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Tiger Cubs win Putnam County Championship
After the large margin of victory in the first game, the championship round was a bit more competitive but solid defense and good offensive play from all Tiger Cubs, gave Greencastle the 50-27 win over North Putnam in the Putnam County Classic Saturday.
"I'm very proud," GHS coach Troy Greenlee said. "After last night's emotional victory we had to refocus and really get ready for this game. I didn't have a lot of fear about it because I know our seniors wanted it so bad. This is a group that's been together forever.
"They've put a lot of time and effort into getting to this point. I'm proud of them not only from a basketball standpoint but from a character stand point and seeing them persevere through some tough times."
During the first quarter both teams found points a little tough to come by, however into the second Greencastle has built a 14-5 cushion. Freshman Colin York picked up where he left off and netted two three pointers and GHS senior Calvin Hughes added another.
At halftime the 25-12 lead had been built by spreading the ball around and letting may Tiger Cubs touch the ball.
"It just takes a team effort," Greenlee said. "I thought these last two games really personified how we want to play which is sharing the ball. This makes it harder for teams to guard us because we have multiple gys on the floor that can do deiiferent things."
The third quarter was Greencastle's best and North Putnam's worst. The Cougars were outscored 18-3. North Putnam senior Michael Roberts, the team's leading scorer in the win against South, scored only three points this game while the Cougars had a hard time finding open players and making clean passes.
"I thought that they took us out of rhythm," NPHS coach Collin McCartt said. "They do a great job of that and it was good for us to play against a team like that early in the season. I thought we came out in the third quarter and hung our heads because of the turnovers. We had about a two-minute stretch there where I didn't think we played hard. But then I really loved our effort the rest of the way."
Though the game's margin had grown to almost 30, the fourth quarter was the best quarter for North offensively. Sophomore Jordan Bean scored all five of his points in the fourth and the Cougars scored 12.
McCartt said the effort has to be for four complete quarters and communication is the way to improvement.
"We just have to keep talking about it," McCartt said. "We continue to talk about it in practice. We showed them examples when you think that they are at the level that they should be at and certainly when they are not. It's hard to instill but if you are just consistent with what you are talking to them about then it starts to become part of your program."
The win was a sigh of relief for many Tiger Cubs who have desired the Putnam County Bucket for at least four years and finally got to cut the nets.
"It feels great," senior Brody Bollman. "We've been waiting since freshman year to win County. It's a lot more difficult. It adds to it the atmosphere was just a lot more intense."
Bollman had nine points in the championship victory and his teammates also feel the excitement of winning the tourney.
"It was a blast," senior Anthony Mitchell said. "Three years of playing varsity finally paid off. It was a lot of fun. I couldn't ask for a better group of guys. We've got a tight group of seniors. I had a blast. We go hard everyday in practice. We've out there working to get better. I think it's shaping up to be a good season."
The Greencastle players are glad to have won the county tournament but they know the season has only just started and a sectional victory is now looking very appetizing for Tiger Cub Country.
"It's been really fun," senior Colyn Foxx said. "We've worked really hard during the summer to be here. We've been waiting since eighth grade to play in the county championship. We really came together for this and we want to stay together so we can win sectional."
At Greencastle
North Putnam 5 7 3 12 --27
Greencastle 10 15 18 7 -- 50
Individual stats
Greencastle: Coble 11 pts, 6 reb, 4 stl; Mitchell 10 pts, 3 stl; Bollman 9 pts, 4 reb, 3 asst, 1 stl; York 8 pts, 1 reb, 1 asst, 1 stl; Foxx 2 pts, 6 rebs, 3 stl; Clar 1 pt, 2 reb; Matthews 4 pts, 2 reb; Hughes 3 pts, 1 reb, 1 asst; Gerard 2 pts, 4 reb;
North Putnam: Bean 5 pts, 4 reb, 2 stl; Jeter 4 pts, 2 reb; Smith 3 pts, 1 reb; Roberts 3 pts, 8 reb, 4 asst, 1 stl; A. Judy 3 pts, 2 reb, 1 stl; Payton 3 pts; Hall 2 pts, 1 reb, 1 stl; C. Judy 2 pts, 1 reb, 1 asst; Porter 2 pts, 1 reb, 2 asst, 1 stl