Cougars fall to Mounties in opener

North Putnam senior Kyler Jeter puts up a shot Wednesday in the Cougars' 70-43 loss at Southmont. Jeter scored nine points on the night. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

CRAWFORDSVILLE -- The North Putnam boys' basketball team got off to a rough start Wednesday night against Southmont and took the road loss, 70-43.

"I take the blame for this," NPHS coach Colin McCartt said. "I thought our preparation was a lot better than it showed. The early foul trouble really hurt us. I think at one point there were three minutes left in the first half, the deficit was 13 points and they had made 14 free throws. It was just an uphill climb from there all night."

At the end of the first half, the Mounties had knocked down 18-of-21 foul shots, while NPHS only made 4-of-10 from the line.

This helped the Mounties jump to a 35-14 lead, despite five different Cougars scoring in the first half.

"Some things snowballed in the second half," McCartt said. "Like I said I'm really disappointed and certainly didn't expect the result or the game to go as it did."

In the third quarter, North Putnam was able to capitalize on some buckets down low with Kyler Jeter scoring seven of his nine points in the third. Austin Judy also knocked down his second three in the game for the Cougars who never let up and competed with Southmont until the final horn.

"I know this team is a lot better than they showed tonight," McCartt said. "I know that they want to work to do the right things and I think they are very anxious to get back on court. Defensively we were disappointed. We thought we were in a much different place defensively than what we were.

"I think we'll go back and work really hard when we get back to practice. That's all we can do."

The Cougars' best offensive quarter came in the fourth when they scored 19 points. Six came from Juan Valdes and seven from Preston Porter, who knocked down a buzzer-beater as the game ended.

McCartt said he expects his Cougars to put this loss behind them as they improve and move on into the season.

"I haven't changed any expectations or thought about what this team can do," the second-year Cougar coach said. "Luckily it was just one game. It wasn't a conference game and it wasn't a sectional. Certainly this won't define us but we need to get back to making sure we understand where our core values and our philosophies lie."