Turnovers plague South Putnam Eagles in loss at Danville

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Danville -- The Eagles girls' basketball team looked to start turning things around Wednesday night after a slow start to the season. They were unable to convert in a 59-15 loss to the Danville Warriors.

The Eagles (1-6) started their season off with an overtime win over the Rockville Rox, but had since lost six straight. The Warriors (3-2) were coming off a heart-breaking loss to the Beech Grove Hornets.

"We've got to become more focused. We got to adjust to the defense," SPHS coach Bill Merkel said, "(My girls) expect they're (opponent) just going to give us what we want, but we've seen it enough to know it's not going to happen."

Both teams looked to bounce back, but sloppy play plagued both to start the game. Danville looked to do SPHS a favor by only going 7-for-32 in the first half shooting, but the Eagles repaid the favor with 28 first half turnovers. They had 42 in all.

The Eagles only put up eight points in the first half on just seven shots total. The Warriors were able to post 28.

"We couldn't get into our offense. When we did it was a forced shot up or we threw the ball away," Merkel said.

The second half worked more in Danville's favor. The Warriors were able to hit most of their shots, and they were able to command the offensive boards with 10. Danville sophomore Hannah Newby scored 20 of her 25 points in the half and helped her team stretch out the lead. She was able to command the tempo when they were in need. SPHS senior Aubrey Nichols led her team with seven points.

Turnovers still hurt the Eagles. They were able to get more shots off in the half, but only one of them fell through the net, a 3-point shot by junior Ariel Higgins. The Eagles were able to add six free throws to their total.

The pressure forced the Eagles into some hard playing. Danville got 23 steals on the night which led to 31 points.

Questionable calls put the Eagles into foul trouble, leading to junior Emily Dobson and sophomore Jessica Modglin fouling out. Merkel said just when they would start to get some momentum a call would go against them and they would lose focus. It's a hard game to appreciate and the Eagles have to create some momentum, he said.

Despite the lack of offense, SPHS was able to out-rebound the Warriors 29-22.

All-in-all it was a tough night for South Putnam and Danville proved to be the better team for the moment. The Eagles will look to get better as they have five days before they take on South Vermillion in a home game on Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m.

"We go to improve on simple, basic things like passing the ball. If someone's on you, you got to get open," Merkel said.



Team Scoring

South Putnam2634 -- 15
Danville12161516 -- 59

Individual Scoring
South Putnam (4-27): Nichols 7, Higgins 3, Lady 2, Modglin 2, Dobson 1
Danville (21-55): Newby 25, Motter 12, Lake 10, Kiefer 7, Ford 2, Sims 2, Lynch 1

Team Stats

_SPDV
Rebounds (OFF)(6)29(10)22
Assists03
Turnovers4212
Blocks01
3-pt FG(1-7)(0-9)
Steals623
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