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Overtime win for Lady Eagles at home
By the time 9:45 p.m. rolled around at South Putnam High School Tuesday night, there were many relieved faces to be found along the Eagle bench.
Shakamak proved to be a handful for the hosts, whittling away an early 10-point deficit to force overtime, only for the home side to come away with a 55-53 win.
South Putnam head coach Tim Garver said getting a win in a late-game situation was a good learning experience.
"I thought it was a great win," Garver said. "To come back after the break and play this game, we felt like we needed to take another step and tonight was another step."
"We had a lead and we managed to keep the lead but, boy, down in the end we let them tie it up and go into overtime. Sometimes that's the way it is but we're learning and that's part of this process that we've talked to the girls about."
The Eagles had a hard time creating separation from Shakamak as the Lakers got several second-chance looks and knocked down some difficult shots to stay within two points early.
A quick 7-0 run, capped by a Miranda Bieghler three, put the hosts ahead by nine at 14-5 and another Bieghler three gave the hosts an 18-11 lead after one quarter of play.
Baskets by Lillie Stein and Bieghler gave South Putnam their largest lead of 10, only for the visitors to rattle off nine of the next 10 points to cut a 23-13 deficit down to 24-22.
Threes from Jessica Modglin and Bieghler were canceled out by a three from Alyssa Garo and a three-point play by Sierra Hudson, meaning a Katelyn Lady basket late in the quarter gave the hosts a slender four point lead heading into halftime.
The tempo of the game dropped in the second half as both teams looked to solidify their positions. Garver pointed out much of the play was dictated by the Eagles and Shakamak's Hudson.
"We brought out our pressure in the second half but Shakamak has a good player in (Sierra) Hudson," Garver said. "We tried to deny her the ball and for the most part I felt we did a good job even though she still scored 21 points.
"We ran some plays in settled down in some spots. When we made plays, we got scores but when we got careless, that's when we threw the ball away and made unforced turnovers."
Hudson scored eight points in the third quarter, giving Shakamak several possessions to try and take the lead.
Katie Hewitt denied them the opportunity twice with baskets and South Putnam's lead remained at four heading into the final period of play.
Garo tied the scores at 42-42 from the free throw line before a Hudson three gave the Lakers their first lead of the game with 3:18 to play.
Emily Dobson restored the lead for the hosts a minute and a half later, only for Hudson to score on the ensuing inbounds play to give Shakamak a 47-46 lead.
Stein was fouled with :41 to play and hit 1-of-2 from the line to tie the game and overtime soon beckoned when both sides missed chances to win in regulation.
Hudson opened the overtime period with a basket for the Lakers before Diamond Hinkle hit a free throw to increase the lead to 50-47.
Jenna Carmichael popped up for her only basket of the game with 1:42 to play while Hudson pushed the lead back out to two with a free throw.
Dobson then took command of the game, scoring a pair of baskets from the post to tie and take the lead for South Putnam with :33 left.
Bieghler iced the game with a pair of free throws and a late Hinkle basket was only a consolation score at the home as the Eagles moved to within one game of the .500 mark on the season.
Garver said that while the team needed to work on closing out games, he did point to two players that came up big down in the closing minutes.
"We have to learn how to win games," Garver noted. "Bieghler stepped up and knocked down a couple of big free throws.
"Emily Dobson came alive and did what we knew she could do. She played huge down the stretch for us."
South Putnam has a day to prepared for a pair of games to end the week as the Eagles host Eminence Thursday and Linton Friday.
Garver said part of the scheduling was to get the team accustomed to a schedule they might see during sectional week.
"We have to focus on what we do," Garver said. "The reason we have this set-up is because it looks like a sectional week.
"You might have a Tuesday game and then come back and play a game Friday and Saturday. This is a test where we played tonight, practice tomorrow, play a game and then play another game.
"Mentally, we have to get prepare every time we go out to play and refocus ourselves on the next opponent."
At South Putnam
Shakamak 11 17 9 10 6 -- 53
South Putnam 18 14 9 6 8 -- 55
Scoring
Shakamak -- Hudson 21, Hinkle 16, Garo 10, Samm 4, Gallagher 2, Hakkila 0, Huddlestone 0, Mattox 0, Murley 0
South Putnam -- Bieghler 16, Dobson 13, Lady 7, Hewitt 4, Stein 4, Modglin 3, Carmichael 3, Higgins 0, McHugh 0
Next Game: South Putnam (6-7, 0-1 WCC) hosts Eminence Thursday.