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COUNTY TOURNEY: Greencastle tops North Putnam to reach ninth straight finals
Greencastle’s Bradley Key thought his team played well in the first half of Friday night’s 37-19 win over North Putnam in the semifinals of the girls’ Putnam County Classic.
The Tiger Cubs led 13-0 after one quarter and 24-3 at halftime, but were outscored 16-13 in the second half.
They already had enough points to win, but Key was not happy that his team didn’t carry over its effort from the first two quarters.
“In the first half, we came out with a lot of intensity,” said Key, whose team is looking for its fourth straight title and seventh in nine years tonight against South Putnam. “We know we have a lot of work to do, so for us to be a good basketball team we are going to have to do the little things right — and in the first half we did.”
Key thought his team’s zone pressing defense caused North Putnam a lot of problems, including forcing seven first-quarter turnovers, and the Tiger Cubs also rebounded well.
“To win big games, you’re going to have to put together two good halves,” he said. “You’re not going to win a county championship the way we played in the second half. But, we got where we wanted to be and we’re happy about t hat.”
Sophomore Allison Stevens got the Tiger Cubs off to a good start with a pair of early baskets, and Jalyn Duff followed with a 3-pointer for a 7-0 lead. Layna Robinson added two striaght hoops later in the quarter for an 11-0 lead, and Duff scored just before the end of the period.
The Cougars were only able to score on a banked 3-pointer by Payton Lyons with 3:09 left in the half.
North Putnam coach Jarrod Duff continues to see improvement in his team, but admits the Cougars are not yet ready for a big stage like the county tournament.
“I told them after the game that I know them pretty well, and I have a good pulse on this team,” Duff said. “I wondered if we were ready to be competitive and give ourselves a chance in a game like this, and we’re just not ready yet. “
Duff could sense a tightness in his team during warmups and pregame introductions.
“We played tight and we wer just flat,” he said. “In the first half, Greencastle beat us to every loose ball.
“The part that’s disappointing is that I’ve seen us play a lot better in practice and in games, and we just didn’t do the things that it takes to be able to beat a team like Greencastle,” Duff added. “We’re going to get there. We’re lucky we get to come back [tonight] and play another game and see if we can play better.”
The Cougars opened the second half by scoring the first six points and cutting the gap to 24-9, as Jayden Day had a basket and Baylee Osburn scored a pair of hoops.
North Putnam didn’t score again until a Dana Tennis basket with three seconds left in the period, after Greencastle had scored 10 straight.
Greencastle’s Stevens was the only player in double figures with a career-high 10 points, and added seven rebounds.
Osburn and Day each had four points for the Cougars, who fell to 3-2 on the season and will meet Cloverdale tonight in the consolation game.
Greencastle and South Putnam are meeting in the finals for the third straight year.
Two years ago, the Tiger Cubs recorded a 55-54 double overtime victory over the Eagles on a last-second shot by Bethany Burgeson.
Last year, Greencastle had an easier time with a 53-35 win.
Key did not know after his team’s Friday victory which team his Tiger Cubs would face in tonight’s finals, but he knew either South Putnam or Cloverdale would be a quality opponent.
“They both return a lot of really good players, and both have great shooters,” Key said. “Right now we’re just focusing on doing whatever we can do to make ourselves better in every quarter and on every possession.”
The Tiger Cubs won their second straight game after losing their first three outings of the season.
NORTH PUTNAM (19) — Sims 0-4 3-6 3, Tennis 1-7 0-0 2, Osburn 2-3 0-0 4, Runnells 0-2 0-0 0, Gibson 0-3 0-0 0, Young 0-1 1-4 1, Simmerman 0-3 0-0 0, Lyons 1-5 0-0 3, Day 2-4 0-0 4, Gierke 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 7-32 FG, 4-9 FT, 19 TP
GREENCASTLE (37) — Stevens 5-9 0-1 10, Duff 3-9 0-0 7, White 2-4 0-0 4, Stoffregen 2-10 1-5 5, Shuee 1-10 0-4 2, Robinson 3-9 0-0 6, Nally 1-5 0-0 3, Doan 0-2 0-0 0, Trigg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-58 FG, 37 TP
North Putnam0 3 8 8 — 19
Greencastle 13 11 10 3 — 37
3-point shooting — NP 1-14 (Sims 0-1, Tennis 0-6, Runnells 0-2, Simmerman 0-1, Lyons 1-4), Greencastle 2-20 (Duff 1-5, Stoffregen 0-8, Shuee 0-3, Nall 1-5). Turnoers — North Putnam 16, Greencastle 15.