High School Sports

The 2023 football season has now passed the midway point and with it comes the second of three non-intra county weeks with the Putnam County schools split between home and road games. Greencastle and Cloverdale will take lengthy trips this week as the Tiger Cubs head to Brown County while the Clovers will make a long jaunt to Decatur County to face South Decatur...

For a second-straight year, Alie Newby will represent South Putnam at the IHSAA Washington Girls’ Golf Regional. The only difference this year will be that Newby will be doing it solo, having attended last year’s regional with older sister Madie, the younger Newby shooting 99 to the elder sister’s 100...

Clay is a senior at Greencastle and participates in three sports, soccer, swimming and track.. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Clay Glessner: “Sports are super important. Being able to go out and put your all into something, especially physically, is key in my happiness. ...

The Greencastle Tiger Cub soccer teams were dominant in a sweep of the Edgewood Mustangs Thursday night at Harbison Stadium. Four goals from Micah Foss paced the boys to a 5-0 victory while a hat trick from Evie Briones and a pair of goals from Ali Dobbs gave the girls a 6-1 victory...

The Northview Knights showed the South Putnam Eagles why they are the Western Indiana Conference leader in volleyball on Thursday night at the Eagles Nest. The Knights relentlessly attacked the Eagles, who despite several valiant defense rallies fell 25-19, 25-8, 25-15...

Having hit a turbulent patch in the schedule over the past week, Greencastle hosted South Putnam looking to rebuild momentum in WIC play after losing two of three matches in the prior eight days. The two schools, who did not meet during the Putnam County Volleyball Tournament, played several lengthy rallies throughout the evening but the Tiger Cubs had a bit more to give of the offensive end, ending up with a 25-14, 25-20, 25-17 sweep of the Eagles...

BAINBRIDGE – The North Putnam Cougar volleyball team had several ups-and-downs in a non-conference matchup with the Bethesda Christian Patriots on Tuesday night. The hosts celebrated a sweep over the Patriots 25-18, 25-23, 25-22 while also celebrating senior Lexi Daigle crossing the 1,000-career assist mark...

BAINBRIDGE – After its win against Greencastle Aug. 28, North Putnam was in a race against itself to close out the final three WIC boys’ soccer contests and claim a title the school never had acquired before in the sport: a conference title. Wins over West Vigo and Northview left just Indian Creek as the last hurdle to overcome and, despite seeing their 10-match winning streak snapped at Crawfordsville just two days before, the Cougars didn’t falter, defeating the Braves 4-1 to sweep the conference slate and stand alone atop the WIC boys’ soccer peak.. ...

In the final weekend of racing before championship season begins, Greencastle hosted the Tiger Cub Invitational at Big Walnut Sports Park Saturday morning. Four of the six team races were won by Putnam County schools with South Putnam winning the boys’ high school race, North Putnam winning the girls’ middle school race, Bainbridge winning the boys’ elementary race and Tzouanakis winning the girls’ elementary race on tiebreak...

CLOVERDALE – If history is said not to repeat but often rhyme, North Putnam has a whole host of verses when it comes to Cloverdale in recent years. For a fourth-straight season, the Cougars picked up their first win of the season at the expense of the Clovers, going on the road and scoring seven times in the first half of a 48-0 win...

There was no letdown from Greencastle coming off a big win last week. Cole Stephens threw for 311 yards and six touchdowns while the Tiger Cub defense did their part, creating two turnovers and allowing just over 200 yards of offense to Sullivan as the hosts rolled to a 49-21 victory over the Golden Arrows at Harbison Stadium Friday night...

ELLETTSVILLE – South Putnam traveled to the red turf of Edgewood on Friday night and made big play after big play in a high school football game. The Eagles scored eight touchdowns, seven of them on plays 35 yards or longer. The Class A No. 6 Eagles did all this with their top three wideouts missing from the lineup and didn’t seem to miss a beat as they picked up the win 56-13...

BRAZIL – South Putnam senior Alie Newby extended her season an additional week after qualifying for the Washington Regional from the IHSAA Girls’ Golf Northview Sectional Friday afternoon. Newby shot 93, the lowest individual score from a non-qualifying team, to lead the Eagles to a sixth-place finish on the day with a score of 454...

After the wild shootout between Greencastle and South Putnam last week, the midpoint of the 2023 season will see the other half of the county square off when North Putnam travels to Cloverdale. The Tiger Cubs and Eagles will square off against WIC Large Division foes this week as the former hosts Sullivan, looking to build off last week’s win, while the latter travels to Edgewood...

BAINBRIDGE – The Northview Knights visited North Putnam in a showdown of volleyball teams with unblemished records in the Western Indiana Conference Thursday night. The Knights had played one of the toughest schedules in the state and had dominated other WIC teams it had faced while the Cougars had continually improved and shown that they are force to be reckoned with...

CRAWFORDSVILLE – North Putnam’s boys’ soccer team fell from the undefeated ranks with a 3-2 loss to Crawfordsville Thursday, but there are bigger goals on the horizon. “We have at least a share of the conference championship,” Cougars coach Kyle Morgan said. “With a win Saturday, we win the league outright. It is the first conference title in school history, and the guys are really hungry for Saturday...

Keiara is a senior at Cloverdale and participates in one sport, golf. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Kieria Allen: “Sports are pretty important. It’s a good way to bond and better yourself as an athlete. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”...

The Northview Knights came into McAnally Center Wednesday night and handed the Tiger Cubs a straight-set (25-14, 25-16,25-14) loss to stay undefeated in the Western Indiana Conference volleyball action. The Knights wasted little time getting started, jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead as Keira Lucas had two kills in that stretch...

CLOVERDALE – After a four-year stay at the top of the county girls’ golf standings was broken last year, North Putnam made a quick return to the top spot Monday night. The Cougars shot 216 as a team at Clover Meadows, placing three golfers in the All-County positions and a fourth just outside, to reclaim the team title at the Putnam County Golf Match...

Just looking at a scoreboard does not always tell someone how well or poorly a team has played. The Edgewood Mustangs came into McAnally Center and defeated the Greencastle Tiger Cubs 25-13, 25-18, 25-13 for a 3-0 sweep in Western Indiana Conference volleyball action...

BAINBRIDGE – The North Putnam Cougar volleyball team battled for all it had but came up short as the Danville Warriors handed it a 25-19, 27-25, 25-13 loss in non-conference action Monday night. The Warriors took advantage of a slow start by the Cougars, jumping out 4-0. ...

CLOVERDALE – Going into Saturday’s Putnam County Volleyball Tournament, most of the attention focused on the second match of the day, pitting Greencastle and North Putnam, with the winner a heavy favorite to win the tournament. The Cougars won the match over the Tiger Cubs to meet South Putnam in the championship game and while the Eagles tried to subvert the pre-tournament expectations, North Putnam returned to the top of the county standings with a 25-21, 25-15 win...

A much-anticipated matchup of 1A girls’ soccer between No. 12 Cascade and No. 13 Greencastle lived up to its billing on Saturday at Robert L. Harbison Stadium. The relentless pressure by the Tiger Cubs eventually led to a 3-1 victory for Greencastle. The stylistically different squads led to some exciting soccer and a match that was in doubt until the final minute...

Greencastle and Cascade played the second match of a boys and girls doubleheader to a 3-3 draw in high school soccer action on Saturday afternoon. The Cadets rallied late to erase a two-goal deficit during a foul-plagued ending to an excellent soccer match...

While there have been shootouts in Putnam County football games in the past, Greencastle and South Putnam went to a level rarely, if ever, seen before Friday night. The two teams combined to score 100 points and yet it took a score in the final 30 seconds for the game to be decided as the Tiger Cubs broke a five-game losing streak to the Eagles, claiming a 51-49 win that kept the Putnam County Bucket in hand while also putting Greencastle in the driver’s seat in the WIC Small School Division...

WHITESTOWN – The North Putnam Cougars made the trip to Whitestown to take on the Covenant Christian Warriors on Friday night. Defense was optional in the contest as the two teams combined for 940 total yards and 81 points, but the Cougars came out on the short end, losing 44-37 in tightly contested matchup...

CLAYTON — With the Cloverdale football team on a two-game win streak, the Clovers came into Cascade with some confidence. The Cadets stuck to what worked a year ago, controlling both lines of scrimmage, and rushed for 447 yards while holding Cloverdale to under 50 yards of offense en route to a 68-0 non-conference victory over the Clovers...

The first signing for the class of 2024 came just days into September. While many seniors are still in early stages of deciding where to commit their academic and potential athletic futures, North Putnam’s Alexa Stiff will not have to worry about the process after signing on to play volleyball at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods for the 2024-25 school year...

Sports Editor’s Note: Last week’s preview stated that the game between North Putnam and South Putnam would be played for the Putnam County Bucket. This was incorrect as Greencastle is the current holder of the Bucket. Apologies for any confusion caused...

Brady is a senior at North Putnam and participates in two sports, soccer and basketball. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Brady Barber: “They’ve been important to me for a long time. I’ve played since I was real little. I’ve learned how to be friends with people, leadership skills, as well as life skills in general.”...

BAINBRIDGE – The depth and overall game of the North Putnam Cougar volleyball team was evident as they defeated the visiting Parke Heritage Wolves 25-16, 25-17, 25-19 to win in three sets. The Cougars aggressively stalked the net and even more so attacked the Wolves from the service line. The Cougars posted 15 aces on the night and only trailed one time on the night at 2-1 in the first set...

Greencastle swept a pair of soccer matches against Southmont Thursday night, the Tiger Cub girls winning 5-0 while the boys defeated the Mounties 3-0. First half goals from Evie Briones and Ali Dobbs gave the hosts a 2-0 platform to build off of in the opening match...

In its final tune-up ahead of the Putnam County Volleyball Tournament Saturday, Greencastle bounced back from being swept at Cascade Tuesday with a sweep of North Montgomery Wednesday evening. It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing for the Tiger Cubs but the hosts did what was necessary in a 25-20, 25-18, 25-19 win over the Chargers...

BAINBRIDGE – The North Putnam Cougar volleyball set the tone early in a Western Indiana Conference match against the West Vigo Vikings. The Cougars dominated the first two sets of the match winning easily, then after dropping the third, rallied and put the nail in the coffin...

BAINBRIDGE — The North Putnam Cougar boys’ soccer team was able to get two goals in each half, in a game delayed for a lengthy time by lightning, to remain undefeated and atop of the WIC standings with a 4-1 victory over the West Vigo Vikings Tuesday evening...

BAINBRIDGE – There will be much to ponder for both South Putnam and North Putnam after Friday night’s 28-6 win for the visitors. While both teams continued their opposite trends to start the season as the Eagles moved to 3-0 and the Cougars to 0-3, both sides left the field with questions needing answered...

Sometimes in football you cannot go by stats and time of possession, as was the case Friday night as Greencastle got coach Dave Stephens his first win. Four touchdown passes from Cole Stephens and two scores a piece for Lamar Moore, Brendle Brennan and Anthony Adams led the Tiger Cubs to a 56-18 victory over the visiting West Vigo Vikings...

NASHVILLE – The Cloverdale Clovers did not exactly play a textbook type of pretty game, but they dominated the line of scrimmage and used a big first half to defeat the Brown County Eagles 28-6 in a Western Indiana Conference matchup. The Clovers had five 10-yard or more plays in their first six offensive snaps and jumped out to big lead to pick up the victory...

The first third of the 2023 football season will be complete after Friday night’s contests with the second intracounty game taking place between North Putnam and South Putnam while Greencastle looks for its first win of the season against West Vigo, and Cloverdale looks to accomplish a feat it has not done since 2018 when it visits Brown County...

Mackenzie is a senior at South Putnam and participates in one sport, golf. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Mackenzie Lovett: “Sports are definitely very important to me. I take sports seriously and have always been passionate about them. I grew up playing sports and will hopefully continue to play sports beyond school. It’s definitely a learning experience. If you mess up, keep trying and don’t take anything for granted.”...

CLOVERDALE – The Greencastle Tiger Cub volleyball team looked sharp and handled the host Cloverdale Clovers in straight sets 25-4, 25-20, 25-8 in WIC action Thursday night. Greencastle came out firing, scoring the first six and did not look back. With the score 10-4, the Cubs scored the last 15 points to quickly take the first set. Five different Cubs had kills in the set, including three from Keely Amis. It would be a good night for the Greencastle hitters...

Normally the most aggressive team in sports wins and Thursday night at South Putnam was no different. The North Putnam Cougars swept the Eagles in a Western Indiana Conference volleyball game with an effective, aggressive net game 25-17, 25-21, 25-12...

BAINBRIDGE – Running on a six-match win streak, North Putnam took on a new addition to the schedule in Covington, the dominant force of the Wabash River Conference. The Trojans quickly showed why they had won nine of the last 10 conference titles to the west with a 25-21, 25-16, 25-13 sweep of the Cougars Tuesday night...

The Greencastle Tiger Cubs volleyball team powered through to win in straight sets 25-13,25-23, 25-17 over the visiting South Vermillion Wildcats Tuesday night in non-conference volleyball action. The Cubs started slow to begin the match as they had some early trouble with the Wildcat service game and fell behind early 6-3...

CLOVERDALE – The Cloverdale Clover volleyball team came close but could not quite get over the hump for its first win of the season on Tuesday night on Al Tucker Court. The Clovers lost a tough match to the Bloomfield Cardinals in five sets, 25-18, 13-25, 25-22, 14-25, 7-15. The loss dropped the Clovers to 0-8, while the Cardinals improved to 2-7 on the season...

There was elation. Despondency. Water coolers thrown. Appeals. Wild yelps and angry stares. Mostly, there was just confusion. Greencastle and North Putnam played out a 0-0 match Monday night which, due to its status as a WIC boys’ soccer match, required a winner and penalties were ordered to break the deadlock...

If you saw it once, you saw it in triplicate. It, Monday, being an Ali Dobbs goal against Danville. The junior netted a hat trick against the Warriors with three almost identical strikes, goals that were needed after the visitors rallied midway through the second half but not enough to keep the Tiger Cubs from moving to 4-0 with a 3-2 win...

BRAZIL – South Putnam finished as the top Putnam County team at the WIC Girls’ Golf Match Saturday afternoon, posting a round of 459 at Forest Park GC. Hosts Northview won the event for a sixth-straight year, shooting 409 as the course was waterlogged following heavy rains in the overnight hours...

BRAZIL – With 13.8 seconds left in the second quarter of Friday night’s high school football game between Class 4A No. 13 Northview and visiting Greencastle, the Tiger Cubs pulled off the improbable to head into the locker room with a lead. Freshman quarterback Cole Stephens, who had very little time to make a decision due to the Northview pass rush, spun out of trouble and threw a pass in the vicinity of wide receiver Brendle Brennan...