Eagles come up short against Cats

Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Eagle Trevor Long rises up for a shot over South Vermillion Tuesday. (Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT)

Having had it's two-game winning streak broken by Northview last Thursday, South Putnam hosted South Vermillion Tuesday night with the intent of getting back to winning ways in the remaining two weeks of the boys' basketball season.

Runs of 12-0 and 10-0, along with 13 fourth-quarter free throws, instead propelled the Wildcats to a sixth road victory on the season with a 52-37 win over the Eagles.

South Putnam head coach Greg Dean pointed to the 12-0 stretch, spanning the end of the second and start of the third quarters, as the point where the game got away from the team.

"With about 1:34 to go in the second quarter, we were down four with the ball," Dean pointed out. "From that point until halftime, the lead went to 10.

"Coming out of the third quarter, we went from down 10 to down 16. We've got to do a better job in key moments of the game recognizing the moments and executing in those moments.

"Beginning and endings of quarters are a very valuable stretch of time and tonight, we didn't do a great job of handling that," Dean added.

The hosts did get off to a bright start by taking an 8-4 lead before allowing South Vermillion to run off eight straight points to end the quarter and another basket to start the second, giving the visitors a six-point advantage.

South Vermillion's quick guards gave the hosts trouble during that stretch but Dean commended the team for shutting off the lane in the second quarter.

"Defensively we were struggling to stay in front of people, so they were breaking us down and getting into the lane," Dean said. "We made some adjustments in the second quarter and defensively we handled the dribble penetration a lot better."

Chad Menke countered by scoring seven of his team-high 11 points in the quarter, pulling the Eagles to within four with 1:46 showing on the clock.

The Wildcats, however, closed the quarter with six straight points and nearly made it eight with a steal in the final seconds to extend the lead out to 25-15.

South Vermillion wasted no time extending the lead coming out of halftime, scoring six points to increase the lead to 31-15.

Though South Putnam closed the quarter on a 7-2 run, the game soon turned into a free throw shooting contest, one that South Vermillion won handily.

The Wildcats went 13-of-18 from the line in the fourth quarter, keeping the Eagles at bay and picking up their ninth win of the season, with seven coming on the road.

Despite the loss, South Putnam showed signs of life on offense late in the game, though Dean said that the team needed to find ways to feel the need to score urgently earlier in the game.

"We took better care of the basketball and your chances of scoring go up when you get shots," Dean noted. "We attacked better, we looked for our shot and had a sense of desperation.

"Necessity is the mother of invention and we attacked more. We have to do a better job of finding those opportunities throughout the game, not just late when we need to score."

South Putnam travels to Owen Valley on Friday night, a squad the Eagles have not beaten since the 1995-96 season.

To undo nearly two decades of frustration against the Patriots, Dean said the squad had to do many of the good things from Tuesday night defensively and find offense in all four quarters.

"It's going to be very similar to tonight," Dean said. "We've got to keep people out of the lane, stop the dribble-drive and be ready to contest the three-point shot.

"We've got to be ready for ball pressure offensively. They're going to pressure us to try and turn the ball over, so we've got to limit our turnovers."

At South Putnam

South Vermillion 12 13 8 19 -- 52

South Putnam 8 7 7 15 -- 37

Statistics

Scoring

South Vermillion -- 16-55 FG, 1-10 3-FG, 19-24 FT -- Branz 16, Strayer 16, McMasters 6, Russell 4, Morgan 4, Bogetto 4, Chapman 2

South Putnam -- 13-39 FG, 1-8 3-FG, 10-13 FT -- Menke 11, Stewart 10, Long 10, McHugh 5, Grundlock 1, Schroer 0, Carmichael 0, Clearwaters 0

Rebounding (Offensive)

South Vermillion 24 (10); South Putnam 23 (5)

Assists

South Vermillion 4; South Putnam 5

Steals

South Vermillion 10; South Putnam 4

Blocks

South Vermillion 1; South Putnam 4

Turnovers

South Vermillion 11; South Putnam 23

Fouls

South Vermillion 16; South Putnam 18

Next Game: South Putnam (3-16, 1-3 WCC) travels to Owen Valley (9-10) Friday.

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