South Putnam boys lose to Monrovia

Friday, January 19, 2007

For the BannerGraphic

On Friday night, the South Putnam Eagles boys' basketball team hosted West Central Conference rival Monrovia in the second game of a boy-girl doubleheader.

The end of the game will be one remembered by those attending for a long time.

The Eagles were hoping to earn a victory against the Bulldogs, but Monrovia hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to give the visitors a 49-47 victory.

The game was evenly matched throughout, as South Putnam led at the end of the first quarter, 12-10, at halftime, 27-23, and at the end of the third quarter, 36-34.

However, the visitors were able to pull ahead of South Putnam in the fourth quarter.

Monrovia held its largest lead of the game, five points, with 1:39 left in the game, but the Eagles fought back as Ben Anderson hit Adam Nees with a perfect pass and Nees hit a two-point shot to close Monrovia's lead to 46-43.

Thirty seconds later, South Putnam's solid defense drew a charging foul by a Bulldog to get the ball back, and the Eagles attacked on offense.

Noah Boswell was fouled and hit two free throws to cut Monrovia's lead to 46-45 with 21.8 left, then Nees made a key steal of a Bulldog pass and the Eagles called time out with 14.1 seconds left.

South Putnam worked the ball and took a shot that missed, but Conor Frame grabbed the rebound and was fouled on the put-back with 0.8 showing on the clock.

Monrovia then called two time outs to 'ice' Frame, but he calmly hit both free throws, giving the home team a 47-46 lead.

However, the Bulldogs used a play made famous by Duke in the 1992 NCAA tournament against Kentucky.

Monrovia's Eric Sampson threw a three-fourths of the length of the court pass to Bulldog Zach Smith who was at the top of the key. He then turned around and hit a three-point shot as time expired, sinking South Putnam's hopes of defeating the visitors.

"Losing like this tonight is tough," said South Putnam coach Brian Gardner after the game.

"We defended their inbound pass well, and they almost got a five-second call, but they were able to make the play.

"I was really pleased with how we came back at the end of the game," Gardner added.

South Putnam had one player who scored in double figures, Ben Anderson with 13. Boswell followed with nine, Derek Cash chipped in seven. Cash had game-high eight rebounds and Anderson had five boards. Nees and Cash passed for game-high three assists each, and Nees had three steals.

The Eagles travel to Lizton today to play Class 2A 10th ranked Tri-West. The junior varsity game begins at 6 p.m.

At South Putnam

South Putnam 12 15 9 11 -- 47

Monrovia 10 13 11 15 -- 49

South Putnam (2-10, 0-5 WCC) -- Hammond 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 5-12 1-3 13, Sebanc 1-1 0-0 3, Nees 2-9 2-2 6, Tomaw 0-0 0-0 0, Frame 0-2 4-4 4, Cash 3-4 0-0 7, Boswell 0-3 9-10 9, Parker 2-3 1-4 5. Totals 13-34 FG 17-23 FT, 47 TP.

Monrovia (4-10, 2-3 WCC) -- Speck 8-16 1-1 18, Martin 0-1 2-2 2, Sampson 0-6 0-0 0, Smith 3-8 0-0 9, Grismore 1-2 0-0 2, Hadley 2-7 0-0 4, Duke 0-1 0-0 0, Connor 6-14 0-0 14. Totals 20-54 FG 3-3 FT, 49 TP.

3-pt. FG - SP 4-9 (Anderson 2-3, Sebanc 1-1, Nees 0-1, Cash 1-2, Boswell 0-2), M 6-16 (Speck 1-6, Sampson 0-1, Smith 3-5, Duke 0-1 0-0 0, Connor 2-3). Rebounds - SP 23 (Anderson 5, Nees 3, Tomaw 1, Frame 3, Cash 8, Parker 3), M 21 (Speck 6, Sampson 3, Smith 2, Grismore 3, Hadley 3, Duke 1, Connor 3). Blocks -- SP 1 (Cash), M 4 (Grismore 1, Hadley 3). Assists -- SP 9 (Hammond 1, Anderson 1, Nees 3, Cash 3, Boswell 1), M 3 (Speck 2, Connor 1). Steals -- SP 6 (Anderson 2, Nees 3, Cash 1), M 10 (Speck 5, Martin 1, Grismore 1, Hadley 2, Connor 1). Total fouls -- SP 19, M 20. Fouled out -- Grismore. Turnovers - SP 19, M 14.

Next game -- The Eagles travel to Lizton tonight (Saturday) to play Class 2A 10th ranked Tri-West. The junior varsity game begins at 6 pm.

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