Moore leads Eagles over Wildcats 62-61

Wednesday, February 13, 2013
South Putnam junior Trey Moore drives in for a shot against Tri-West in a game earlier this year. Moore had 31 points and 10 rebounds in the win against South Vermillion on Tuesday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

Fans of down-to-the-wire games were welcome at South Putnam Tuesday night as the Eagles' boys' basketball team welcomed the South Vermillion Wildcats to town and won 62-61.

Junior Trey Moore scored 31 points for the Eagles in the win.

"He was huge," SPHS coach Troy Burgess said. "He made buckets when we needed them and he made free throws down the stretch when we needed them."

The Eagles got off to a slow and ineffiecnet start only scoring 10 points in the first quarter while attempting 18 shots.

The quarter was filled with shots going up and rebounds coming down. There were 33 total shots in the first and 23 total rebounds. Both teams played well defensively as the Eagles only fouled two times and the Wildcats three.

The Eagles had a little momentum going into the second as senior Logan Pell hit a three-point bucket as time expired to cut the deficit to four, 14-10.

"I thought we played hard early, we just couldn't buy a bucket early on," Burgess said. "Sometimes that happens."

The second quarter was no different than the first with the Eagles allowing more points than they scored. The Eagle did outrebound the Wildcats 9-4 in the quarter, though.

SPHS came out of the half with a fire under its wings to take a 45-43 at the end of the third quarter.

South Putnam had only three turnovers in the third quarter to go along with seven rebounds. The third quarter was also big for the Eagles as they drew five fouls, which helped them down the stretch.

As the buzzer to signal the end of the third sounded the scoreboard read in the Eagles favor 45-43. What South Putnam didn't know was the Wildcats would come out storming in the fourth.

A fantastic finish was brewing and the Eagles were prepared.

The Wildcats scored five points in the first minute to take a 48-45 lead. The Eagles called a timeout to halt the momentum.

The whole gym, including the coaches and teams, were in for a treat because the Trey Moore Show was about to begin.

The Eagles best shooter, junior Sawyer Arnold, was benched with 6:49 left in the fourth due to picking up his fourth foul. This game though, it didn't matter because Moore picked up 21 of his game-high 31 points, which was half of the teams total, in the second half.

With 4:50 left in the game, the Eagles were down by one and Moore was fouled. He was sent to the line and he sank both free throws to take a 51-50 lead.

The Wildcats took the ball up the floor and senior Kaden Lawson drove into the paint for what looked like an easy layup. Moore slid over and drew the charge; the Eagles had the ball back.

On that next possession Moore was fed the ball, got hacked on the way up and still made the shot. He added the free throw to take a four point lead 54-50.

South Vermillion got the ball back and drove the lane again, this time there was no charge, but Moore was there again, this time to block the shot and control the ball.

South Vermillion was able to grab the lead with 2:30 left in the game as sophomore Jordan Branz drained a three to take a two-point lead 57-55.

Moore was fouled on the next possession and sank two more free throws to tie the game at 57.

Wildcats junior Nathan Luft committed a foul on Moore and fouled out with the game tied at 57-all. Moore went to the line and sank both free throws again to gain a 59-57 lead.

With time running down past the 25-second mark the Wildcats had the ball and Lawson shot a three from way beyond the three-point line. It went in and the Wildcats had a one-point lead, 61-60.

The Eagles called two timeouts and the ball was fed into the post. Moore received the ball and was fouled with 3.4 seconds left. Just like the four times prior, he sank both free throws to take a one-point lead.

The Eagle crowd had a scare, though, being reminded of the 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball championship game when Butler's Gordon Heyward had a half court heave clank off the rim. Tonight, so did Lawson's last attempt and the Eagles went home happy.

Moore had an excellent game en route to a double-double by adding 10 boards.

The Eagles forced 12 turnovers and as a team fought until the very end.

"We played hard, I was proud of us tonight," Burgess said.



At South Putnam
South Vermillion 14 17 12 18 -- 61
South Putnam 10 15 20 17 -- 62

Individual scoring
South Vermillion: Lawson 27, Branz 16, Hines 6, Spivey 4, Strayer 4, Waldrop 3, Crouch 1.
South Putnam: Moore 31, Bumgardner 8, Franklin 6, Pell 6, Arnold 5, Long 4, Chestnut 2.

Team scoring (three-pointers)
SV: 15-40 (7-17) 10-17 61, SP 18-41 (3-12) 17-22 62.

Rebounds
SV 27, SP 30.

Turnovers
SV 12, SP 12.

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