Cougars close out season with eighth win; Cubs win 14th

BAINBRIDGE — The North Putnam Lady Cougars picked up a win in their final regular season contest against the Eminence Eels, 50-26.

The Cougars improved their record to 8-14 on the season. The eight wins marked the best season since 2004-05 for North Putnam. The wins are key for the Cougar program, according to head coach Jarrod Duff.

“Anybody that knows basketball can see how much better this team is than last year. The girls have worked really hard in the summer and improved their fundamentals. The wins are a reward for all that hard work. I told the girls to be proud of the wins, but not to be satisfied,” Duff said.

The Cougars overcame a sluggish start to put together a huge second quarter and pull away from the Eels, who fell to 3-19 on the season. North forced 35 turnovers on the night and out rebounded the Eels 42-36 on the night and never trailed in the game.

The two teams only scored a total of 11 first quarter points with the Cougars leading 7-4 at the end of the period. The teams combined to shoot just 16 (4-of-25) percent in the quarter. Both t•eams struggled shooting the ball, but were active defensively.

North took control early in the second quarter. The Cougars scored the first 18 points of the quarter and outscored the Eels 25-2 to take a 32-6 halftime lead. Dana Tennis led the charge with all seven of her points in the quarter, including two three-pointers. The Cougars had their best shooting quarter, hitting 9-of-14 shots from the floor. They also got five points from the free throw line as they were the more aggressive team. The Eels only managed to attempt five field goals, hitting one of them while turning the ball over 15 times.

“We really played well in that (second) quarter. We were more aggressive and did a good job. It also is really helpful when you hit shots and we hit some shots,” Duff said.

The Cougars continued to build their lead in the second half. North scored the first six points of the quarter and led by as many as 34 points in the third period before settling for a 44-11 lead heading into the final stanza. Again, defense led the way for the Cougars as they limited the Eels to just 1-of-10 from the floor. The balanced Cougars got four points each from Clarissa Gibson and Kinzey Young to pace North.

North Putnam relaxed its pressure in the second half and the Eels took advantage in the fourth quarter. The Eels managed to outscore the Cougars 15-6 on the strength of their three-point shooting. Eminence hit three from downtown in the quarter, but the large lead was too much for the Eels to overcome.

The Cougars emptied their bench and cruised to the win as they celebrated their lone senior, Mia Runnells.

Runnells only scored three points on the night, but her play impressed her coach.

“Mia was really good tonight. A night like this a lot of players are looking for their points, but Mia still played the game right and was unselfish. It is a good thing that she was rewarded with a win tonight and some wins this year,” Duff said.

Young led the Cougars with 10 points, while Lyons and Tennis added seven. The Cougars will face Cascade on Tuesday night in the opening game of the Class 2A Sectional 44.

“We have to play one of the best, maybe the best team in our sectional in Cascade. We just want to compete like we are capable and we will see how we do,” Duff said.

EMINENCE (26) – Owens 1-3 0-0 2 Davis 0-7 0-2 0, V. Riffel 5-10 0-0 12, J. Riffel 1-4 0-0 2, Manion 1-3 0-2 2, Hart 1-4 2-8 5, Grider 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 10-33 FG, 2-12 FT, 26 TP.

NORTH PUTNAM (50) – Sims 3-6 0-3 6, Runnells 1-7 1-1 3, Young 3-8 4-4 10, Osburn 1-6 2-2 4, Lyons 3-8 0-0 7, Tennis 2-7 1-2 7, Gibson 3-6 0-0 6, Day 3-5 0-5 6, Gierke 0-6 0-0 0, Christy 0-6 1-2 1, Boller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-66 FG, 9-19 FT, 50 TP.

Eminence 4 2 5 15 — 26

North Putnam 7 25 12 6 – 50

3-point shooting – EHS 3-14 (Owens 0-1, Davis 0-6, V. Riffel 2-2, J. Riffel 0-2, Hart 1-4, Grider 1-1), NP 3-17 (Christy 0-2, Runnells 0-3, Lyons 1-4, Tennis 2-6, Gibson 0-2). Rebounds – EHS 36 (Owens 2, V. Riffel 4, J. Riffel 6, Manion 9, Hart 5, Grider 3) NP – 42 (Sims 5, Christy 3, Runnells 5, Young 6, Osburn 4, Lyons 4, Boller 1, Tennis 1, Gibson 2, Day 1, Gierke 5) FG Pct. – EHS 30.3, NP 28.8. FT Pct. – EHS 16.7, NP 47.4. Turnovers – EHS 35 NP 14.

In other girls’ action:

• Greencastle 61, South Vermillion 53 — At Clinton, the Tiger Cubs closed out the regular season on Thursday night with a win to raise their record to 14-8.

Bailey Shuee had 15 points to lead four players in double figures, while Rose White added 14, Seelye Stoffregen and Allison Stevens had 11 each and Jalyn Duff had nine.

The Cubs will play Lebanon in the Crawfordsville Sectional on Tuesday.

GREENCASTLE (61) — Stoffregen 4 3-4 11, Robinson 0 1-2 1, White 7 0-1 14, Nally 0 0-0 0, Shuee 4 5-6 15, Duff 3 2-2 9, Stevens 4 2-4 11. Totals 22 FG, 13-19 FT, 61 TP

SOUTH VERMILLION (53) — Rippy 3 0-0 7, Berry 6 3-7 15, Hawkins 4 2-2 13, Myers 2 0-0 4, Chubb 1 3-3 6, Evans 3 0-0 8, Weyrauch 0 0-0 0, Luft 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 FG, 8-12 FT, 53 TP.

Greencastle 15 9 17 20 — 61

South Vermillion 14 10 14 15 — 53

3-point goals — Shuee 2, Duff, Stevens, Rippy, Hawkins 3, Chubb, Evans.