Eagle girls win, boys lose at West Vigo

WEST TERRE HAUTE — South Putnam dropped its first Western Indiana Conference boys’ basketball game Friday night, losing 53-41 to West Vigo.

The Eagles trailed for the majority of the game, but made a late run, cutting their deficit to 12, but that’s as close as they would get.

Allen Plunkett led the way for South Putnam, scoring 14 points on 3-7 shooting for beyond the 3-point line, while Thomas Fanning connected on three 3-pointers of his own for 9 of his 11 points and Dalton Scott added 8 points.

West Vigo opened the game in a full-court trap defense that turned into a 2-3 zone once the ball moved past half court.

It worked extremely well, as they got out to a 9-0 lead and didn’t give up a point until Thomas Fanning knocked down a 3-pointer with under three minutes on the first quarter clock.

Fanning swished in his second 3 of the first eight minutes with just a few seconds left, but the Vikings held on to a 13-6 lead after one period of play.

The hot start West Vigo got out to continued into the second quarter, as treys from Corey Vickers and Austin Sappingfield got the Vikings out on an 11-4 run.

Ty Lautenschlager contributed eight first-half points, while Fanning was 3-5 from downtown for the Eagles, making it a 33-15 Viking advantage as the two teams went into the break.

West Vigo extended its lead by driving to the bucket and getting layups to begin the third quarter and Jake Lautenschlager ended it with a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, giving the home team a 24-point lead.

South Putnam was able to shift the hot shooting over to its bench in between the third and fourth quarters, as the Eagles shot 70-percent in the final period of play.

Allen Plunkett went on 9-0 run all by himself midway through the quarter – swishing in two 3-pointers, while banking in a third – cutting the lead to under the 20-point mark for the first time since the end of the third quarter.

The Eagles were able to get within 12, but that’s as close as they would get, as West Vigo held on to win the game.

In the girls’ game, South Putnam picked up its second WIC win of the season with a 53-47 victory over the host Vikings.

West Vigo trailed by double-digits for most of the second-half but got to within six with less than one minute remaining in the game. The Eagles got a few stops and made the free throws they needed to close out the win on the road.

Lyndsay Garrett led the way for the Vikings with 14 points and Kayla Ennis pitched in 12 points of her own while Morgan Weir was one point away from a double-double, finishing the night with 9 points and 11 rebounds.

Miranda Bieghler’s 3-point shooting proved to be the difference in the game, though, as the South Putnam junior was 5-5 from downtown and had a game-high 22 points.

Boys’ game

SOUTH PUTNAM (41) – Fanning 4-6 0-0 11, Arnold 1-2 0-1 2, Plunkett 5-14 1-3 14, Scott 3-7 2-5 8, Lesko 0-0 1-2 1, Watson 0-1 0-0 0, Zeffel 1-2 0-0 2, Schnepp 1-2 1-1 3, Heavin 0-0 0-0 0, VanSickle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-34 FG, 5-12 FT, 41 TP.

WEST VIGO (53) – Kernstein 2-6 2-2 6, Sappingfield 4-11 0-0 10, T. Lautenschlager 5-9 1-1 11, Page 2-5 0-0 4, Vickers 5-12 0-0 13, J. Lautenschlager 3-9 0-0 7, Stoner 1-2 0-0 2, Yates 0-2 0-0 0, Dickerson 0-1 0-2 0, Hannahs 0-0 0-0 0, Salyers 0-0 0-0 0, Fuller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 FG, 3-5 FT, 53 TP.

South Putnam 6 9 7 19 — 41

West Vigo 13 20 13 7 — 53

3-point shooting — SP 6-14 (Fanning 3-5, Arnold 0-1, Plunkett 3-7, Schnepp 0-1), WV 6-15 (Sappingfield 2-2, Kernstein 0-2, T. Lautenschlager 0-1, Page 0-1, J. Lautenschlager 1-2, Vickers 3-7). Rebounds — SP 18 (Scott 4, Lesko 4, Schnepp 4), WV 32 (T. Lautenschlager 10, Sappingfield 7, Kernstein 7). Turnovers — SP 18, WV 12. Total fouls — SP 11, WV 14. Fouled out — none.

Girls’ game

SOUTH PUTNAM (53) — Nichols 0-3 0-0 0, Bieghler 6-7 5-8 22, Barker 5-13 1-1 13, Vensko 2-6 0-0 4, Stein 3-9 0-3 7, Vanihel 3-12 1-2 7. TOTALS 19-50 FG, 7-14 FT, 53 TP.

WEST VIGO (47) — Garrett 4-12 3-4 14, Weir 4-13 0-2 9, Ennis 4-8 4-8 12, Elkins 0-1 0-0 0, Meehan 2-2 0-0 4, Skelton 0-1 0-0 0, Couldry 2-7 0-0 6, Marvel 0-1 0-0 0, Little 1-4 0-0 2, Marrs 0-2, 0-0 0. Totals 17-51 FG, 7-14 FT, 47 TP.

South Putnam 12 13 14 14 — 53

West Vigo 13 8 7 19 — 47

3-point shooting — SP 8-16 (Bieghler 5-5, Barker 2-7, Stein 1-4), WV 6-16 (Weir 1-1, Ennis 0-1, Garrett 3-7, Little 0-1, Couldry 2-5, Marrs 0-1). Rebounds — SP 29 (Bieghler 7, Barker 6, Vensko 6), WV 29 (Weir 11, Meehan 8). Turnovers — SP 14, WV 18. Total fouls — SP 9, WV 12. Fouled out — none.

Next — South Putnam (8-3) hosts Cascade today, while West Vigo (2-9) hosts Brown County.