North Putnam makes up for lack of height with versatile roster

Collin McCartt has one of the most experienced teams in Putnam County this year, and he’s hoping to use that experience to get over the .500 mark — a place where the program hasn’t been since the 2003-04 season.

“We had a good summer and our practices have been good this fall,” said McCartt, in his third year of running the Cougar program. “We played more games this summer than we have in the past. We hosted a summer league here and played against some bigger competition. Speedway came over here, and we also played Whiteland and some other bigger schools.”

McCartt has added a game at Brownsburg to toughen the schedule, and was the recipient of a present last summer.

“Playing the better competition helped our guards, in particular,” he said. “We got a move-in last summer with Elliot Gross from Pennsylvania. His brother [Solomon] had a really good year for us in football, and Elliot will be a big help to us as well. He has good instincts and has fit in right away.”

Seven seniors dot the roster, which sets McCartt’s team apart from the other county schools in terms of maturity.

“We have a lot of seniors, so we’re old,” he said. “ I think those guys have been able to take the younger guys along. The program has changed a lot since I’ve been here, and we’re really close to turning the corner.”

McCartt admits not having a post player to go to, so he is adjusting his strategies to fit the personnel he has.

“We are really pretty position-less,” he said. “We have Treyton Smith, who is one of the best point guards in the area, hands down.

“Preston Porter has really come on and shot the ball very well for us.”

McCartt said he has three or four other guys who can shoot the ball.

“Duke Duff and Dylan Webster can also shoot the ball well,” he said. “[Sophomore] Andrew Pickel is our tallest player at 6-4, but he’s not a center and plays the stretch four for us. He can shoot and he’s skilled.”

McCartt thinks the versatility his team will have should make things tough for opponents to guard the Cougars.

“It’s a team that is going to be able to do some nice things,” he said. “We’re going to be hard to defend in some ways.”

McCartt likes the variety of strategies he can use offensively.

“We are kind of in a unique position where we can play a couple of different styles,” he said. “We can get out and run, and also execute well in the half court.

“We are able to spread some people out,” McCartt added. “The really good teams at this level are able to do a couple of different things well, and we hope to be able to do that.”

McCartt can adjust his offense to work around the lack of a post player, but such a void is not as easily filled on defense.

“Defending the post will be week to week,” he said. “We will do a lot of scout-specific things.

“We played a lot of 2-3 zone last year, and we played it pretty well. We’ll play our share this year.”

McCartt said rebounding will be a key when in a zone.

“It’s easier to defend the post out of a zone, but it’s tougher to rebound,” he said. “That’s an issue we have to take care of and continue to improve on every day.”

McCartt sides with his colleagues in labeling Cloverdale as the county tourney favorite.

“Until somebody takes the reins from Cloverdale, they‘re going to be the favorite,” he said. “They definitely have two great players. There will be some unknowns in Greencastle with a different system, and South Putnam has a really good player back [Allen Plunkett].”

The Cougars are moving from the East Division to the West Division of the Western Indiana Conference, giving McCartt some unfamiliar teams to learn about.

“Our side of the conference is unknown to me,” he said. “Northview, West Vigo and Sullivan are all teams I’m going to have to learn about.”

Factors which will determine how successful this year’s team will be are simple, McCartt says.

“We have to understand the type of basketball we want to play and how hard we have to play all the time,” he said. “Our older guys can’t let us down and not lead and talk and do those little things.

“If our older guys do a good job on the floor of keeping us together, we can be pretty good.”

2016-17 schedule

(Times listed are varsity tipoff)

Nov. 23 — Southmont, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 2 — South Putnam, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 3 — at Brownsburg, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 6 — Eminence, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 9 — Sullivan, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 16 — Northview, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 19 — at Riverton Parke, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 29-30 — Monrovia Tournament

Jan. 6 — at West Vigo, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 7 — North Vermillion, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 13 — at Greencastle, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 14 — at Monrovia, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 19 — at Cloverdale, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 27 — Western Indiana Conference playoffs (TBA)

Feb. 4 — South Vermillion, 2:30 p.m.

Feb. 7 — at Turkey Run, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 10 — vs. Greencastle in Putnam County Classic at Greencastle, 6 p.m.

Feb. 11 — Putnam County Classic consolation and finals at Greencastle, 6/7:30 p.m.

Feb. 14 — at North Montgomery, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 17 — at Covington, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 21 — Rockville, 7:30 p.m.

2015-16 results (8-16)

at Southmont L,43-79

Owen Valley L,31-43

at Greencastle L,30-77

at Eminence W,44-36

Cloverdale L,54-61

Edgewood L,27-54

Riverton Parke W,49-37

Greenwood Christian W,45-40

Indian Creek L,36-73

Bethesda Christian L,44-63

North Montgomery L,36-49

Turkey Run L,37-47

at North Vermillion L,44-68

Monrovia L,45-59

at Brown County L,15-44

at Cascade L,49-59

at South Putnam W,56-37

Western Boone W,51-49

South Putnam W,60-47

at South Vermillion W,48-45

South Putnam L,38-40

at Greencastle W,67-63

Covington L,46-47

Sectional

Cloverdale L,46-70

2016-17 roster

Caleb Duncan 6-0 Jr.

Treyton Smith 5-9 Jr.

Duke Duff 6-0 Sr.

Luke Mitchel 6-2 Sr.

Corbin Judy 6-0 Sr.

Preston Porter 5-11 Sr.

Dylan Webster 6-1 Sr.

Dylan Hess 6-0 Jr.

Andrew Pickel 6-4 So.

Elliot Gross 6-2 Jr.

Jackson Kendall 6-1 Sr.

Andrew Rude 6-1 Sr.

Head coach: Collin McCartt