Cascade wins rematch with South Putnam, 64-37

CLAYTON — Evan Burch and Cascade defeated South Putnam 64-37 Friday in the seventh-place game in the Western Indiana Conference playoffs.

Burch scored a game-high 22 points in the first three quarters alone. Teammate Dalton DuBois was the only other player to reach double figures with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

Junior Wes Lesko led the Eagles with eight points off the bench. Allen Plunkett added seven and Dalton Scott and Christian Zeffel each scored six.

Cascade shot 48 percent (23-of-48) from the floor and 33 percent (5-of-15) from 3-point range, while South Putnam shot just 26 percent (10-of-38) and connected on just one 3-pointer for the game (1-of-15).

The Cadets played a full-court trap for the majority of the game, which helped force 15 turnovers. They also outrebounded the Eagles 34-27.

“Defensively, we weren’t very good,” said South Putnam coach Greg Dean. “We were pretty easy to play against. A team like Cascade, they have a lot of offensive weapons, and they shoot the ball well. We got to find a way to become tougher defensively.”

After a quiet first quarter, which Cascade led 13-4, Burch scored all but one field goal and 14 of the team’s 21 second quarter points. His back-to-back 3-pointers with two minutes remaining helped give the Cadets a 34-16 lead at the half.

“[Burch] can do a lot of things,” Dean said. “He goes off the dribble well, shoots it well, moves without the ball well . . . he just makes it tough. He’s a good player and tough to defend.”

In the second half, South Putnam struggled again offensively out of the gate, hitting just two field goals in the third quarter. They trailed by as much as 32 in the fourth quarter.

The outcome was a far cry from Jan. 17 when the two teams met, and Cascade left with a 58-53 win.

“Our effort 10 days ago was so much higher than it was [Friday night],” Dean said. “I thought we really competed hard and played physically. Cascade’s a physical team, and you have to match that, and I didn’t think we did that very well tonight.”

The Eagles have now lost nine in a row and drop to 3-11 overall, while Cascade improves to 10-6. Both teams entered with a 2-3 conference record.

South Putnam hits the road for an 11:30 a.m. game today to face Bloomington Lighthouse (2-15).

“We get a great opportunity to go play in the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, so we want to come out and play hard in an early game,” Dean said. “It will be a tough bounce back, but we have to be ready to play.”

SOUTH PUTNAM (37) – Fanning 0-4 4-4 4, Plunkett 2-6 2-2 7, Arnold 0-1 0-0 0, Watson 0-2 1-2 1, Scott 3-9 0-0 6, Schnepp 1-4 0-0 2, Zeffel 2-2 2-4 6, Lesko 1-6 6-8 8, Adams 0-0 1-2 1, Gregory 1-1 0-0 2, Heavin 0-2 0-0 0, VanSickle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-38 FG, 16-22 FT, 37 TP.

CASCADE (64) – Burch 10-17 0-0 22, DuBois 5-6 3-4 13, Hopper 0-6 2-2 2, A.Alderson 1-2 4-4 7, Stephenson 1-3 0-0 2, Edwards 2-3 0-4 4, M.Alderson 2-3 2-3 7, Walker 1-3 0-0 2, Compliment 0-0 0-0 0, Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Western 0-4 2-2 2, Jacobs 1-1 0-0 3, I. Burch 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 FG 13-19 FT, 64 TP.

South Putnam 4 12 7 14 — 37

Cascade 13 21 17 13 — 64

3-point shooting – SP 1-15 (Plunkett 1-3, Fanning 0-3, Arnold 0-1, Watson 0-2, Scott 0-5, Schnepp 0-1), CC 5-15 (Burch 2-6, A. Alderson 1-1, Jacobs 1-1, M. Alderson 1-2, Westeron 0-1, DuBois 0-1, Hopper 0-3). Rebounds – SP 27 (Schnepp 7, Lesko 4, Plunkett 3), CC 34 (Burch 6, DuBois 4). FG Pct. – SP 26.3, CC 47.9. FT Pct. – SP 72.8, CC 68.4. Turnovers SP 15, CC 9.