Menu
Eagles defeat Panthers 45-33
Three Eagles scored in double figures Saturday night as South Putnam defeated Riverton Parke 45-33.
South Putnam (2-10, 0-4 WCC) took a double-digit lead early and survived a second-half rally to get its first win in nearly two months.
Coach Troy Burgess was proud of how his team charged out of the gate, especially after a lopsided loss to Cloverdale on Friday.
"I thought, for a change, we got out of the gate tonight," Burgess said. "I think that's been our downfall all year. We've just dug ourselves a hole. Tonight we found out it's a little more fun to play with a lead.
"I'm proud of them," he added. "It would've been awful easy to come in here and lay down after getting beat (by) 40 last night like we did. And our kids didn't; they played with some pride tonight, they played hard.
Senior Trey Moore led all scorers with 16 points, followed by junior Jake Schroer with 13 and sophomore Trevor Long with 10.
"Three guys in double figures. Trey had 16 tonight, that's a little below his average, but when Jake gets 13, Trevor (gets) 10, I'd much rather see that. So I thought our balance was good," Burgess said.
The Eagles came out with aggression, as Moore and Long attacked the bucket early, getting to the free throw line even when shots didn't fall.
Already leading 10-4, South Putnam forced three straight Riverton Parke turnovers to end the quarter, leading to five points off a three-pointer from Moore and a Jimmy Rutter putback in transition after a Grady McHugh steal.
The strong finish to the quarter gave the Eagles a 15-4 lead after the first. The strong finishes were a common theme throughout the night.
"I think the biggest thing is tonight we valued each possession," Burgess said. "So many times at the end of a quarter and think, 'Yeah, there's 30 seconds, let's get this over with,' and we didn't. If we had the ball we valued it. And when you're struggling as we are, you have to value each possession. I thought our kids did a great job of that."
McHugh, a sophomore getting his first start Saturday, was the biggest key. The Eagles had 11 turnovers, but none from the point guard.
"We put Grady McHugh in tonight. That's the first time he's played varsity and we started him," Burgess said. "He did exactly what I asked of him. I wasn't worried about scoring, but he had no turnovers. That's what we gotta have. We gotta have somebody that can handle the ball for us and he did exactly what I wanted from him."
Taking care of the ball as they were, the Eagles survived a cold-shooting second quarter with a 22-12 lead still intact.
The attitude going into half was also helped when Schroer hit a 40-foot buzzer beater to send the Eagles to the locker room up 10 instead of seven.
The Panthers mounted their most serious threat in the third quarter, twice cutting the lead to just three midway through the period.
But again, the Eagles answered the bell late, closing the quarter on a 6-0 run.
Leading 34-25 entering the fourth, the Eagles did what they needed to do in the final period, taking care of the ball and hitting free throws.
Moore topped off his game-high 16 points by hitting 4-of-4 free throws in the last 90 seconds to put the game out of reach.
The Eagles have the week to prepare for their WCC finale at North Putnam on Friday.
"That's a county and conference game. They beat us in the county tourney so we're going to have an opportunity to see if we've gotten better," Burgess said. "It's a good game for us to measure."
"It'll be fun, it'll be a county game, it'll be a good atmosphere. So we'll see what happens."
At South Putnam
Riverton Parke 4 8 13 8 -- 33
South Putnam 15 7 12 11 -- 45
Riverton Parke (2-13, 1-4 WRC): Edge 3-6 2-3 8, Falls 3-12 2-2 8, Mathas 2-7 1-2 6, Lowe 1-2 1-4 3, Blacketer 1-3 0-0 3, Thomas 1-2 0-0 3, Dickey 1-3 0-0 2, Sanders 0-4 0-0 0, Organ 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 12-41 FG, 6-11 FT, 33 points.
South Putnam (2-10, 0-4 WCC): Moore 3-9 9-10 16, Schroer 4-11 2-3 13, Long 4-9 2-3 10, Chestnut 1-2 1-2 4, Rutter 1-1 0-1 2, McHugh 0-5 0-0 0, Masters 0-1 0-0 0, Carmichael 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 13-41 FG 14-19 FT 45 points.
3-pt. FG: RP 3-15 (Mathas 1-3, Blacketer 1-2, Thomas 1-1, Falls 0-2, Sanders 0-2, Organ 0-2, Dickey 0-2, Edge 0-1) SP 5-13 (Schroer 3-9, Moore 1-2, Chestnut 1-1, McHugh 0-1). Turnovers: RP 7, SP 11. Fouls: RP 16, SP 13. Technicals: RP 1 (Organ).