South Putnam suffers loss to North Vermillion in OT

Thursday, December 30, 2010
South Putnam's Brayden Freeman dribbles up the court during Wednesday's game.

GREENCASTLE -- The South Putnam boy's basketball team battled throughout Wednesday night's contest against North Vermillion the night capper of the boys Holiday Tournament at South Putnam.

Falling behind early in the first quarter 11-2 the Eagles spent the rest of the game clawing their way back into the game. With 3.7 seconds left in the game, coming out of a timeout, they even put themselves in position to win the game.

The Eagles shot fell short though at the buzzer forcing them into overtime against the Falcons. The Falcons went 10 of 12 from the foul line in the overtime period and eventually won the game 44-38.

"We did a lot right tonight," said South Putnam Coach Micah Elliott. "The boys got down early but they battled back.

"When its close like tonight's game was it is the little mistakes that hurt you."

With the loss the Eagles will take on Cascade in the consolation game tonight starting at 6 p.m. Cascade fell to Cloverdale in the first game of the night 53-49.

In the game the Eagles look to avenge a loss earlier this season when they fell to Cascade by 12 points.

Elliott believes that if his team comes in, works hard and executes better tonight they will be able to keep the game close against the Cadets.

North Vermillion's pressure defense gave the Eagles problems throughout the night as South Putnam struggled to get the ball up the court. On offense the Falcons were content to stand out above the arch and hold the ball until the Eagles applied pressure on the ball.

"We knew going in that it was going to be a low scoring game," said Elliott. "In a game like that we needed to make every possession count and we left some points on the court."

Leading the way for the Eagles was senior Brayden Freeman with 12 points. South Putnam had six players that scored in the second half and overtime but at the end it wasn't enough.

Elliott said all in all he was happy with the way his team played.

With tonight's game the Eagles are 0-8 on the season.

At South Putnam

South Putnam 8 5 12 9 4 38

North Vermillion 11 6 11 7 10 44

Individual scoring

South Putnam -- Freeman 12, Stanton 6, Arnold 6, Gibson 5, Varvel 4, Hammond 10, Bumgardner 2. Totals 22-39 FG; 4-6 3PTS; 2-2 FT; 38 TP.

North Vermillion -- McCool 14, Clark 14, Zumwalt 6, Harrison 6, Kilgore 2, Woodard 1. Totals 13-26 FG; 1-5 3PTS; 15-23 FT; 44.