Eagle, Clover girls get road victories

CLAY CITY — The South Putnam Eagle girls’ basketball team traveled to Clay City and used an efficient, opportunistic offense to defeat the Clay City Eels 59-45 in a non-conference high school basketball game on Tuesday night.

The Eagles hit over fifty percent from the field, including six-of-nine from the three-point arc, and only turned the ball over 14 times. According to head coach Brian Gardner the Eagles really moved without the ball and put set up good opportunities.

“For the first time all year we really moved without the ball, cut really hard and moved the ball from side to side. We have stressed this point a lot. We really got our feet underneath us and had good shots. I thought we were really patient tonight,” Gardner said.

The Eagles set the tone in the first quarter playing efficiently. South shot 6-of-11 from the field and hit their only three-point attempts. Miranda Bieghler and Lily Stein combined for 14 of the 16 Eagle points as they ended the quarter on top 16-11.

Offensively, the Eagles slowed down a little in the second quarter. South only hit two field goals but went 4-of-5 from the charity strip and still outscored the Eels 9-8 to extend their lead to 25-19 at the half. Bieghler scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. South only turned the ball over seven times in the half.

“[Bieghler] played a role she was really comfortable with [Tuesday night.[ She hit some shots and played really well,” Gardner said.

The Eagles began to pull away in the third quarter. South had five players score in the period and again held the Eels in check. The Eagles held the Eels to 10-of-29 shooting in the first three quarters and forced 15 turnovers. The defensive intensity led to a 42-29 lead heading into the final stanza.

“I thought defensively we played pretty well. We did a good job aside from a few mental breakdowns.

We were able to do what we wanted to. We put ourselves in good position with the exception of few times late in the game. We got tired and gambled a little,” Gardner said.

The Eagles managed to maintain their lead throughout the fourth quarter. Offensively, Lily Stein scored seven of her 17 points in the period.

“I thought Lily really played well offensively, even missing a quarter and a half (foul trouble). She was able to get some good looks and knock them down,” Gardner said.

Clay City found some offense in the final period as 5-foot-11 inch post Avalee Jeffers scored 11 of her team-high 15 points and kept the Eels in the game.

The Eagles played a patient, confident game according to Gardner.

“Any win on the road is a good win. When you travel and beat a good team like this, it really can help your confidence. We hope that translates into the next game,” Gardner said.

The Eagles are 1-0 in Western Indiana Conference play and will try improve both of those records Friday night as they host county rival, Greencastle. This will be a chance for the Eagles to avenge their only loss. Greencastle beat South 53-35 in the championship game of the Putnam County tournament.

SOUTH PUTNAM (59) – Bieghler 5-12 7-9 20, Nichols 1-4 2-2 4, Stein 6-8 2-7 17, Barker 4-6 0-0 8, Vensko 1-3 0-0 2, Capps 2-2 0-1 4, Vanihel 2-6 0-0 4, Hill 1-2 0-0 2, Boswell 0-0 0-0 0, Bratcher 0-0 0-0 0 Totals 22-43 FG, 11-19FT, 59 TP.

CLAY CITY (45) – Boyll 1-4 2-2 4, Ames 4-12 2-3 13, Jeffers 7-9 1-2 15, Steward 1-4 0-0 3, Myers 2-6 0-0 5, Dickson 0-0 0-0 0, Hernandez 1-5 0-0 2, Grassick 0-1 0-0 0, Wertz 0-0 0-0 0, Everhart 0-2 0-0 0, Stone 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 17-44 FG 5-7 FT, 45 TP.

South Putnam 16 9 17 17 – 59

Clay City 11 8 10 16 – 45

3-point shooting – SP 6-9 (Barker 0-1, Bieghler 3-4, Stein 3-3, Vanihel 0-1), CC 6-18 (Ames 3-10, Steward 1-2, Myers 1-3, Grassick 0-1, Everhart 0-1, Stone 1-1) Rebounds – SP 31 (Bieghler 5, Barker 7, Nichols 3, Vensko 3, Capps 2, Vanihel 7), CC 24 (Boyll 4, Ames 3, Jeffers 12, Steward 2, Dickson 1). FG Pct. – SP 51.2, CC 38.6. FT Pct. – SP 57.9, CC 71.4. Turnovers – SP 14, CC 18.

JV game – South Putnam 37, Clay City 32.

Next game — South Putnam (7-1) hosts Greencastle at 6 p.m. on Friday.

In other girls’ action on Tuesday:

• Cloverdale 77, Eminence 6 — At Eminence, Tori Combs had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Clovers to an easy win.

Sammie Shrum added 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Lauren Meek contributed eight points, three rebounds, four steals and four assists. Lakkain Price had eight ppoints and seven rebounds.

CLOVERDALE (77) — McCracken 0 0-0 0, Helterbrand 2 1-1 5, Shrum 7 2-2 16, Rightmyer 1 0-0 2, Simpson 1 0-0 2, Meek 4 0-1 8, Combs 12 1-1 25, Thomas 2 0-0 5, Shoemaker 3 0-0 6, Price 4 0-0 8. Totals 35 FG, 4-5 FDT, 77 T P

EMINENCE (6) — Keeney 0 0-0 0, V.Riffel 1 2-5 4, M.Ranard 1 0-1 2, D.Ranard 0 0-0 0, J.Riffel 0 0-0 0, Davis 0 0-0 0, Owens 0 0-0 0. Totals 2 FG, 2-6 FT, 6 TP

Cloverdale 30 12 15 15 — 77

Eminence 2 2 2 0 — 6

3-point goals — Thomas.

Next game — Cloverdale hosts Indian Creek at 6 p.m. on Friday in Western Indiana Conference action.

• Danville 71, Greencastle 46 — The visiting Warriors took a 16-9 lead after one quarter and never trailed in recording the victory.

Danville led 37-21 at halftime and 54-34 after three quarters.

Claire Gillen led the Tiger Cubs with 12 points, while Nailah Ray added 11 and Gracie Smith and Seelye Stoffregen contributed six each.

DANVILLE (71) — Wasson 0 0-0 0, Muse 7 1-1 19, Cowart 5 1-2 11, Riggles 6 0-0 14, Turner 1 0-0 2, Collier 7 1-1 15, Deno 0 0-0 0, Bridgeforth 0 0-0 0, Utley 2 0-0 4, Hayse 1 2-2 4, Collier 1 0-0 2. Totals 30 FG, 5-6 FT, 71 TP

GREENCASTLE (46) — Stoffregen 1 3-4 6, Robinson 0 1-2 1, White 2 0-1 4, Weliever 0 0-0 0, Nally 1 0-0 3, Shuee 1 0-0 3, Duff 0 0-0 0, Stevens 0 0-0 0, Smith 2 1-2 6, Gillen 3 6-11 12, Ray 4 3-5 11. Totals 14 FG, 14-25 FT, 46 TP

Danville 16 21 17 17 — 71

Greencastle 9 12 13 12 — 46

3-point goals — Stoffregen, Nally, Shuee, Smith, Muse 4, Riggles 2.

Next game — Greencastle (4-6) plays at South Putnam at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Boys’ basketball

• Cloverdale 100, North Central 32 — At Cloverdale, Jalen Moore scored 31 points, Cooper Neese added 26 and Parker Watts had 18 as the Clovers snapped a two-game losing streak.

“I thought our guys showed signs of becoming a ‘fist’,” Cloverdale coach Patrick Rady said. “It started in the locker room before the game. I thought the previous three games we played like five fingers going in five different directions.

NORTH CENTRAL (32) — Basinger 2 0-0 5, Thompson 3 0-0 7, Crosby 0 0-0 0, Wisely 2 0-0 4, Pritchard 0 0-0 0, Tierney 0 0-0 0, Hennecke 1 0-0 2, Lundy 0 0-0 0, Cunningham 6 2-6 14. Totals 14 FG, 2-6 FT, 32 TP

CLOVERDALE (100) — Neese 9 2-3 26, Winders 3 1-2 8, Watts 6 3-3 18, Miller 1 0-0 2, Kelley 1 0-1 2, Rossok 3 1-3 7, Moore 12 3-5 31, Halloran 1 0-0 2, Blevins 1 2-2 4, Terry 0 0-0 0. Totals 37 FG, 12-19 FT, 100

North Central 2 16 6 8 — 32

Cloverdale 29 21 20 30 — 100

3-point goals — Neese 6, Winders, Watts 3, Moore 4, Basinger, Thompson.

Next game — Cloverdale (2-2) hosts Indian Creek at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.