Cougars come up short against Bulldogs

Monday, January 15, 2018
North Putnam senior Elliott Gross (left) looks for his shot over the taller Max Newman of Monrovia.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

BAINBRIDGE – Being at a height disadvantage and not properly executing blockouts proved to be a fatal combination for North Putnam’s boys basketball team on Saturday night, as the Cougars fell 57-44 to Monrovia.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Monrovia, and the defeat ended a three-game winning streak for the Cougars.

The first quarter set the tone for the night, as the Cougars missed their first seven shots from the field and hit just 1 of 10 overall (including 0-4 from 3-point range) and just 3 of 6 free throws.

Monrovia won the rebound battle 12-6, and led 13-5 at the first stop.

“We just got dominated on the boards,” said North Putnam coach Collin McCartt, whose team lost the battle of the boards by a 41-23 margin overall. “We came out flat and I thought defensively, as far as half court, I thought we were playing solid defense but we just couldn’t finish the possession with a rebound.”

The Bulldogs were led by 6-7 junior center Max Newman, who scored 26 points and hauled in 11 rebounds.

“He didn’t hurt us that much with his back to the basket,” McCartt said, “but it was just all the second chances. He does a good job of looking over the top and finding the opposite guy. They did a good job of moving the ball.”

The second quarter didn’t go much better for North Putnam, as they were outscored 12-5 and hit just 2 of 12 shots from the field. Foul trouble began setting in, as well, and 6-6 junior Andrew Pickel saw his playing time limited as a result.

Trailing 25-10 at the half, however, the Cougars made a strong comeback in the third period.

Monrovia’s Braden Bantley hit a trey to open the second half and give his team an 18-point lead, but the Cougars scored the next 16 points to get back in it.

Caleb Duncan started the run with a trey – the first of four straight he would hit – and added a pair of free throws and a 2-pointer. Elliot Gross had a pair of free throws, Pickel had a basket and a pair of free throws and Duncan closed the run with another trey.

The result of that four-minute flurry was North Putnam coming within 28-26 with three minutes left in the third period.

Monrovia got things back together, however, and outscored the Cougars 8-2 over the rest of the period for a 36-28 lead at the final stop. Newman started the run with a basket, but got help from several teammates as Jaylen Sprague hit a trey and Ben Nagel added a free throw and a basket.

Monrovia edged its lead up to 42-30 early in the fourth quarter before Duncan hit back-to-back treys and Gross added a short jumper to bring North Putnam within 44-38 with 3:28 left.

The remainder of the game was all Bulldogs, however. The visitors did most of their damage from the free throw line, hitting 9 of 13 in the period and gradually pulling away.

Treyton Smith hit a late 3-pointer for North Putnam’s final points.

“We were able to battle back really well in the third quarter,” McCartt said. “Then we had some bad offensive possessions and we took our effort away there.”

Monrovia currently has the most wins (9) of any team in the South Putnam Sectional, but several teams are close behind and McCartt thinks the matchup can help his team in March.

“Our guys understand what they have to do,” he said. “You get something out of a game against a sectional opponent is the best you can ask for.”

Depending upon the weather, the Cougars are slated to host Greencastle on Wednesday in a makeup Western Indiana Conference game and then host Cloverdale on Thursday.

“It’s a big week for us,” McCartt said. “It could be really difficult. Luckily you have an opponent [Greencastle] that you have already prepared for. We have back-to-back games, but this time of year maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

“This time of year kids are primed to play.”

Duncan led North Putnam with 18 points, while Gross added 15.

Monrovia improved to 9-5 with the win, while North Putnam fell to 5-8.

MONROVIA (57) – Newman 9-16 8-10 26, Smith 2-4 0-2 4, McCloud 1-7 4-4 6, Bantley 1-4 1-3 4, Nagel 2-7 1-2 6, Newlin 1-3 0-0 2, Burton 2-2 0-0 4, Sprague 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 20-46 FG, 14-21 FT, 57 TP

NORTH PUTNAM (44) – Gross 4-13 7-12 15, Pickel 1-5 3-4 5, C.Duncan 6-16 2-2 18, J.Duncan 0-2 0-0 0, Smith 2-10 1-2 6, Murray 0-2 0-0 0, Davies 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-49 FG, 13-20 FT, 44 TP

Monrovia 13 12 11 21 – 57

North Putnam 5 5 18 16 – 44

3-point shooting – Monrovia 3-19 (Smith 0-1, McCloud 0-4, Bantley 1-3, Nagel 1-6, Newlin 0-1, Sprague 1-2), North Putnam 5-19 (Gross 0-1, Pickel 0-1, C.Duncan 4-11, J.Duncan 0-2, Smith 1-4). Rebounds – Monrovia 41 (Newman 11), North Putnam 23 (Gross 6).

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