Cadets clamp down on Cougar girls

North Putnam senior Alexandria Land scores on a fast break layup against Cascade on Friday. Land had a career-high 10 points. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

CLAYTON -- The North Putnam girls' basketball team had stretches of solid play buried by larger periods of struggles at Cascade on Friday, losing 66-36.

Senior Alexandria Land was a bright sport for the Cougars. She scored a career-high 10 points to lead her team, including going 3-for-3 at the free throw line. As a team, North Putnam was 17-for-31 at the line.

North Putnam won the rebound battle, 47-41, and got solid minutes from sophomore Adri Millican, playing just her second game of the season.

The addition of Millican to the lineup gives the Cougars more options, Lawrence said. In limited minutes with both Millican and sophomore Taylor Nauert on the court together, the Cougars held their own and provided problems for the Cadets on both ends.

Millican attempted eight free throws in as many minutes and Nauert finished with 15 rebounds.

"It's huge for us to get (Millican) back," Lawrence said. "It allows us to put a bigger lineup on the floor. We haven't played a whole lot with her and Taylor together but that's something that I've got in the back of my head as the season progresses. I think they'll make a pretty good duo."

The minutes those two were on the court together has been minimal so far. Millican is only recently returning from an injury and foul concerns and conditioning kept them from playing extended minutes on Friday.

Nauert had eight points in the game, tied with senior Bethany Wiatt for second-most on the team.

There weren't all bright spots. The Cougars turned the ball over 45, struggling to adjust to the half court traps of the Cadets.

Cascade freshman Makayla Collier had six steals, senior Roxanna Gaddis had five and sophomore Hayden Stinnett had five.

The Cougars were overwhelmed by the physical play of the Cadets at times, Lawrence said, but North Putnam forced 22 turnovers from the hosts and drew 25 total fouls.

"They're a physical ballclub," Lawrence said. "They look to trap whenever they get the opportunity, whether it's two people or three people. We talked about that but we didn't work on it a whole lot in practice."

Senior Sydney Stein led the Cadets with 24 points, 14 of them in the second half, and nine rebounds. Senior Mallorie Smith had 15 points and Stinnett had 10.

Gaddis had a game-high five assists.

Wiatt also had five assists for the Cougars.

North Putnam will have two weeks to solve their deficiencies before traveling to the Speedway Classic on Thursday, Jan. 2. Their opening-round game is against Horizon Christian at 10:30 a.m.

North Putnam (36): Land 3-8 3-3 10, Wiatt 3-7 2-4 8, Nauert 2-7 4-4 8, Asbell 1-6 2-2 5, Clodfelter 0-7 3-4 3, Evans 0-1 1-2 1, Millican 0-0 1-8 1, Mindiola 0-1 0-0 0, Ma. Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Laffin 0-0 0-2 0. Total 8-36 17-31.
Cascade (66): Stein 9-18 6-11 24, Stinnett 4-8 0-1 10, Smallwood 1-9 2-4 5, Collier 1-4 0-2 2, Gaddis 1-9 0-0 2, M Smith 4-9 4-6 15, K Smith 2-7 1-2 5, Norris 0-0 0-0 0, Bell 0-1 0-0 0. Total 23-67 13-25 66.