Turnovers plague NP in loss to Covington

Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Freshman guard Hannah Sims of North Putnam brings the ball upcourt as teammates Mia Runnels (5) and Lyndi Parent (25) trail the play. Covington’s Taylor Koch tries to cut Sims off.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

ROACHDALE — North Putnam put together short stretches of good play in the first half on Tuesday night, and battled visiting Covington well for the first quarter.

Unfortunately, those brief periods devolved into long droughts and the Cougars fell 58-38 to remain winless on the young season.

“I felt there were some stretches where we did great things,” North Putnam coach Jarrod Duff said. “We were up 5-0, forced them to call a quick timeout, and got up 9-5. They then went on a big run [27-0].

“We can do good things when we slow down and make good decisions. We just didn’t do that enough in this game.”

Decision-making against an aggressive full-court press put on by the Trojans led to 40 turnovers by the hosts.

“There are stretches of 3-4 possessions where you can look at it and see that we are making good decisions and jump stops,” Duff said. “This game was lot like the Monrovia game. At times we played well, at times we didn’t. We have definitely played better in the last two games than the first two games, and I’m happy about that.”

The Cougars opened with a basket from Aleah Duncan and a 3-pointer from Mia Runnels to go up 5-0 after just 1:24, before the Trojans responded to tie the score on a free throw and basket by Dailynn Hardy and a hoop from Brenna Dixon.

The Cougars went back ahead at 9-5 with 1:46 left in the period on baskets by freshmen Baylee Osburn and Dana Tennis, but those would be the last North Putnam points until the final 26 seconds of the half.

Covington, which lists only one senior on its roster, scored the final seven points of the first period on a trey by McKenna Chapman and two baskets from Rebecca Berry for a 12-9 lead at the first stop.

The Trojans got 20 straight points from five different players to start the second quarter and take a 32-9 lead with 41 seconds to play. Osburn hit a pair of free throws and a basket just before halftime as the Trojans went into the locker room with a 32-13 advantage.

Twenty-seven turnovers in the opening half got the Cougars into a hole from which they could not recover.

Covington won the third period by an 18-9 margin, and Duff started two sophomores and three freshmen in the final period. With no press to go up against, and good play from the youngsters, the Cougars won the final period 16-8 — but still fell to 0-4 on the season.

North Putnam got points from 11 different players, led by Runnels and Tennis with five each. Lyndi Parent, Duncan, Osburn, Payton Lyons and Clarissa Gibson had four each.

Senior Emilee Henninger did not play for the Cougars due to a shoulder injury.

The Cougars will open up play in the Putnam County tournament on Friday against defending champion Greencastle.

“I don’t think anyone’s going to consider us the favorites in the county tourney,” Duff said. “We are more interested in getting better each game, and that happened in this game.

“We are taking the things we have worked on in practice and doing them in the games, much more so in these last two games. That’s great to see.”

COVINGTON (58) — Chapman 4-10 0-0 11, Karrfalt 0-9 0-2 0, Berry 7-10 0-0 14, Hardy 4-8 4-6 12, Morris 2-5 0-0 4, Coffing 1-2 0-0 3, Dixon 1-7 1-2 3, Hinkle 2-5 0-3 5, Koch 2-6 0-1 4, McCoy 1-2 0-0 2, Tempel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 FG, 5-14 FT, 58 TP

NORTH PUTNAM (38) — Runnels 2-5 0-0 5, Parent 2-3 0-0 4, Spencer 1-3 0-0 2, Sims 0-0 3-6 3, Duncan 2-4 0-0 4, Osburn 2-5 0-0 4, Gibson 2-3 0-0 4, Tennis 2-6 0-0 5, Lyons 1-3 2-3 4, O’Neal 0-3 0-0 0, Young 0-5 2-4 2, Sawyer 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 14-42 FG, 8-15 FT, 38 TP

Covington 12 20 18 8 — 58

North Putnam 9 4 9 16 — 38

3-point goals — Chapman 3, Coffing, Hinkle, Runnels, Tennis. Turnovers — NP 40, Covington 20. Rebounds — NP 38 (Osburn 7, Gibson 7), Covington 35.

JV game — Covington 25 (Swaney 9), North Putnam 24 (Jaden Day 12).

Next game — North Putnam (0-4) plays Greencastle at 6 p.m. on Friday in the Putnam County tourney at South Putnam.

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