Athletic Edgewood team rolls past South Putnam, 77-37

ELLETTSVILLE — The South Putnam Eagles visited Edgewood on a really cold night Saturday.

Cooper Bybee and his Mustang teammates heated up the gymnasium with some hot shooting en route to a 77-37 victory.

“They are a really good team. They are athletic, they can shoot and get to the rim,” South Putnam head coach Greg Dean said as his team fell to 3-7 on the season.

The Mustangs shot over 60 percent from the field (28-of-46) led by Bybee’s game-high 33 points. The Mustangs scored inside, outside, and in transition. In addition to Bybee’s scoring, Cameron Banister had 15 points. Chayton Howard and Jason Brown added nine points apiece.

The Eagles started the game with a deep three from Allen Plunkett, but Edgewood ripped off six straight points as their full court pressure defense created opportunities. The Eagles had their struggles getting shots in the quarter. South turned the ball over 10 times in the quarter and managed only seven field goal attempts as the Mustangs jumped out to a 23-11 lead at the end of the period.

“I think we turned the ball over 10 times in the first quarter. A lot of those turnovers led directly to their scores. You can’t do that with a team like this,” Dean said.

The Eagles began to settle down in the second quarter. They adjusted to the pressure and only had three turnovers in the period. Unfortunately, they didn’t hit the shots they got. South hit just 2-of-7 from the field and the Mustangs increased the lead to 39-21 at the half.

“I thought we settled down in the second quarter and did a better job of running our offense. We didn’t give them as many opportunities,” Dean said.

Bybee put the game away by himself in the third quarter. The senior scored 22 points in the quarter in a variety of ways. He hit four from behind the arc, had three layups in transition and also got to the line hitting five-of-six free throws. South trailed 66-29 heading into the final quarter.

“The Bybee kid is a good athlete. He can get to the rim, he can shoot it well,” Dean said.

The Eagles still struggled offensively, according to Dean.

“We have to become more efficient offensively. We have some fodder to work on some things,” Dean said.

The Eagles battled throughout the final quarter, but the Mustangs’ athleticism was too much for South to gain any ground.

The loss was the fifth in a row for the Eagles, and the road doesn’t get any easier as South hosts Western Division leading Northview next Friday night in a Western Indiana conference game.

“I was really proud of our defensive effort tonight. Coming off last night’s loss [to Sullivan] I thought we played very hard defensively. We have some things to work on as far as execution, but I told the kids I thought their defensive effort was really good,” Dean said.

SOUTH PUTNAM (37) – Fanning 0-3 2-2 2, Plunkett 5-12 1-2 13, Zeffel 2-3 12 5, Arnold 0-1 2-2 2, Scott 2-8 1-2 6, Watson 0-1 0-0 0, Lesko 0-1 4-4 4, Schnepp 1-1 2-4 4, VanSickle 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 0-0 1-2 1, Heavin 0-0 0-0 0, Gregory 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-30 FG, 14-20 FT, 37 TP.

EDGEWOOD (77) – Kido 0-0 2-2 2, Banister 6-8 3-4 15, Howard 3-6 2-2 9, Brown 4-5 1-1 9, Bybee 11-21 6-9 33, Norris 2-3 0-0 4, Collier 2-2 0-0 4, Balcam 0-0 0-1 0, Cowden 0-0 0-0 0, Holmes 0-1 0-0 0, Curtis 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 28-46 FG, 15-20 FT, 77 TP.

South Putnam11 10 8 8 – 37

Edgewood 23 16 27 11 – 77

3-point shooting – SP 3-9 (Plunkett 2-4, Scott 1-2, Watson 0-1, Fanning 0-2), EHS 6-15 (Howard 1-1, Bybee 5-14,) Rebounds – SP 16 (Fanning 1, Plunkett 3, Zeffel 1, Arnold 2, Scott 1, Lesko 2, Schnepp 2, Heavin 1, Gregory 1), EHS 27 (Kido 2, Banister 5, Howard 3, Brown 3, Bybee 5, Norris 2, Collier 2, Cowden 1) FG Pct. – SP 30.0, EHS 60.9. FT Pct. – SP 70.0, EHS 75.0 Turnovers – SP 25, EHS 13.

Next game — South Putnam (3-7) hosts Northview on Friday.