PREP ROUNDUP: Smock course proves tough for Putnam County regional entrants

INDIANAPOLIS — Three Putnam County golfers competed in the IHSAA girls’ regional at the Smock Golf Club on Saturday.

None of the three was able to make the qualifying score of 78 that was necessary to advance to the state finals.

Senior Bailey Shuee of Greencastle had the top score among the county trio with a 106, shooting a 57 on the front nine and a 49 on the back nine.

South Putnam sophomore Drew Steffy shot a 111, while Cloverdale junior Sammie Shrum finished with a 115.

“Bailey got off to a slow start on Saturday,” Greencastle coach Steve Paquin said. “The course has a creek that runs throughout the 18 holes and being only the second time playing the course, the correct shots to hit to avoid the hazard was difficult.

“The course was hard and many of Bailey’s shots were good shots, but they took bounces that landed them in the hazard.”

Paquin noted that Shuee had penalty shots on “about four holes” on the front nine which made her score higher than normal.

“We don’t play courses with the kind of hazards that the players faced and with only playing golf competitively for about 14 months it’s a difficult task to learn the correct shots to avoid the hazards,” he added. “Bailey did recover on the back nine and shot a good score of 49, making a birdie on the 16th hole. Bailey was not happy with the way she played and it seemed that all the breaks went against her; this complicates the mental part of the game.”

Paquin enjoyed watching Shuee during her brief career with the Tiger Cubs.

“Bailey had an outstanding two years playing golf for the Cubs and her progress in learning and executing a difficult game has been fun to watch,” he said. “Her potential to play golf competitively is still ahead if she choses to continue to play.”

Volleyball

• Greencastle 3, Owen Valley 0 — The Tigers Cubs defeated Owen Valley on Saturday morning by scores of 25-20, 25-14 and 25-21.

“Every offensive player hit in the positive, allowing the Cubs to control the match in all three sets,” GHS coach Maggie Walters noted.

Lilly Meyer finished with eight kills to lead the Cubs in attacking, while Allison Stevens had seven kills and Jada Amis added six kills.

Jalyn Duff recorded 12 assists and Anna Zellers added 10 assists. Mckenzie Woodall and Duff led the defense, each recording seven digs. Zellers had four service aces, Stevens had five blocks and Macy Clark added three blocks.

The Greencastle JV lost 1-2.

In other volleyball:

• Danville 3, Greencastle 1 — The Tiger Cubs lost a hard-fought match Monday night.

Danville won the first two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-15 before Greencastle came back to take the third set 25-15.

Danville closed out the match by winning the final set 25-23.

“The team was slow in the first two sets and wasn’t able to outlast the Warriors in the fourth,” GHS coach Maggie Walters said.

The Cubs were led by Allison Stevens with 16 kills and Jalyn Duff with 30 assists. Lilly Meyer led the defense with 26 digs and also added nine kills.

Mckenzie Woodall had 18 digs and Duff added 17 as the Cubs fell to 14-6 on the season.

The JV also fell to Danville 0-2. Both teams play North Putnam at McAnally Center Thursday evening.

• Clovers fifth at Martinsville — Cloverdale finished in fifth place on Saturday in the Artesian Classic at Martinsville after going 1-2.

Cloverdale finished fifth by winning the crossover match with Jasper at the end of the day. The Clovers (15-7) lost to Bloomington North and Guerin Catholic in pool play.

“We actually did some really good things in the morning matches, but could not finish either game,” Clover coach Jim Spencer said. “We struggled with the size of Bloomington North and Guerin Catholic. Both teams were able to hit over our blocks, served us tough, and continually returned our attack balls that we have had hit the floor all year.”

Spencer thought the day was valuable for his team.

“Saturday should serve as a valuable learning experience in our upcoming games,” he said.

Artesian Classic

Saturday

Game 1

Bloomington North 25 20 15

Cloverdale 16 25 12

Cloverdale stats:

Digs: Kenzie Stoltz 19, Hailey Thomas 16

Points: Morgan Goss 7

Kills: Tori Combs 8, Kenzie Stoltz 6

Game 2

Guerin Catholic 25 25

Cloverdale 19 20

Cloverdale stats:

Points: Morgan Goss 6, Hannah Rady 5

Kills: Tori Combs 8

Digs: Hailey Thomas 10

Game 3

Jasper 18 15

Cloverdale 25 25

Cloverdale stats:

Digs: Hailey Thomas 12

Points: Kenzie Stoltz 8

Kills: Tori Combs 8, MacKenzie Stoltz 5

Soccer

• North Putnam 3, Owen Valley 0 — The Cougars bounced back from their 1-1 tie on Thursday night against Edgewood to shut out the Patriots and win seventh place in the WIC.

“The Cougars brought great energy and positivity to the game, which usually leads to good things,” North coach Kyle Morgan said.

Elliot Sabens, Dane Spencer, and Ashton Shaw had the goals for the Cougars, while goalie Aidan Millican had the shutout.

The Cougars are back in action tonight for Senior Night against Covington.