Eagles fall to Mustangs

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Friday night just wasn't the South Putnam boys' basketball team's night.

The bigger and stronger Edgewood Mustangs rolled into town, cruising to a 66-32 victory over the Eagles.

"I'll just say that I thought Edgewood played really well," South Putnam Coach Kyle Brewer said. "I thought they exploited some of our weaknesses."

Edgewood did nearly everything right Friday, shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor and committing only six turnovers, while the Eagles struggled to get anything going offensively, shooting 36 percent and committing 20 turnovers.

The sophomore tandem of Tommy Weakley and Garrett Butcher led the Mustangs, establishing an effective inside-out game. The 5-foot-10 Weakley scored a game-high 19 points on six three-point field goals, while the 6-foot-6 Butcher had 13 points and five rebounds.

Junior Scott Pederson added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting for Edgewood.

"It's a pretty balanced group of guys. I thought their guys just really played harder than our guys," Brewer said. "They got to loose balls. They got offensive rebounds. They caused us a lot of problems with their pressure."

After Edgewood took an early 6-0 lead, South Putnam battled back early when Marcus McKinney connected with Matt Hicks for a layup cutting the Edgewood lead to 8-7 with just more than one minute remaining.

Butcher answered by hitting a layup, getting fouled and knocking down a free throw, giving the Mustangs an 11-7 lead going into the second quarter.

When Zach Rhine scored two quick points, and then connected with Hicks for another two, the Eagles tied the score at 11-all with 6:45 remaining in the second quarter.

However, Edgewood responded by going on a 10-0 run, making the score 21-11.

Despite South Putnam battling back with a 6-0 run, the Mustangs managed to answer with a 14-3 stretch, which gave them a 35-20 lead going into halftime.

The Eagles never recovered from the two long stretches in the second quarter. Hicks got in foul trouble in the third period, and the Eagles lacked a presence in the middle, putting up only four points in the stanza.

Hicks led South Putnam, going 5-of-6 from the field, scoring 11 points and grabbing six rebounds.

The Mustangs outrebounded the Eagles, 29-17.

"It's definitely a concern," Brewer said. "We have to find a group of five guys that are going to box out, and are going to go get the basketball. Like I said, their guys got to loose balls tonight, and their guys rebounded."

Greg Chestnut added 11 points, while Ben Anderson had a team-high four assists.

"We have to try and find some positives from this game, kind of put it behind us and look forward to the sectional," Brewer said.

South Putnam ends the regular season 9-11, while Edgewood finishes 16-3.

The Eagles host North Putnam Tuesday at 7 p.m.

"I think that we should be disappointed with the loss, but understand that after tonight our record is 0-0," Brewer said. "It's a new season and anything can happen in the tournament."

At South Putnam

Edgewood 7 13 4 8 -- 32

South Putnam 11 24 15 16 -- 66

Edgewood -- Breeden 2-3 0-0 4, Beeman 2-2 0-0 4, Deckard 0-2 0-0 0, Lay 1-3 0-4 2, Pederson 5-6 2-3 12, Miller 1-7 0-0 2, Lowers 4-10 0-2 8, Barger 1-2 0-0 2, Butcher 5-7 3-3 13, Weakley 6-12 1-2 19. Totals FG 27-56, FT 6-15, TP 66.

South Putnam -- Rhine 2-6 0-1 4, Christy 0-4 0-1 0, McKinney 1-1 0-1 3, Anderson 1-2 0-0 2, Chestnut 3-11 2-2 11, Tomasino 0-1 0-1 0, Hicks 5-6 0-0 11, Cash 0-0 0-1 0, Hammond 0-2 0-0 0. Totals FG 12-33, FT 2-6, TP 32.

3 pt. -- Edgewood 6 (Weakley 6), South Putnam 5 (Chestnut 3), Rebounds -- Edgewood 29 (Butcher 5, Miller 5), South Putnam -- 17 (Hicks 6), Assists -- Edgewood 17 (Deckard 4), South Putnam 9 (Anderson 4), Steals -- Edgewood 13 (Deckard 3, Lowers 3), South Putnam 3 (Anderson 1, Chestnut 1, Tomasino 1), Blocks -- Edgewood 1 (Weakley 1), South Putnam 3 (Rhine 2, Christy 1), Turnovers -- Edgewood 6, South Putnam 20, Team Fouls -- Edgewood 15, South Putnam 16, Technical Fouls -- Edgewood 1.

Next game -- South Putnam hosts North Putnam Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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