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South Putnam run ends at regional
SPEEDWAY – For the second straight year, South Putnam ended its girls’ basketball season in the semifinal round of the Speedway Regional with a subpar shooting performance.
The Eagles were able to hit just 10 of 44 field goal attempts, including 2 of 19 from 3-point range, in falling 65-40 to No. 8-ranked Triton Central on Saturday afternoon.
“At this stage, if you don’t shoot it very well you have to do some other things to be able to get it there,” South Putnam coach Brian Gardner said. “They shot it pretty well, and they did a lot of good things. At this stage of the game, you are going to play against great teams. I thought they did a good job against us defensively, and I thought early we defended them pretty well.”
The Eagles hung tough with the Tigers early, trailing 13-10 after one quarter and 15-14 early in the second period. South Putnam was still within striking distance midway through the second period, with Caitlin Capps bringing the Eagles within eight at 25-17.
At that point, impressive Triton Central freshman Tenleigh Phelps took over. The 5-11, lefty post player – who ranks second on the Tiger squad in scoring at 14.6 points per game – hit a pair of free throws followed by consecutive old-fashioned 3-point plays to put her team up 33 -19 with 2:17 left in the half.
Phelps added the last basket of the half with five seconds left in the second quarter, putting the Tigers up 38-21 at intermission thanks to a 25-point explosion in the period.
The Eagles hung tough and played the third quarter evenly with Triton Central, each team scoring 12 points, but South Putnam needed to do more than break even. The Eagles got a brief flurry inside of the last minute of the third quarter, as Lexi Vanihel was fouled while making a basket. She missed the free throw, but got the offensive rebound and passed to Miranda Bieghler.
Bieghler hit both free throws to reduce the deficit to 15 at 48-33, but the Eagles would get no closer.
Triton Central increased its lead to 56-33, 60-35 and 62-37 on its way to the regional finals – where the Tigers were routed 56-32 by No. 4-ranked Winchester later on Saturday.
“The wearing down of missing shots kind of got to us eventually, and they got some second opportunities that kept compounding and piling up on us,” Gardner said. “You have to give them credit for what they did to win the game. Sometimes when you don’t hit shots against good teams you lose, and that’s the disappointing part of it.”
Bieghler paced the Eagles with 20 points in her final high school game, hitting 15 of 17 from the free throw line. Capps added 12.
Despite the loss, Gardner was pleased with his team’s season – winning a consecutive sectional title for the second consecutive year and recording a total of 19 wins that was the most since the school had back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
“It was a great season,” he said. “Those seniors in there [Lillie Stein, Bieghler, Ally Nichols and Maddie McHugh] have a lot to be proud of. The success they’ve had doesn’t happen very often, and that all starts at the top with those seniors.
“They are great leaders for this group of girls, and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” Gardner added. “They go out and compete every day with an intent to get better.
“I thought we competed extremely hard in this game, and the ball just didn’t go in for us.”
Gardner said that every coach would like to have a team as compatible as this one.
“Every girl got along with each other, and wanted to play and win for each other,” he said. “That is a big part of South Putnam basketball as we move forward.”
Capps will return next year as the team’s only senior, while Vanihel will be a junior with a season and a half of starting experience under her belt. Alex Bratcher moved into the starting lineup in the second half of the season, while sophomore Aubrey Hill and freshman Chloe Custis were key reserves whose roles will undoubtedly increase next year.
Several other players will be competing against each other to move up from a 20-1 junior varsity team.
“We have a lot to build on,” Gardner said. “We have a lot of young girls in that locker room who have gotten to play minutes for us. We are going to miss our seniors vitally, but they have shown those younger girls how to work hard.
“The younger girls are going to come back ready to work hard and go even further,” he added. “That’s what I’m excited about – it’s the end of the season, but the seniors have left a legacy and a passion for the younger girls to keep this going. I’m excited about the future and what we have in store.”
TRITON CENTRAL (65) – Phelps 7-11 8-8 22, Holly 1-2 0-0 2, Cooper 3-3 0-0 6, Schneider 1-3 0-0 3, Chandler 6-18 4-4 17, Stamper 1-3 0-0 2, Stephens 3-4 1-2 7, Crist 2-3 0-1 5, Hartman 0-0 0-1 1. Totals 24-46 FG, 14-17 FT, 6 TP
SOUTH PUTNAM (40) – Stein 1-8 1-2 3, Bieghler 2-11 15-17 20, Capps 5-12 2-4 12, Vanihel 1-6 0-1 2, Bratcher 0-1 0-0 0, Nichols 0-0 0-0 0, Custis 0-3 0-0 0, Hill 0-0 0-1 0, Egold 0-0 0-0 0, A.Steffy 1-1 0-0 3, Burdge 0-1 0-0 0, D.Steffy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-44 FG, 18-25 FT, 40 T P
Triton Central 13 25 12 15 – 65
South Putnam 10 11 12 7 – 40
3-point shooting – TC 3-10 (Phelps 0-1, Schneider 1-3, Chandler 1-3, Stephens 0-1, Crist 1-2), SP 2-19 (Stein 0-6, Bieghler 1-8, Bratcher 0-1, Vanihel 0-2, Custis 0-3, A.Steffy 1-1).