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Tiger Cubs defeat NP 38-7, make return to finals
The statistics are predictably not pretty from Friday night’s first semifinal game of the Putnam County girls’ high school basketball tournament at South Putnam, in which Greencastle defeated North Putnam 38-7 to advance to tonight’s championship game against the host school.
Yet after a game in which only 18 of 95 field goal attempts were successful, both coaches found positives.
“I thought we played some of our best basketball of the year in the first half,” North Putnam coach Jarrod Duff said. “Our shots didn’t fall, but we were more patient. We made four or five passes to make the defense move, then we would throw it away.
“We were able to get the ball inside better, also.”
Greencastle coach Bradley Key said his team had been working on some new things in practice, and he thought they carried over well to the game. He credited North Putnam with forcing a lot of his team’s turnovers with tough defense.
“North Putnam did a good job of putting pressure on us in the halfcourt,” he said. “They put us in a lot of bad spots. If they were able to convert on some of their shots, it may have been a different game.
“They played really hard tonight.”
Greencastle got baskets from Gracie Smith and Layna Robinson to take an early 4-0 lead, and North Putnam’s Emilee Henninger — playing despite a shoulder injury — followed with a hoop to keep her team close.
Sophomore Bailey Shuee hit a 3-pointer and Nailah Ray added a basket to put the Tiger Cubs ahead 9-2, and the Cougars got a hoop from Bronwyn Spencer to cut the lead to five at the end of the period.
The Cougars went cold from the field for the remainder of the game and only managed a 3-pointer from Mia Runnels midway through the third period the rest of the way.
Twenty-nine turnovers limited their number of field goal attempts.
Greencastle, meanwhile, was getting balanced scoring and finished the game with eight different players in the scoring column.
Five different players scored in the second quarter, which the Tiger Cubs won 11-0 to take a 20-4 halftime lead.
In the third period, Claire Gillen and Smith had baskets before Runnels hit the trey to put Greencastle up 24-7.
A Ray basket and a Smith trey allowed Greencastle to take a 29 -7 lead after three periods.
The Tiger Cubs won the final period by a 9-0 margin, getting baskets from Gillen, Smith, Jalyn Duff and Ray and a free throw from Shuee.
Key has been tweaking his lineup to find the best workable combination, even further necessitated by the news that senior Mia Stevens suffered a career-ending knee injury earlier this month.
“Bailey Shuee got her second start tonight, and she got some good shots off,” Key said. “Gracie Smith is getting more comfortable in a leadership spot, and Jalyn Duff was more aggressive in attacking the basket and getting in the lane.”
Key did see some weak spots on defense, and knows his team must make some of the shots it missed on Friday to have a good chance tonight.
“We didn’t slide our feet well,” he said. “We missed some shots we should hit. I’m not sure if that’s concentration or what it is, but we have to keep getting better.”
Before knowing his championship game opponent tonight, Key said either potential team presents problems.
“Those are two good teams,” said Key, whose team has won the last three county titles. “I haven’t really looked into them a lot. We know that South Putnam beat an Edgewood team that beat us, and Cloverdale has been putting up a lot of points.
“Right now we’re worried about getting better ourselves. We hope things will come together by January.”
GREENCASTLE (38) — Gillen 2-5 2-2 6, Smith 4-11 2-4 11, Shuee 1-7 1-2 4, White 1-9 0-1 2, Duff 2-10 0-0 4, Nally 1-5 0-0 3, Robinson 1-5 0-2 2, Ray 3-5 0-2 6. Totals 15-56 FG, 5-10 FT, 38 TP
NORTH PUTNAM (7) — Duncan 0-4 0-0 0, Runnels 1-6 0-0 3, Henninger 1-4 0-4 2, Parent 0-3 0-0 0, Sims 0-4 0-2 0, Spencer 1-9 0-0 2, Lyons 0-6 0-0 0, Osburn 0-2 0-0 0, Tennis 0-1 0-0 0, Sawyer 0 0-0 0. Totals 3-39 FG, 0-6 FT, 7 TP
Greencastle 9 11 9 9 — 38
North Putnam 4 0 3 0 — 7
3-point shooting — Greencastle 3-19 (Smith 1-4, Shuee 1-7, White 0-1, Duff 0-2, Nally 1-3, Robinson 0-2), North Putnam 1-12 (Duncan 0-3, Runnels 1-5, Sims 0-2, Lyons 0-1, Tennis 0-1). Rebounds — Greencastle 39 (White 10), North Putnam 31 (Henninger 12). Turnovers — North Putnam 29, Greencastle 18.
Next game — Greencastle (2-4) plays South Putnam in tonight’s championship game, while North Putnam (0-5) plays Cloverdale in the consolation game.