Eagles split at Monrovia tourney; NP drops pair

Austin Arnold's defense was a key to South Putnam's win over Bethesda Christian on Friday.

File photo

MONROVIA — North Putnam and South Putnam competed in the boys’ Bulldog Holiday Classic on Friday, with the Eagles splitting their two games and North Putnam losing both of its games.

North Putnam will play for seventh place at 3 p.m. today against Bethesda Christian, while South Putnam will play for fifth place against Southwestern (Shelby).

Here is a look at each game:

Monrovia 45, South Putnam 30

The South Putnam Eagles boys’ basketball team struggled to score in their first game of the Monrovia Holiday Classic against the hosts.

The Eagles only hit 34 (11-of-32) percent from the floor as they fell to 4-4 on the season. The Eagles had difficulty rebounding with the Bulldogs as they lost the battle of the boards 27-17 and South turned the ball over nine times in the first half.

“When you take away nine possessions that really hurts,” South Putnam head coach Greg Dean said.

The Eagles jumped out to a 7-2 lead, while the Bulldogs closed the quarter on a 7-0 run in the last four minutes. Those turnovers led to the struggles late in the quarter, while Monrovia’s six-foot-seven Max Newman led the way with six of his game-high 25 points.

The Bulldogs continued their run in the second quarter. Monrovia scored the first five points of the period before Steven Schnepp stopped the run with a three-point play. The Eagles made a small run to close the gap to 18-15 late in the half, but the Bulldogs added another couple of buckets to extend the lead to 22-15 at the half.

“When we didn’t turn the ball over and when we played aggressively, we got good looks. Unfortunately, we weren’t rewarded going to the rim. We didn’t get to the foul line. They only called six fouls against them (Monrovia) the whole game,” Dean said.

Monrovia used a 9-2 run to open the second half and extend the lead to 31-17. Newman scored six of those nine points. The Eagles rallied a little late in the quarter. Allen Plunkett scored five points late in the period, combined with a Lane Watson trey, the Eagles cut the lead to 33-25 heading into the final stanza.

“Rebounding was probably the key. They got a lot of second chance points on putbacks,” Dean said.

The Eagles couldn’t close the gap any more in the fourth quarter. South managed to limit the Bulldogs to 10 points in the quarter, but couldn’t muster much on their end of the floor. The Eagles only scored five points in the fourth quarter as they hit just 1-of-8 from the field.

Plunkett led the Eagles with 16 points, while Newman led the Bulldogs with 25 points and he pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

SOUTH PUTNAM (30) – Fanning 1-6 0-0 2, Lesko 1-2 0-0 2, Plunkett 5-12 3-8 16, Scott 1-5 0-0 2, Schnepp 2-4 1-1 5, Gregory 0-1 0-0 0, Watson 1-1 0-0 3, Arnold 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-42 FG, 10-11 FT, 47 TP.

MONROVIA (45) – Bantley 3-7 0-0 8, Nagel 1-2 2-2 4, McCloud 1-7 0-0 2, Smith 2-6 2-2 6, Newman 11-17 3-3 25, Burton 0-1 0-0 0, Burnside 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-40 FG, 7-7 FT, 45 TP.

3-point shooting – SP 4-15 (Fanning 0-2, Plunkett 3-6, Scott 0-3, Schnepp 0-2, Watson 1-1, Arnold 0-1), MHS 2-13 (Bantley 2-5, McCloud 0-4, Smith 0-2, Newman 0-2) Rebounds – SP 17 (Fanning 2, Lesko 1, Plunkett 2, Scott 4, Schnepp 3, Gregory 2) MHS – 27 (Bantley 1, Nagel 3, McCloud 5, Smith 4, Newman 9) FG Pct. – SP 34.4, MHS 45.0. FT Pct. – SP 44.4, MHS 100. Turnovers – SP 14, MHS 11.

South Putnam 50, Bethesda Christian 46

The South Putnam Eagle boys’ basketball team bounced back from a loss earlier in the day, using an efficient offense and an improved defense to improve their record to 5-4.

“Defensively in the second half, I thought we were really good. We only gave up 18 points in the second half. Our kids were flying around and talking, and getting to the right spots. We held (Wes) Rischar to five in the second half and he is their guy,” Dean said.

The Eagles didn’t start out well on the offensive end. South turned the ball over on their first three possessions and got down 4-0, but following a timeout, the Eagles settled down and took the lead 15-13 as they hit 6-of-8 from the floor. Allen Plunkett scored seven of his game-high 20 points to pace South.

“We hit a couple of threes. We did a better job of driving and kicking tonight,” Dean said.

The Patriots opened the second quarter with a three-pointer to take the lead. The two teams played a back and forth game throughout the period with Bethesda gaining their two-point advantage on a rebound bucket with :18 left in the half. Despite giving up the rebound basket, the Eagles improved from their earlier game on the boards. In the first half, the Eagles outrebounded the Patriots 12-10.

“We did a better job of rebounding the ball. We prevented a lot of second chances. We really went after it,” Dean said.

The Eagles really made their push late in the third quarter. After the two teams traded the lead a couple of times, South used an 8-2 run to close the quarter and garner a 41-36 lead heading into the fourth period. Dalton Scott hit two three-pointers in the period and Eagles limited the Patriots to 4-of-13 shooting.

“Our offense just had a lot better flow in the second half. We got some good looks and knocked them down,” Dean said.

The Eagles slowed the tempos and kept their lead in the fourth quarter. The Eagles only hit one field goal in the final stanza, but picked up seven points from the foul line. Thomas Fanning hit 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to lead the way and keep the Patriots from regaining the lead. Bethesda would never get closer than three points in the final quarter.

“We got a lot of contributions from our bench. I’m really proud of Austin Arnold. He’s been working a lot on his defense over break and was key tonight,” Dean said.

SOUTH PUTNAM (50) – Fanning 1-2 6-8 8, Lesko 1-2 0-0 2, Plunkett 8-12 1-3 20, Scott 4-7 0-1 11, Schnepp 2-2 0-2 4, Gregory 2-6 0-1 4, Watson 0-3 0-0 0, Arnold 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 18-34 FG, 8-17 FT, 50 TP.

BETHESDA CHRISTIAN (46) – Ryans 3-7 0-2 6, Kelly 0-2 1-2 1, Rischar 6-15 0-0 16, Shafer 0-0 0-0 0, Mlagen 4-9 0-3 8, Hayden 1-6 0-0 2, Alsdorf 2-6 0-0 4, Burgin 2-4 0-0 4, Mason 2-2 0-0 5, Terry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 FG, 1-7 FT, 46 TP.

3-point shooting – SP 6-11 (Fanning 0-1, Watson 0-1, Plunkett 3-4, Scott 3-5) BC 5-18 (Ryans 0-1, Kelly 0-1, Rischar 4-9, Mlagen 0-3, Hayden 0-1, Burgin 0-2, Mason 1-1) Rebounds – SP 26 (Fanning 1, Plunkett 5, Scott 6, Schnepp 4, Arnold 5, Gregory 1, Lesko 2) BC – 29 (Ryans 4, Kelly 2, Rischar 5, Mlagen 3, Hayden 5, Alsdorf 3, Burgin 4, Mason 1) FG Pct. – SP 52.9, BC 39.2. FT Pct. – SP 47.1, BC 14.3. Turnovers – SP 12, BC 11.

Indian Creek 59, North Putnam 46

North Putnam struggled to keep the athletic Braves off the boards, Indian Creek outrebounded the Cougars 37-18.

“I thought Indian Creek might be the best team in the tourney,” North Putnam head coach Collin McCartt said.

The Braves got off to a strong start as they pounded the bards for numerous second chances in the first quarter and led 18-12 at the end of the period. Jared DeHart had eight of his game-high 24 points in the quarter.

The Cougars began to get the ball inside in the second quarter. Six foot-six junior Andrew Pickel scored seven of his team-high 18 points in the period. The Cougars also held the Braves to just 5-of-16 shooting in the quarter. North trailed 29-24 at the end of the half.

“Andrew started to understand how active he has to be. He played well,” McCartt said.

The Cougars struggled coming out of the intermission with four straight turnovers. The Braves led 35-24 before the Cougars were able to stem the tide with a Pickel trey. Pickel picked up five more points in the quarter and Treyton Smith closed the quarter with an old-fashioned “and one” to cut the lead to 44-37 heading into the final quarter.

The Cougars scored the first five points of the final stanza to cut the lead to three at 45-42 with 5:04 to play, but following an Indian Creek timeout, the Braves jumped their lead back to eight.

James Duncan paced the Cougars in the fourth quarter as he scored five of his 14 points in the period. Pickel led the Cougars with 18 and Duncan had his 14.

NORTH PUTNAM (46) – C. Duncan 2-7 0-0 5, Smith 2-7 1-2 5, J. Duncan 4-11 2-2 14, Davies 1-1 0-0 2, Pickel 7-10 3-4 18, Murray 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 17-37 FG, 6-8 FT, 46 TP.

INDIAN CREEK (59) – Ferris 4-7 2-2 12, Lacy 4-10 0-0 9, Russell 3-7 0-0 6, DeHart 9-19 5-8 24, Lime 1-2 0-0 2, Ankney 2-6 0-0 6, Bruzzese 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 FG, 7-10 FT, 59 TP.

3-point shooting – NP 6-16 (C. Duncan 1-4, Smith 0-1, J. Duncan 4-10, Pickel 1-1) IC 6-17 (Ferris 2-3, Lacy 1-2, Russell 0-2, DeHart 1-4, Ankney 2-5, Bruzzese 0-1) Rebounds – NP 18 (C. Duncan 3, Smith 3, J. Duncan 2, Davies 1, Pickel 5, Murray 3) IC – 37 (Ferris 2, Lacy 7, Russell 9, DeHart 10, Lime 3, Ankney 1, Bruzzese 2) FG Pct. – NP 45.9, IC 43.4. FT Pct. – NP 75.0, IC 70.0. Turnovers – NP 19, IC 15.

SW (Shelby) 65, North Putnam 55

The North Putnam Cougars ran into a hot-shooting Southwestern (Shelby) Spartan boys’ basketball team in their second game of the Bulldog Holiday Classic at Monrovia. The Spartans scored the first 11 points of the game en route to an 18-2 first quarter lead. A furious Cougar rally fell short as the Cougars fell to 2-7 on the year.

North turned the ball over the first three possessions and even though McCartt called three timeouts in the first quarter, the Spartans couldn’t be stopped. They hit 7-of-9 field goals and 4-of-6 from behind the arc. The only score of the quarter was a layup by Pickel.

“We were incredibly flat. We didn’t have nay energy. We didn’t understand how to come out and play a second game of the day,” McCartt said.

The second quarter wasn’t much better for the Cougars. Southwestern bumped their lead to 32-7 by going inside to Blake McClure and sniping from the wings by the rest of the Spartans. McClure had four points and Noah Swift nailed a couple of treys for Southwestern. The Spartans led 34-12 at the end of the half.

The Cougars wouldn’t go away even down by 22 to start the second half. Treyton Smith stole the inbounds pass to start the half and got fouled on a layup. After hitting the free throw, the Cougars kept pushing. They cut the Spartan lead to 48-35 at the end of the third period. Smith scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the quarter.

“Treyton got a steal and three-pint play to start the second half. That was big, he did a really good job tonight,” McCartt said.

NORTH PUTNAM (55) – C. Duncan 4-10 0-1 9, Smith 5-8 6-6 19, J. Duncan 3-5 0-0 9, Davies 0-0 0-0 0, Pickel 5-8 5-6 16, Murray 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 18-35 FG, 11-13 FT, 55 TP.

SOUTHWESTERN (65) – Shackelford 5-8 3-7 16, Z. Swanson 2-3 0-0 5, J. Swanson 5-8 1-3 12, Swift 3-7 0-0 9, McClure 8-12 2-2 18, Kissell 0-0 0-0 0, Hartsell 1-2 2-2 5. Totals 24-40 FG, 8-14 FT, 65 TP.

3-point shooting – NP 8-15 (C. Duncan 1-4, Smith 3-5, J. Duncan 3-3, Pickel 1-2, Murray 0-1) SW 9-18 (Shackelford 3-5, Z. Swanson 1-1, J. Swanson 1-3, Swift 3-7, Hartsell 1-2) Rebounds – NP 16 (C. Duncan 7, Smith 1, J. Duncan 1, Pickel 4, Murray 2) SW – 22 (Shackelford 3, Z. Swanson 5, J. Swanson 3, Swift 1, McClure 8) FG Pct. – NP 51.4, SW 60.0. FT Pct. – NP 84.6, SW 57.1. Turnovers – NP 16, SW 11.