Payton sets scoring record as Knights sweep NP

ROACHDALE — The Northview Knights rolled into Cougar Country Friday night hoping to sweep North Putnam in a girls and boys basketball doubleheader. They did just that, winning the girls’ game 66-26 and the boys won 74-56.

Stacy Payton, who plans to play softball at Ball State, had other goals on her mind Friday. The senior set the school scoring record with 51 points.

Payton had 30 of the 34 Northview (10-2, 3-0 WIC) points in the first half. She also had a double-double with 14 rebounds.

“I hit quite a few (shots) in the first quarter and it just kind of kept coming,” Payton said. “I just kept playing hard. I kept shooting and they kept falling. It was a goal for me this season. I had a good game earlier in the year, but I didn’t get it. When they kept falling tonight I just kept working hard hoping to get it.”

“Stacy is a great player,” Coach Zack Keyes said. “I think most people know that. She got hot I guess you could say. We left her out there and honestly she was one of the few players playing well for us. I’m just proud of her.”

Most of the shots that Payton took were contested shots. The Cougars did a nice job defensively finding where she was and getting a hand in her face, but she stayed confident and kept shooting.

“When the first couple go in you just keep seeing it,” Payton said. “It kind of builds your confidence for the rest of the game.”

Emilee Henninger and Aleah Duncan, who each tallied seven points, led the Cougars (0-11, 0-3 WIC). The team struggled moving the ball and getting open shots, and the heavy pressure forced 19 turnovers.

On the boys’ side, the 18-point margin does not explain how close the game really felt. The Knights (4-1, 3-0 WIC) slipped out to an 11-0 lead, forcing a Cougar timeout and Dylan Webster to come off the bench.

Webster came in and hit three three-point shots along with Duke Duff getting the old-fashioned three-point play and Elliott Gross scoring six to help give the Cougars a 27-26 lead in the second quarter.

Every time the Cougars (1-5, 0-3 WIC) made a push, Northview responded with a big run of its own, eventually pushing to a 20-point lead late in the game.

The Cougars came close to getting the lead late in the third quarter when it was 45-41, but the Knights pulled away again in the fourth quarter.

North Putnam had problems on the boards that could have helped inch closer into the game. The Knights outrebounded the Cougars 46-22 and had 17 offensive rebounds. Seniors Jensen Kellett had 16 total rebounds and seven offensive and Brigham Booe had 14 rebounds and six offensive.

Kellett and Booe each scored in double figures to get double-doubles. They were two of the five Knights to have double-figure nights, with seniors Dylan Hyatt and Drew Lumsdon leading the way with 18 and 14. Hyatt left the game early in the fourth quarter due to a cut on the face.

The North Putnam girls will play next at home against Riverton Parke on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

The Cougar boys will play next at Riverton Parke on Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Girls’ game

Northview 20 14 21 11 — 66

North Putnam 8 7 3 8 — 26

Northview: Payton 51, Lundy 6, Conrad 3, Richey 3, Thompson 3.

North Putnam: Duncan 7, Henninger 7, Lyons 4, Gibson 3, Tennis 3, Runnells 2.

Rebounds: Nv 35, NP 21. Turnovers: Nv 11, NP 19. Free throws: Nv 9-13, NP 1-4.

Boys’ game

Northview 18 12 19 25 — 74

North Putnam 15 12 14 15 — 56

Northview (5-15 3-pt, 24-61 TOT, 11-17 FT): Hyatt 18, Lumsdon 14, Booe 13, Kellett 13, Schane 11, Tucker 5, Shelton 0.

North Putnam (7-19 3-pt, 17-50 TOT, 16-24 FT): Gross 13, Judy 13, Webster 9, Duff 8, Porter 8, Smith 3, Pickel 2, Mitchel 0.

Rebounds: Nv 46, NP 22. Turnovers Nv 6, NP 9. Assists Nv 13, NP 10.

In other basketball:

• Clovers sweep Eagles — At Nashville, Cloverdale won a pair of Western Indiana Conference games from Brown County on Friday night.

The Clovers won the girls’ game 57-42, and Cloverdale also captured the boys’ game by a 67-51 score.

In the girls’ game, the Clovers led 14-11 after one quarter before the Eagles came back to for a 27-27 halftime tie. Cloverdale regained the lead at 39-35 after three quarters, but dominated the final period by an 18-7 margin to improve to 8-4 overall and 1-2 in the Western Indiana Conference.

“This was a really good win for us,” Cloverdale coach Matthew Langdon said. “Brown County was able to hit some shots early, and we were tied going into halftime. You have to give them a lot of credit.”

Langdon thought his team was deeper, and used that advantage to wear out the Eagles in the second half.

“We came out the second half and did some really good things defensively, taking away some of the tings they wanted to do inside,” Langdon said. “We were able to push the speed of the game up, and you couldn’t see the benefits of that until the fourth quarter. We were able to go deeper into the bench, and it looked like they got a little bit tired and we were able to pull away.”

Tori Combs led the Clovers with 16 points, while Hailey Thomas added 12 and Sammie Shrum had 10. The Clovers are still playing without injured starter Abby Walker.

Combs added 15 rebounds and four steals, while Shrum had four assists and Kelsey Helterbrand added six steals.

“We had really good balanced scoring, and some people stepped up for us,” Langdon said. “We have been looking to piece four quarters together, and this game was a step closer.”

Langdon’s team will look forward to battling county rival Greencastle on Tuesday.

“We look forward to Tuesday to try to get the paddle for the first time in a long time,” he said. “Greencastle has definitely been going up since the county, and has really turned its season around.”

In the boys’ game, Cloverdale fell behind 13-12 after one quarter but got seven second-quarter points from Jalen Moore and Jake Wilkes to take a 33-28 halftime lead.

The Clovers got seven third-quarter points from Cooper Neese and led 55-39 entering the final period.

Moore led the Clovers with 20 points, while Neese had 16 and Wilkes added 12. Nick Winders contributed eight points.

Girls’ game

CLOVERDALE (57) — McCracken 3 0-0 7, Helterbrand 2 0-0 4, Shrum 4 2-2 10, Meek 0 1-2 1, Combs 8 0-1 16, Thomas 5 1-4 12, Price 1 5-6 7. Totals 23 FG, 9-15 FT, 57 TP

BROWN COUNTY (42) — Smith 2 0-0 5, Loving 3 0-0 6, Hoskins 3 0-1 7, Moran 4 2-6 10, Holander 0 0-0 0, Stosdill 1 0-2 2, Matlock 0 0-0 0, Wilkerson 2 0-1 4, Edds 4 0-0 8. Totals 19 FG, 2-10 FT, 42 TP

Cloverdale 14 13 12 18 — 57

Brown County 11 16 8 7 — 42

3-point goals — Smith, Hoskins, McCracken, Thomas.

Next game — Cloverdale (8-4, 1-2) plays at Greencastle on Tuesday.

Boys’ game

CLOVERDALE (67) — Neese 6 2-2 16, Winders 3 0-0 8, Watts 1 0-0 3, Miller 1 0-0 2, Wilkes 5 0-0 12, Kelley 0 2-2 2, Rossok 0 0-0 0, Pfaff 2 0-0 4, Moore 8 2-2 20, Halloran 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 FG, 6-6 FT, 67 TP

BROWN COUNTY (51) —Samples 2 0-0 4, Patterson 0 0-1 0, Keefauver 1 3-4 5, Norman 7 0-0 15, Scully 3 4-8 11, First 1 0-0 2, Cochran 7 0-0 14. Totals 21 FG, 7-8 FT, 57 TP

Cloverdale 17 21 17 12 — 67

Brown County 13 15 11 12 — 51

3-point goals — Neese 2, Winders 2, Watts, Wilkes 2, Moore 2.

Next game — Cloverdale (4-4, 1-2) plays at Greencastle tonight.