Clovers top North Putnam for third place

Monday, November 20, 2017
Cloverdale’s Tori Combs rejects a shot by Baylee Osburn of North Putnam as teammates Sammie Shrum (11) and Kassie Wade provide help.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

“The key was the first quarter,” Cloverdale head coach Matthew Langdon said after Saturday night’s 57-27 victory of the North Putnam Cougars in the consolation game of the girls’ Putnam County Classic.

That was the understatement for this game. The Clovers jumped out to a 16-0 first-quarter lead and even extended it to 21-0 early in the second quarter as they improved to 5-1 on the season.

Cloverdale used its pressure defense to force turnovers and limit the Cougars in the early going. North turned the ball over 12 times in the first quarter, while the Clovers hit seven field goals and five of them were layups — mostly off of the turnovers.

Cloverdale shot 7-of-16 from the field and not only forced the multiple turnovers, but held the Cougars to 0-of-7 shooting from the field. The Cougars had their second straight night of falling behind by 20 points or more before rallying.

“I think both nights were pretty similar. I’m proud of them for competing and continuing to fight. We came out flat, we were not confident, we were not really playing as hard as we can. We get down a bunch, then fight like crazy,” North Putnam head coach Jarrod Duff said.

The Clovers had all five starters score in the first quarter and that continued into the second quarter. Cloverdale again had all five starters score again and pushed their lead to 37-10 at the intermission.

The Cougars finally got on the board with a Payton Lyons three-pointer with 5:51 to play in the second quarter. North began to cut down on its turnovers and started to find some things it could do, but after starting the game down 21-0, it was hard to find a way to get back into the game. Kinzey Young scored four points in the quarter and grabbed four rebounds to lead the way for North.

“I thought Kinzey battled. We all have to a better job of finishing, but we executed better,” Duff said.

Cloverdale finished the first half with 37 points on 16-of-31 shooting and forced a total of 17 turnovers which was pleasing to their coach.

“We moved the ball well, some shots fell. We pressured where we wanted to and caused some turnovers. In order to be a championship-level team and try and get to the next level, you can’t have letdowns, no matter who you are playing,” Langdon said.

The two teams battled pretty evenly through the third period. North’s Baylee Osburn scored all four of her points in the quarter to help the Cougars not to fall much further behind. The Clovers still won the third quarter 11-9, but much more evenly played.

“In the second half, they were able to slow down the tempo a little bit. You have to give credit to North Putnam and Jarrod Duff,” Langdon said.

The Cougars dramatically improved their turnover problem in the third quarter. North only turned the ball over twice in the period.

“I have to figure out what I need to do as a coach to help us come out ready to play. We compete later in the game,” Duff said.

Both teams played another even quarter to finish the game. Neither team could gain much of an advantage in the final period. The teams combined for 11 turnovers, but the Clovers basically maintained their lead to the 57-27 final margin.

The Cougars didn’t place anyone in double figures, but were led by Hannah Sims six points and Lyons five points. The Cougars fell to 3-3 on the year and will try and snap the two-game losing streak tonight as they host South Vermillion.

Cloverdale placed three girls in double figures. Tori Combs led the way with 14 points, w hile Sammie Shrum had 12 points and Arianna McCracken added 10.

Cloverdale will put its 5-1 record on the line on Saturday as the Clovers travel to Eastern Greene.

“We wanted to make sure we came out ready. When you put so much into the first game (loss to South Putnam) and then have to come out at 6 p.m. in the consolation game it is tough. We did okay. We can’t let the first game get us down. We had to play well and keep moving forward,” Langdon said.

NORTH PUTNAM (27) – Sims 1-5, 4-6 6, Osburn 2-3 0-0 4, Lyons 2-7 0-0 5, Day 0-4 0-0 0, Tennis 1-6 0-0 3, Young 2-10 0-0 4, Gibson 1-2 0-0 2, Simmerman 0-2 3-4 3, Gierke 0-0 0-0 0 Totals 9-39 FG, 7-10 FT, 27 TP.

CLOVERDALE (57) – McCracken 5-7 0-0 10, Shrum 4-10 3-4 12, Walker 3-8 0-0 9, Combs 7-10 0-0 14, Thomas 3-6 0-0 8, Price 1-2 1-2 3, Wade 0-5 0-0 0, Shoemaker 0-1, 1-4 1, Shedron 0-3 0-0 0, Couch 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 23-52 FG, 5-12 FT, 57 TP.

North Putnam 0 10 9 8 – 27

South Putnam 16 21 11 9 – 55

3-point shooting – NP 2-10 (Lyons 1-4, Tennis 1-5, Simmerman 0-1), CHS 6-20 (Shrum 1-5, Walker 3-7, Thomas 2-4, Wade 0-2, Shedron 0-2) REB – NP 29 (Osburn 6, Lyons 4, Day 5, Young 7, Gibson 2, Simmerman 1, Gierke 1), CHS Shoemaker 4, Shedron 2, Couch 1) – NP 25, CHS 14.

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  • This season is looking all too familiar.

    -- Posted by nphs92 on Tue, Nov 21, 2017, at 7:26 AM
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