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Garver: Can't afford to get down in first quarter
In several other games this season, South Putnam's girls' basketball team found themselves down early and had to try to rally their way to victory.
The script was no different against Cascade Friday night as the Eagles trailed by 11 after one quarter of play, rallied late in the game but eventually fell 61-49.
South Putnam head coach Tim Garver was disappointed to lose but was far from disappointed with what he saw.
"I'm thrilled with our girls right now," Garver said. "We laid back on some things, looked to see what was going to happen and reacted to it.
"We just got off to a bad start. If we correct that first quarter and get that under control, I think we can play with a lot of people."
Cascade wasted little time in attacking the hosts and scrambled out to an 18-7 lead by the end of the first quarter.
South Putnam gained a foothold in the game by working the ball inside as the combination of Emily Dobson, Katie Hewitt and Jenna Carmichael combined for 31 of the Eagles' 49 points, an advantage Garver said the Cadets were not ready for.
"Emily, Katie, and Jenna stepped up big for us," Garver said. "I don't think Cascade was really looking for them to have the inside presence that they had.
"They did a good job for us and kept us right in the game."
While South Putnam was able to steady themselves in the second and third quarters, they still trailed by 10 heading into the fourth quarter.
Despite going to the free throw line 14 times in the final quarter and 33 times overall, the Eagles would get no closed than five points on two separate occasions.
Cascade withstood the late charges and eventually pulled away late in the game to secure a winning start to WCC play.
Garver said the Eagles had chances late but a little slip-up here and there eventually cost the hosts.
"We had our opportunities," Garver said. "We missed the front end of a one-and-one and flutter on a couple of free throws or had a let-down and leave a couple of their shooters open on defense."
South Putnam travels to Owen Valley next Tuesday, a venue the Eagles have only won once at in their last seven visits.
Garver said the team would prepare as they had done before and would look to see if the girls could come out early and play as they had done in the later stages of Friday night's game.
"We're going to scout them, see what they've got and put a game plan together from there," Garver said. "I think we have to come out and play our game and not worry about other teams.
"We can make adjustments and start coming back on teams, but we can't afford to get down in the first quarter so far and try to bail ourselves out."
At South Putnam
Cascade 18 11 13 19 -- 61
South Putnam 7 12 13 17 -- 49
Scoring
Cascade -- Walker 14, Stinnett 14, Rasnake 10, Collier 9, Norris 8, Bell 4, Burke 2, Cleveland 0
South Putnam -- Dobson 14, Hewitt 11, Bieghler 8, Carmichael 6, Stein 5, Modglin 3, Lady 2, Higgins 0, McHugh 0
Next Game: South Putnam (2-6, 0-1 WCC) travels to Owen Valley Tuesday.