Cougars pick up victory

North Putnam senior Brayden Dahlstrom defends Southmont's Andrew Actis during the Cougars' 59-44 win over the Mounties Tuesday.

Turnovers can always come back to bite you in the end.

And the North Putnam High School boys' basketball team managed to show the Southmont Mounties how that works Tuesday evening as the Cougars picked up a 59-44 home victory.

North Putnam forced Southmont to commit 25 turnovers Tuesday, including 13 in the first quarter en route to the win.

"We knew they were susceptible (to turnovers) on the press," NPHS coach Wes Peek said following the win. "We try to score on transition."

The Cougars took advantage of the first-quarter turnovers and led, 15-6, heading into the second period.

Despite forcing the turnovers and increasing the lead to as many as 16 twice in the second quarter, Peek said he believed the Cougars still didn't quite as well on the defensive side of the ball Tuesday.

"We didn't play very hard defense," he said. "We had a hard time finding (Southmont's Tyler Price).

"We relied way too much on our offense."

Price led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-10 from beyond the arc, before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

The Cougars had a 14-point, 35-21, lead heading into halftime after forcing Southmont to commit 16 turnovers.

Southmont got as close as 13 points in the third quarter before mounting a run in the final period.

A bucket by Cale Buck and a four-point play from Justen Stewart with 2:12 remaining in regulation brought the Mounties within 10.

However, North Putnam got seven combined free throws from Max Schreiber, Brayden Dahlstrom and Tyler Trent in the waning minutes to preserve the victory.

"I thought our kids played hard," Peek said.

Jake Mullis led North Putnam with 15 points while Zack Hedrick and Dahlstrom both had 14. Trent also had eight points in the win.

In junior varsity action, the Cougars lost, 34-30, falling to 0-8 on the season. Kyle Adams and Jacob Lasiter both had eight points to pace NPHS while Mitch Hadley had six and Brock Jones had four.

The Cougars (7-3, 1-1) face Cloverdale on the road Friday, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

At North Putnam

Southmont 6 15 10 13 -- 44

North Putnam 15 20 12 12 -- 59

Southmont -- Price 7-15 1-1 18, Buck 3-7 1-2 7, Stewart 2-4 1-1 7, Actis 2-3 1-2 5, B. Burkett 0-1 0-0 0, VanScoyoc 1-5 0-0 2, Rash 1-1 0-0 3, Truncone 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 1-6 0-0 2, J. Burkett 0-0 0-0 0, Nichols 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-43 FG, 4-6 FT, 44 TP.

North Putnam -- Mullis 5-14 5-8 15, Trent 3-7 1-2 8, Hedrick 4-6 6-6 14, Dahlstrom 4-6 6-6 14, Blaydes 2-3 0-0 6, Schreiber 0-2 2-2 2, Young 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 20-47 FG, 14-18 FT, 59 TP.

3-pt. FG -- S 6-16 (Price 3-10), NPHS 6-18 (Blaydes 2-3). Rebounds -- S 19 (Price 5), NPHS 18 (Mullis 5). Blocks -- S 3 (B. Burkett 2), NPHS 3 (Hedrick 2). Assists -- S 11 (Price, Stewart 3), NPHS 7 (Dahlstrom 3). Steals -- S 7 (Price, Buck 2), NPHS 12 (Mullis 5). Total Fouls -- S 17, NPHS 8. Fouled Out -- Price (S). Turnovers -- S 25, NPHS 15.

Junior Varsity -- North Putnam (0-8) lost, 34-30.

Next Game -- The Cougars (7-3, 1-1) face Cloverdale on the road Friday at 7:30 p.m.