Improbable title becomes SP reality

South Putnam's girls' basketball team won the Cascade Sectional on Saturday night by defeating Cloverdale 47-45 in the championship game.

Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

CLAYTON — The list of reasons for the South Putnam Eagles to not win the Cascade Sectional in girls’ high school basketball this year is long, considering they:

• Limped into the tourney having lost five of their last seven regular-season games;

• Were without one of their most valuable players (injured junior Maddie McHugh); and

• Received a horrendous draw which required them to first get past a team they barely beat in the regular season (Southmont), then the No. 7-ranked team in the state on its homecourt and finally the survivor of the other bracket in the finals if they got that far (likely Cloverdale, with perhaps the field’s best individual player in Tori Combs).

But, despite losing another player (starter Ally Nichols) to injury in the semifinals, the Eagles overcame all those obstacles and defeated Cloverdale 47-45 on Saturday night to win the school’s first girls’ sectional title since 2005.

The nip-and-tuck game literally came down to the final seconds.

South Putnam tied the score at 45-45 with 50 seconds left as Lillie Stein scored on an assist from Aubrey Barker.

After Cloverdale retained possession on a held ball with 29.2 seconds left, the Clovers committed a turnover with 14.6 seconds left that gave the Eagles an opportunity for the last shot.

South Putnam called timeout with 9.1 seconds left, and coach Brian Gardner drew up a play for Caitlin Capps to flash to the free throw line. Capps took a pass from Miranda Bieghler, squared up to the basket, made a shot fake and drove for a layup with 1.9 seconds left.

Lillie Stein of South Putnam cuts a piece of the net.

Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

The Clovers were unable to get off a final shot, and the Eagles had their first girls’ sectional title since 2005.

For Capps to provide the game-winning points was not a surprise, since she had twice defeated Southmont this season with late free throws.

She likes being in that position.

“It’s a crazy feeling,” she said. “Once you do it once, you want to keep it going – especially when you get in situations like this. You have people relying on you … but you can’t do it without your teammates getting the ball to you and helping you out.”

Gardner was pleased the final play went exactly as planned.

“We knew the middle flash was open all night,” he said. “We hadn’t always seen it. We wanted Caitlin to come and get the pass, give Combs a shot fake and go to the basket. It worked the way we wanted it to work, and she just made a play. She has hit big free throws and big shots this week and played great defense as well. I couldn’t be prouder of her, and I was glad she was able to be in that position.”

Cloverdale’s Sammie Shrum and South Putnam’s Lexi Vanihel (21) go after a loose ball as Aubrey Barker tries to get in on the action.

Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

The Clovers scored nearly half of their game total of 45 points in a 21-point outburst in the third period. Doing much of that damage was sophomore post player Tori Combs, who muscled her way to 10 points in helping Cloverdale take a 41-38 lead into the final period after trailing 22-20 at the half.

The Eagles – Capps in particular – toughened their defense down low and held Cloverdale without a point for the first 5:25 of the final period. Combs was held scoreless in the final quarter while the Eagles edged their way back into the game.

What is it like battling the muscular Combs down low?

“It is tough,” Capps said. “She can maneuver wherever she wants to; you just have to try to stop her from going where she wants to go.

“Those of us who play down low got our heads back in the game [in the fourth quarter] and started pushing to make sure we controlled underneath the basket.”

Capps hit the final two baskets of the first quarter for the Eagles to help them take a 10-5 lead at the first stop.

Combs went to work in the second quarter with four baskets and a free throw, and a basket plus free throw by freshman Lakkain Price late in the period cut the deficit to 22-20 at the intermission.

Late 3-pointers from Barker and Stein had given South Putnam a 22-17 lead with 39 seconds left in the half.

Lexi Vanihel’s trey with 6:35 left in the third period put South Putnam ahead 27-23 before the Clovers got rolling.

Sammie Shrum had back-to-back 3-point plays, one of the basket and free throw kind and the other on a trey, to put her team up for the first time at 29-27.

Barker was then fouled while attempting a 3-point shot and hit all three free throws, but then Combs went to work with five straight baskets.

Kelsey Helterbrand completed a 6-0 run for the Clovers by scoring a basket with 49 seconds left in the period, and Vanihel scored with 9.4 seconds left for the Eagles to give the Clovers their 3-point lead entering the final period.

A Barker trey tied the game with 7:34 to go, and after no points were scored by either team for almost five minutes, Barker missed another trey with 2:54 to go. Sophomore guard Whitney Boswell – the smallest player on the court – snagged the rebound and scored on a putback for a 43-41 South Putnam lead.

Shrum scored a pair of baskets, one on an assist from Combs and another on a baseline jumper, to put her team back ahead at 45-43 with 1:20 left.

Stein would knot the game at 45-45 with her layup 20 seconds later, setting the stage for Capps’ heroics.

Gardner agreed with Capps that being more physical on Combs was a key to holding the Clovers to just four points in the final period.

“We also talked a lot during our walk-through [earlier Saturday] was that we had to have help down on her,” he said. “We did a better job in the fourth quarter. Caitlin did a good job of pushing her off the block more, and Tori had to take hard shots the whole game and I think after three games in a row some of the physicality we put on her caused her to miss some of her shots.

“She’s an outstanding player.”

Both Capps and her coach felt the sectional title was possible, despite the gloomy way the regular season finished.

“I had a feeling,” Capps said. “We worked hard in practice, and our teammates are what got us here.”

Gardner sensed a “different vibe” among the players as they went to Cascade for the pre-tourney practice three days before the sectional opener.

“We have kind of been in an up and down deal this year,” he said. “As a coaching staff, we felt if we could put everything together that we would be there. We were much more positive at our pre-sectional practice, and it continued throughout the week. It was awesome to be able to see that come to fruition.”

No player exceeded her regular-season production in the sectional more than Barker, a sophomore who played last year at Greencastle.

Barker had 15 points in both the semifinal round and the championship game, and was a vocal leader for the Eagles.

“Aubrey Barker played extremely well this week,” Gardner said. “She really did a good job of being under control and having composure. She’s had a struggle all year … her grandmother was ill and passed away, and you come into a new team – those things are hard to handle.

“She had a stretch where she was able to get within herself,” he added. “I couldn’t be prouder of her. Miranda Bieghler and Lillie Stein are also two girls who have been the top players for us, and they continued to play well also. Jess Vensko played her best basketball of the season this week. It took the whole team.”

Cloverdale coach Matthew Langdon had nothing but praise for his team, and for the nearby county rival which kept the Clovers from winning their first-ever girls’ sectional title.

“It was a physical game,” he said. “You had to work for every shot you got. Some of the things that have bothered us [turnovers and handling the ball] popped up and hurt us, but it was so much bigger than that.

“It was so great for Putnam County girls’ basketball to have two good teams play such an exciting game in front of a packed house,” Langdon added. “For the girls to experience that moment is great.

Cloverdale’s Hailey Thomas defends against a pass attempt by Aubrey Barker.

Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

“I want to say ‘congrats’ to South Putnam,” he said. “I consider Brian Gardner a good friend, and I am happy a Putnam County team was able to win the title.”

Langdon would not take anyone else’s team in trade for his girls, who established a single-season victory record with their 16th win on Friday night.

“I am so proud of this year that we had, with the most wins in school history and getting to the sectional final [for the first time ever],” he said. “This team was supposed to be good in two or three years, but not this year. To battle as we did [Saturday night], it’s just been fun to watch.”

With four freshmen seeing their first-ever sectional experience among the seven players in his tournament rotation, the Clovers could have been excused if they let the atmosphere bother them – but there was no sign of that.

“It was toe to toe,” Langdon said. “The biggest lead all night was seven points. We missed too many easy shots, and we have been a team who has been able to put up 19-20 points in the first quarter. These girls handled everything really well.”

The Eagles will play Knightstown sectional champion Eastern Hancock at noon on Saturday in the Speedway Regional.

Top-ranked Triton Central had been considered the favorite to win the Knightstown sectional, but fell 57-50 to the Royals on Saturday night.

CLOVERDALE (45) – Combs 10-17 2-2 22, Walker 2-5 0-0 6, Shrum 5-11 1-1 12, Helterbrand 1-4 0-0 2, Thomas 0-7 0-0 0, McCracken 0-0 0-0 0, Price 1-2 1-1 3. Totals 19-42 FG, 4-4 FT, 45 TP

SOUTH PUTNAM (47) – Stein 4-12 0-0 9, Bieghler 1-7 4-4 6, Barker 4-10 5-5 15, Vanihel 3-4 0-0 7, Capps 3-9 0-0 6, Vensko 1-4 0-0 2, Boswell 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 17-47 FG, 9-11 FT, 47 TP

Cloverdale 5 15 21 4 – 45

South Putnam 10 12 16 9 – 47

3-point shooting – Cloverdale 3-14 (Walker 2-5, Shrum 1-4, Thomas 0-5), South Putnam 4-16 (Stein 1-4, Bieghler 0-3, Barker 2-5, Vanihel 1-1, Capps 0-2). Turnovers – SP 15, Cloverdale 12.

Next game – South Putnam (15-10) will play Eastern Hancock (14-10) at noon on Saturday in the Speedway Regional. Cloverdale finished its season at 16-9.