost a shootout to South, 76-68 a year earlier.

As impressive as his offense was, it was the defense Quimby played which might have made the biggest difference. Often marked to defend the opponent’s best guard, Quimby drew Gavin Knarr who entered averaging 19 points per game. He limited the outstanding junior to a season-low six points, four which came when Quimby was on him.

Every Mountie did his part but Quimby holding Knarr to just three shots in the middle quarters played a massive role in squeezing the life from an offense which had so much success against South last year. By halftime, the Mounties led 24-9, pushed the advantage to 22 entering the fourth, then erupted for 14 quick points in less than three minutes while imposing the mercy rule.

“He’s a beast. I couldn’t let him get hot. He’s long and quick and I just had to not let him get his shot,” Quimby said. “I had to keep him in front and just work hard. I like taking that (defensive) challenge.”

South likes having Quimby be a jack of all trades. A first-time starter as a sophomore last year, Quimby has settled into being the floor general and embraces doing all the dirty work which may be overlooked by some, but which his coaches and teammates know is so vital to winning.

“He usually gets the cream of the crop when we’re playing defense and then you have him leading the offense as well, so to hold Gavin to six points was great,” South coach Joe Simon said. “He did an excellent job.”

That included offensively.

Quimby was feeling it early and often and drained four of his career-best five 3-pointers in the first half. The Mounties were firing defensively at that point, but Quimby’s Curry-like shooting helped it seize momentum offensively as well after a slow star.

It took less than a minute for Quimby to show Hughesville that the second half would mirror the first. He quickly deflected a pass which Bobby Regan stole before drilling his fifth 3-pointer and making it, 27-10. Quimby closed the third quarter with a buzzer-beating comeback then opened the fourth with three quick assists as South kept rolling.

“I don’t really know what to say. It doesn’t happen very often. I was just hot tonight, I guess,” Quimby said. “That feels good and, hopefully, I can keep it going.”

Even when Quimby missed, several shots looked on target and it’s not a stretch saying he was an inch here or there from having a 30-point game. Either way, it was another step forward as Quimby pounced when open looks came his way.

“He looked for his opportunities,” Simon said. “We’ve been telling him last year and this year if those opportunities present themselves, shoot confidently and tonight was a great example of that.”

When South did miss shots, there often was a hustling Mountie there for a rebound. The Mounties dominated the glass and Walter, Regan (8), Butler (6), Jaymes Carpenter (6) and Samir Moy (5) all grabbed at least five. Neeko Bowen also was a factor inside and, conversely, while it earned second chance scoring opportunities, South frequently held Hughesville to one shot and done.

“Andrew, Jaymes, Neeko and Bobby down low controlled the boards all night long. (Alex) Schultz is a dangerous threat down there but we had him in check,” Simon said. “That’s a great effort by the big guys, and everyone on the team.”

South ran its half-court offense well and also turned its ferocious defense into quick-strike points. That was especially true in the second half when the Mounties forced 16 turnovers. During that 14-2 blitz in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter, South created four turnovers while allowing just one shot.

Regan made five steals, Walter four and Moy two off the bench. South never allowed more than seven points in a quarter and hounded Hughesville into a 7 for 39 shooting performance. To put into perspective how dominant South’s defensive performance was, it held Hughesville to fewer points overall than Knarr was averaging (19) coming in.

Assistant coach Rick Moser built a scouting report after watching Hughesville play, the coaches directed it and then watched as the players brilliantly executed it.

“I told them nothing easy on the defensive end,” Simon said. “We had a big enough lead that if they had to work for every shot, they won’t have enough time to come all the way back with that. I’m glad they finished all the way through.”

Doing so offered South a look at how dangerous it could be moving forward if it continues building off this performance. Because at the heart of South’s success was a relentless desire by each player. The Mounties hustled from start to finish; all played like it was the seventh game of the NBA Finals and all made big impacts.

“This season we had won two in a row twice and lost the next one, so our goal was to get that third in a row,” Quimby said. “We had to do whatever we needed to do to get that third one, so hopefully we keep going. I think we have a lot of good things coming if we keep working like this.”

SOUTH (61)

Bobby Regan 3 1-3 7, Andrew Walter 5 2-2 12, Samir Moy 2 1-3 5, Neeko Bowen 2 1-2 5, Chance Quimby 7 1-2 20, Levi Butler 2 0-2 5, Jaymes Carpenter 1 0-0 2, Jax Miller 2 0-0 5. Totals 24 6-14 61.

HUGHESVILLE (18)

Gavin Knarr 3 0-0 6, Alex Schultz 2 1-2 5, Evan Mackenzie 1 0-0 2, Malachi Flowers 0 0-0 0, Jonah Heiney 0 1-4 1, Gage Webb 0 2-2 2, Carson Stackhouse 1 0-0 2, Tyson Harrington 0 0-0 0, Everett Shander 0 0-0 0, Julien Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 4-8 18.

South 10 14 14 23–61

Hughesville 4 5 7 2–18

3-pointers: South 7 (Quimby 5, Butler, Miller).

Records: South 8-4. Hughesville 5-9.