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Cougars top Eels in double OT
EMINENCE -- North Putnam's boys' basketball squad only had one game this week but needed eight extra minutes of play to finally dispatch Eminence on the road, winning 60-54 in two overtimes.
Cougar coach Luke Haworth said the players knew they would have to be ready for a battle against the Eels.
"Eminence is 5-2 at home and they have a great team in terms of execution in the full court," Haworth said. "They like to press and we were ready for it early but they waited until the second half and we had to adjust to it."
The visitors shot out quickly by knocking down five three-point shots in the first half, creating a seven-point advantage after one quarter of play and a 26-14 lead by halftime.
Eminence cut the lead in half after three quarters of play and took their first lead of the game at 39-38 on a Cody Rumbaugh jumper.
The Eels had a three-point lead in the waning seconds eliminated after Jordan Nauert stole a pass, drew contact on a layup and hit the ensuing free throw to force overtime.
Haworth said his squad reacted well to the challenge.
"We told the guys these were the types of games they wanted to be in," Haworth said. "They showed heart to make defensive stops to force overtime. We had to make the plays in there and in overtime."
The teams traded baskets in the first extra frame but a frantic finish saw Rumbaugh score with nine seconds left, only for Shane Beaman to run the length of the floor and knock down a layup as time expired to force a second overtime.
Beaman said he followed the same blueprint any other player would in that situation.
"We were lucky that coach didn't call timeout," Beaman said. "Jordan inbounded the ball to me and, having seen enough college basketball, you have to attack and I was lucky enough to hit the runner."
The Cougars finished the contest off from the line, hitting 7-of-8 free throws in the second overtime, five of which came from Ben Hazelgrove.
A pair of late turnovers eliminated any chance for the Eels to cut into the North Putnam lead and the visitors held on to bump their record back over .500 at 8-7.
Hazelgrove and Nauert each finished with 18 points for the Cougars while Rumbaugh, Koty Martin and Brennan Ringler each finished in double figures for the Eels.
Haworth said North Vermillion, who the Cougars play next week, would provide as stiff a challenge as Eminence provided.
"We've got a streak started tonight against a good Eminence team," Haworth said. "North Vermillion is a very guard-oriented team. They're young but they're strong and put pressure on the ball.
"A lot of the things that hurt us in the last few games we're going to see again. We can measure ourselves against this team to see how much we've improved."
At Eminence
North Putnam 14 12 9 8 8 9 -- 60
Eminence 7 7 15 14 8 3 -- 54
North Putnam -- Hazelgrove 18, Nauert 18, Hall 8, Beaman 7, Green 6, Flynn 0, Munns 0; Totals -- 17-48 FG, 6-14 3-FG, 20-25 FT
Eminence -- Martin 15, Rumbaugh 13, Ringler 12, Holley 8, Hammett 5, Smith 1, Brock 0, Bredlow 0; Totals -- 18-50 FG, 3-9 3-FG, 15-27 FT
Rebounding (Offensive) NP 22 (5), EHS 31 (9). Assists NP 9, EHS 6. Steals NP 10, EHS 6. Blocks NP 0, EHS 2. Turnovers NP 17, EHS 25. Fouls NP 20, EHS 19.
Next Game: North Putnam (8-7, 3-2 WCC) travels to North Vermillion (9-9) next Tuesday.