North Putnam falls to Cascade

Saturday, December 19, 2009
North Putnam's Dakota Malayer looks to pass the ball around a Cascade defender Friday.

CLAYTON -- Between Brandyce Salle and Alex Morgan, the Lady Cougars didn't stand a chance Friday night as North Putnam lost to Cascade 57-35 in its West Central Conference opener.

Salle amassed 21 points Friday, all in the first half, shooting 5-for-6 from downtown and hitting a perfect 6--for-6 from the free throw line.

"This was the first time all season that we went to the zone defense and we didn't do a very good job of rotating and knowing where the shooter was early in the game," NPHS coach Jim Brothers said.

Cascade out scored the Lady Cougars 18-7 in the first quarter, but could only hold the Lady Cougars to 15 in the second.

Sam Lucas was able to find some success in the paint in the second frame while Paxton Stephenson found the outside jumper.

But the last two quarters of the game weren't as nice for North Putnam. Both teams scored six points each in the third, but Cascade came out and put up 15 in the fourth compared to North Putnam's seven, thanks to Morgan. She had 10 of the Lady Cadets 15 fourth-quarter points. Morgan finished the night with 18 points.

"The fourth quarter we went to a man-to-man defense and their post player (Morgan) is a little bit different than most," Brothers said. "She has the ability to shoot outside and go inside for the score."

Along with their defense, the Cougars offense was misfiring as well. They shot 18 percent on 11-of-59 shooting from the field total and 20 percent from downtown on 3-of-15 shooting.

But even though his team lost, Brothers was a little more pleased with his team's performance that what he has been.

"I thought we had better effort tonight than we have had in the past few games," Brothers said. "We had a little more fire when we started the game, but we tried to force the ball too much.

"I don't like to lose," Brother added. "But I do feel better about how we played and how hard we played compared to the last two weeks. We just need to continue with this fire and get back to where we were."

The Lady Cougars are back in action on Jan. 7, when they travel to Fountain Central for a 7:30 p.m. tip off.

At Cascade

North Putnam 7 15 6 7 -- 35

Cascade 18 18 6 15 -- 57

Cascade -- B. Sallee 1 0-0 2, Rivera 1 0-0 3, B. Sallee 5 6-6 21, Smith 0 1-2 1, Suter 4 1-2 9, Stephenson 1 1-3 3, Morgan 5 8-8 18. Totals -- 17 FG, 16-21 FT, TP -- 57.

North Putnam -- Stephenson 2 0-0 4, Davis 1 2-4 4, Robinson 1 2-4 5, Malayer 3 0-0 8, Asbell 1 2-4 4, McGaughey 1 3-3 6, Lucas 2 0-0 4. Total -- 11 FG, 12-15 FT, 35 TP.

Next Game -- The Lady Cougars are back in action on Jan. 7, when they travel to Fountain Central for a 7:30 p.m. tip off.