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Greencastle boys win by 19 at North Putnam on Friday
ROACHDALE-- The Greencastle Tiger Cubs rolled into Cougar country Friday night in hopes of spoiling the North Putnam Cougars boys' basketball homecoming. Greencastle succeeded with a stellar second half, 48-29.
"I thought the first half we came out sluggish," Greencastle coach Troy Greenlee said. "We gave up more points in the first half than we have most of the year. I didn't think we were ready to play as much as we should've been. I thought we stepped it up defensively in the second half. We allowed three in the third and four in the fourth, so it was a better defensive effort."
The homecoming crowd for the Cougars came out loud and proud as the bleachers were filled on the Cougars' side. A hefty cheer block never ceased to quiet down and it was effective in the early stages.
North Putnam (3-11 0-3 WCC) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on the Tiger Cubs because of offensive rebounds. Sophomore Corbin Judy rebounded the second of the pair of missed free throws by sophomore Jordan Bean and laid the ball back up and in the hoop. The next possession down Judy missed a three-pointer, but junior Austin Judy was there for the put back.
"I think the desire to get better (helped our start)," Cougar coach Collin McCartt said. "We've had it rough the past two games and tonight was homecoming, but our guys came to compete and I'm really proud of them. We did some great things."
Those four points scored by the Cougars were the result of an immediate inside presence. From the start of the game they looked to Bean and junior Kyler Jeter.
Tiger Cubs' (9-6 1-3 WCC) guard Ryan Coble had 23 points and six boards for the night, including the first seven Tiger Cub points of the game. He put his team up 7-4 and 12-8 to end the first quarter with an assist.
"One of our big things early in the year was to share the ball and get people good shots," Greenlee said. "That's one thing we haven't been doing (hitting shots). It was good to see Ryan hit a few."
Both teams traded buckets in the second quarter. The Cougars cut the lead to two at 17-15 on a Jeter and-one, but on the ensuing Tiger Cubs' possession senior Anthony Mitchell had an and-one of his own but missed the free throw.
Mitchell extended the Greencastle lead going into halftime by six, 28-22, because of a left side three-pointer. He had 11 points.
The Cougars had three turnovers to begin the second half, but Greencastle could not convert.
Shooting was minimal in the third quarter with the Cougars going 1-for-5 and Greencastle 3-7.
"I think they (Greencastle) packed it in a little bit," McCartt said. "I think we were able to spread it out. We didn't get as good of looks as we did early. Some of the good looks we did get we just didn't knock down."
With 1:08 remaining in the third, Greencastle took its biggest lead up to that point on a Calvin Hughes steal from Preston Porter and Hughes took it the distance laying it in the goal. The lead was 15, 37-22.
Bean managed the Cougars only points in the quarter with 53.9 seconds left. Senior Brody Bollman fouled him as he hit a lay up. Bean made the free throw.
Bollman and Mitchell combined for eight of the Tiger Cubs' 11 points in the fourth quarter. Seven were free throws because the Cougars started fouling with two minutes left.
"I'm feeling better about our team," Greenlee said. "We're still not where we need to be, but we're inching closer. So we just got to keep getting better and better every day."
After forcing only five first-half turnovers the Tiger Cubs forced 13 on the Cougars in the second half. Their defense started clamping down and their full-court press was useful.
North Putnam had lost its inside presence that it valuably had in the first half and only Corbin Judy and Jeter put single buckets in.
"I think we played a little tougher on the inside," Greenlee said. "They did a good job exploiting us in there and we got out of position defensively a little bit, but in the second half we turned that up a little bit. We were able to get down and create some opportunities for deflections and steals."
Even with the loss the crowd still applauded the homecoming team and the crowd was very pleased after the game. So was McCartt.
"Overall I was pleased with the way we competed," McCartt said. "Both defensively and offensively we were a lot better than we had been. They're a tough team to defend, but they like to spread it out. I thought we were really able to prevent that."
Greencastle's next game will be Saturday night at home against the Tri-West Bruins, who only lost their second game of the season Friday night. North Putnam will be on the road at Western Boone. Both games are a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
At North Putnam
Greencastle 12 16 9 11--48
North Putnam 8 14 3 4--29
Scoring
Greencastle (16-36 11-15 48): Coble 8-18 4-6 23, Mitchell 3-4 4-5 11, Bollman 2-7 3-4 7, York 1-2 0-0 3, Gerard 1-2 0-0 2, Hughes 1-2 0-0 2, Foxx 0-1 0-0 0, Matthews 0-0 0-0 0.
North Putnam (11-32 6-8 29): C. Judy 4-13 0-0 9, Bean 3-4 1-3 7, Jeter 2-6 3-3 7, A. Judy 1-6 2-2 4, Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Huffman 0-0 0-0 0, Porter 0-1 0-0 0.
Rebounds
Greencastle (3 OFF 17 TOT):Coble 6, Bollman 5, Mitchell 2, Foxx 1, Hughes 1, Matthews 1, York 1.
North Putnam (4 OFF 21 TOT): Bean 8, A. Judy 5, Porter 3, C. Judy 2, Smith 2, Jeter 1.