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Cougars lose to Rockville 47-41
ROCKVILLE -- The North Putnam boys' basketball team traveled to take on the Rockville Rox (2-2) on a snowy Friday night but fell after putting up a great fight, 47-41.
The Cougars (2-2, 0-0 WCC) had a significant disadvantage due to the height of the Rockville team. Five players on Rockville's team were taller than the Cougars tallest player. The Cougars still managed to get off good looks at the basket all night long.
"I thought all of our shots were good, but we have to be focused and tough enough to finish them when we get them," NPHS coach Lukas Haworth said.
The Cougars shot just 2-for-18 in the paint and missed 11 layups.
The Rox pressed the Cougars most of the night and it was easily broken most of the time.
"We decided instead of running it as a zone press we decided to run it as a man-to-man press," Haworth said. "We brought one guy up and sent one guy deep and decided to stretch their defense. Once they went back with the guys we sent down it made it easy for our guards to penetrate around it."
North Putnam played a zone defense most of the time and it worked quite well.
"The only times it didn't work was when we didn't get out on guys and we kept our hands down," Haworth said. "We knew that (the Rox) could shoot it but they needed time. Unfortunately, we gave them that time."
North Putnam was led on the night by three seniors, Shane Beaman, Bennett Hazelgrove and Jordan Nauert. Beaman found the open man all night long, assisting on three shots and stealing the ball twice. He also drained two 3s for six points.
Nauert was the man of the hour, keeping the Cougars in it all night. He finished with 22 points on 6-for-9 shooting from long range. Hazelgrove was a force in all facets of the game, scoring seven points, getting five steals and crashing the glass to pull down seven rebounds.
North Putnam will look to get back on track Saturday night when it travels to Crawfordsville to take on the Athenians. After that the team looks forward to a week of practice.
"If we work on getting hands up on players and finishing shots we will be good to go," Haworth said
North Putnam (41): Nauert 7-13 2-4 22, Hazelgrove 3-15 0-0 7, Beaman 2-6 0-0 6, Green 2-6 0-0 4, Hall 1-6 0-0 2. Total 15-49 (6-21) 2-4 41.
Rockville (47): Wilkey 15, Leach 13, Hopkins 9, Griffin 5, Brown 2, Laney 2. Total 18-37 (5-13) 5-8 47.
North Putnam......12 7 13 9 -- 41
Rockville..............14 14 8 11 -- 47
Rebounds-offensive: NP 18-8, Hazelgrove 7-2, Green 4-3, Hall 3-2, Roberts 2-0, Nauert 1-0, Beaman 1-1 R: 25-6.
Turnovers: NP 15 R 18.
Assists: Beaman 3, Hall 2, Roberts 2, Green, Hazelgrove. Steals: Hazelgrove 5, Nauert 3, Beaman 2, Roberts 2.