South Putnam seventh-grade boys win county tournament
CLOVERDALE--A close game faded away early in the seventh-grade boys' basketball County Championship between Greencastle and South Putnam.
Greencastle stayed with the Eagles through one but a scoreless second-quarter became an insurmountable lead and South Putnam took the title game 31-18.
"I'm extremely proud of these guys," Eagles coach Kevin Metz said. "They beat us during the regular season. I know that left a bad taste in their mouth. We worked hard to prepare for this tournament. I'm proud of each and every one of these guys. Whether they stepped on the floor tonight or not."
The first quarter ended in a tie as both teams scored eight. Kain Gregory scored four for South Putnam as did Steven Schnepp.
Greencastle's Brayden Baxter nailed a three, while Hector Lezama scored four. Andrew Cornelius rounded out the scoring with a foul shot.
During the second quarter Greencastle was unable to score and its chances were limited by the rebounding of South.
At halftime the Eagles had 16 rebounds and Greencastle had two. The disparity allowed South Putnam extra possessions and the Eagles cashed in, scoring 12 in the quarter.
"Obviously things didn't pan out. We didn't play our best basketball today," Greencastle coach Kendal Faust said. "So hopefully for the future we are able to come together as a team.. The biggest thing is going 24 minutes. Working hard the entire game. If we can get them to do that then the rest of the season should be fine."
In the third quarter all six of the Eagles' points came from Gregory who also had six rebounds in addition to his team-high 15 points.
Schnepp did all his scoring in the first half but his defensive effort was a big reason Greencastle had trouble scoring. He had two steals, seven rebounds and six blocks.
Greencastle's Dakota Campbell had four second-half points while Cornelius score five of his team-high 6 in the second half.
"I've seen our team grow" Faust said. "We started out struggling. But we've learned a lot and we've come a long way. So for us to get to this point, is a very proud moment for me. It's good feeling for a coach and our squad. "
Faust said the biggest challenge is keeping focused on the game at hand when playing in tournament involving rivals.
"It's kind of a mental thing," Faust said. "They get themselves psyched up for the game and sometimes they perform poorly. Greencastle is typically a good sports school for us to compete against and sometimes we can be intimidated going into the game. That can be one of our biggest obstacles."
At Cloverdale
Greencastle 8 0 5 6--18
South Putnam 8 12 6 5--31
Individual Scoring
Greencastle (11-43) Cornelius 4-8 6 pts, Campbell 2-9 4 pts, 2 reb; Lezama 2-7 4 pts, 2 reb, 4 stl; Baxter 1-9 3 pts, 3 reb; Cory Taylor 1 pt, 1 stl, Conner Taylor 2 stl;
South Putnam (13-33) Gregory 7-12 15 pts, 6 reb; 2 stl, 2 blk; Wood, 1-5 3 pts, 3 reb; Cashion 1-4 2 pts, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk; Bush 1 pt, 1 reb, 1 stl; Schnepp 4-11 10 pts, 7 reb, 2 stl, 6 blk;