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Cougars pull off epic comeback
Try to sell this plot to Hollywood.
Your team falls behind 30-11 just 48 seconds into the second quarter on an alley oop dunk by the other team’s best player.
Somehow, you fight your way back and in the closing seconds you depend on a guy with an injured right hand to hit a free throw with his other hand.
He does, and you win.
It may sound unbelievable, but if you were at the South Putnam Sectional on Tuesday night you saw it happen.
North Putnam was the beneficiary of this fairy tale ending, pulling off a 57-55 comeback win to advance to Friday’s first semifinal game against Covenant Christian.
The Cadets came out of the gates strongly, hitting their first four shots from the field for a 10-3 lead after just 2:15.
“They hit some shots by guys who normally aren’t their big scorers,” North Putnam coach Collin McCartt said. “That was big for them. Dalton [DuBois] got some good looks in the post.
“I just told our guys they needed to settle down,” he added. “Our guys had the mental approach, to not panic and not try to get it all back at once.”
A DuBois basket with 13 seconds left in the first period put his team up 26-11, a margin the Cadets took into the second quarter.
Cascade blistered the nets for 11 of 16 shooting in the first period, including 4 of 5 from long range.
DuBois scored his team’s first basket just 23 seconds into the second period, then took an alley oop pass that he soared above the rim to slam home and cause McCartt to call timeout.
It was then 30-11, and after a Caleb Duncan trey the Cadets got baskets from DuBois and Michael Alderson to go up 34-14 with 5:19 left in the half.
The Cadets would not score for the rest of half, and the Cougars got seven points on an Andrew Pickel basket, a basket and a free throw from Elliot Gross and a pair of Caleb Duncan free throws.
The Cougars had cut the margin to 34-21 at the half, but they still had a long way to go.
Gross scored to open the second half, but the Cadets answered with another DuBois basket and a Chase Western free throw with 4:41 left in the period.
The Cougars changed up their defense to get traps and more pressure on the ball, and the tactic worked perfectly.
The Cougars ran off 15 straight points over the next 3:31, with Gross getting 11 of those, to take their first lead of the night at 38-37.
Cascade’s Benson Walker got a basket just before the end of the period to put his team ahead by one at the final stop.
A DuBois trey tied the game at 43-43 with 2:23 left, but the Cougars took off on a 7-0 run to seemingly put the game away.
Treyton Smith, the injured Cougar point guard bravely playing with one good hand after injuring himself after the first game of the county tournament, got his second steal and layup to give the Cougars a 50-43 lead with 57.2 seconds left.
The Cadets, particularly Alderson, weren’t done yet. A pair of Alderson treys helped cut the North Putnam lead to 54-50 with 11.4 seconds left.
North Putnam then committed a costly turnover against the pressing Cadets, the ball bounced into Alderson’s hands and he swished another trey with six seconds left to cut the gap to 54-53.
Smith was fouled with 3.6 seconds left and went to the line, where he had been unsuccessful in six earlier attempts.
Smith swished the first one, left-handed, to give his team a two-point lead. He missed the second shot, and the Cadets missed a halfcourt shot at the buzzer.
The improbable comeback was complete, but Smith genuinely said he and his teammates were never in desperation mode — considering they had done the same thing on the same court in December.
In that game, North Putnam trailed South Putnam 29-12 at the half before coming back to record a 47-41 win.
“We were in the same position in the same exact gym earlier this season,” he said. “We all knew that we had to believe in each other and believe in coach.”
Smith was pleased overall with his play.
“I thought I did pretty well taking care of the ball,” Smith said. “Obviously it was kind of a struggle to shoot. My teammates helped me a lot by coming to the passes so I didn’t have to throw it so far.”
Smith considered his previous free throw misses “embarrassing,” but was glad he was able to step up and hit one at the end.
“I hit it when it counted,” he said. “I’ve been shooting pretty well [left-handed] in practice, but obviously struggled in the game.”
McCartt was not surprised that Smith hit the key free throw, but was surprised with his earlier attempts.
“The way he shot in practice [Monday], I was surprised he missed so many,” he said. “He had shot it pretty well. He’s adjusted, and hit a big free throw.
“I think it took him a half to get comfortable,” McCartt added. “There’s always a mental aspect when you come back from injury. We’re going to be careful with it, and he’ll be back at it on Friday night.”
The Cougars had to battle DuBois and the 6-6 Walker with Pickel in foul trouble for much of the game. Gross was limited to just five first-half points, but came through with 21 in the second half.
“We did a pretty good job on them down low overall,” McCartt said. “Elliot got going, and we got good minutes from Chris [Murray] and Evan [Davies]. That’s one of the benefits of them getting more minutes when other people were out with injuries and being comfortable wherever we put them
“It was great to see them contribute like that.”
Duncan added 12 points and Pickel 10 to support the 26 by Gross. DuBois led Cascade with 24, but had only seven in the second half while also battling foul trouble.
The Cougars will play Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinal opener against Covenant Christian, a team they defeated 73-68 on Dec. 6.
NORTH PUTNAM (55) — Gross 7-16 12-19 26, C.Duncan 2-7 6-6 12, Pickel 4-7 2-2 10, J.Duncan 1-5 0-0 2, Smith 2-4 1-8 5, Murray 0-0 0-0 0, Davies 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-39 FG, 21-36 FT, 55 TP
CASCADE (53) — DuBois 10-14 2-6 24, Tharp 0-6 0-0 0, Western 2-5 1-2 7, Alderson 6-9 0-0 16, Phillips 0-3 0-0 0, Stephenson 0-1 0-0 0, Walker 3-5 0-0 6, Hurst 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-45 FG, 3-9 FT, 53 TP
North Putnam 11 10 17 17 — 55
Cascade 26 8 5 14 — 53
3-point shooting — North Putnam 2-14 (Gross 0-2, C.Duncan 2-7, Pi ckel 0-1, J.Duncan 0-3), Cascade 8-22 (DuBois 2-3, Tharp 0-4, Western 2-4, Alderson 4-7, Phillips 0-2, Hurst 0-2).