Turnovers doom Eagle girls at Edgewood

Friday, November 9, 2018

ELLETTSVILLE — The South Putnam Lady Eagles struggled against a physical Mustang squad Thursday night at Edgewood.

South lost 46-37 in non-conference girls’ high school basketball action. The Eagles fell to 1-2 on the season, while Edgewood improved to 2-2.

The Eagles had trouble taking care of the ball, as they turned it over 28 times in the contest, while Edgewood had just 17.

“You know when you come down here to Edgewood, you are going to get a physical, man-to-man style of defense,” Eagle coach Brian Gardner said. “We have to get better and stronger with the ball and our cuts.”

The Eagles’ turnover problems started early. South had 10 of them in the first quarter, but Chloe Custis kept the Eagles in the game with five of her eight points in the game.

The Mustangs led 10-7 at the end of the quarter, but the Eagles squandered multiple possessions without getting a shot against the physical defense of Edgewood.

“We came out a little flat. We have to improve taking care of the basketball,” Gardner said.

Edgewood pulled away a little in the second quarter, continuing to force the turnovers with the Eagles committing eight more. The Mustangs were able to take twice as many shots in the period.

South hit 3-of-6 from the field, while Edgewood hit 5-of-12 and led 23-15 at the break.

The Eagle defense kept them in the game as they were able to limit the Mustangs to just 9-of-22 from the field, but the lack of offensive opportunities dug the hole the Eagles were unable to get out of.

“Our defense was pretty good. We did a good job in the half court, but we gave up some runs due to the turnovers,” Gardner said.

The Eagles began to rally in the third quarter. They cut the lead to 27-24 late in the quarter, but ... turnovers. Edgewood’s Alle Spear scored three straight layups off of turnovers as the Mustangs went on a 9-1 run to close the third period.

“We have some young players, we have some things to work on,” Gardner said.

South chipped away at the lead during the fourth quarter again. A Lexi Vanihel free throw pulled the Eagles within six at 40-34 with two minutes left, but the Eagles would get no closer as the Mustangs slowed the pace and kept the ball away from South during the final stanza.

“Every game we’ve played, we have gotten better defensively,” Gardner said. “We fought and clawed our way back, but you just can’t turn the ball over that many times.”

Edgewood was led by Taylor Minnick with 14 points, while Kaylee Meyer had 13 and Spear had 10 for the Mustangs.

Vanihel had 11 points to lead the way for the Eagles. Custis had eight points and so did Bree Mahoney-Sutherland off the bench.

“Bree is really good in the post, she is tough to handle and we were looking to get her the ball,” Gardner said.

The Eagles will be off until next Friday when they have an early season rematch with the Cloverdale Clovers to open the Putnam County Classic at South Putnam.

SOUTH PUTNAM (37) — Custis 3-6 1-2 8, Bratcher 1-4 2-2 4, Vanihel 2-11 7-11 11, Bumgardner 2-6 0-0 4, Capps 0-2 0-0 0, Mahoney-Sutherland 4-6 0-0 8, Egold 1-5 0-0 2, Steffy 0-0 0-0 0, Crewes 0-0 0-0 0, Vittetow 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-40 FG, 10-15 FT, 37 TP.

EDGEWOOD (46) — Sherfield 1-8 1-5 3, Spear 5-9 0-0 10, Minnick 5-8 4-5 14, Meyer 3-11 7-8 13, Helms 3-8 0-2 6, Love 0-2 0-0 0, Ehrmann 0-0 0-0 0, Powell 0-4, 0-3 0. Totals 17-50 FG, 12-23 FT, 46 TP.

South Putnam78101237
Edgewood1013131046

3-point shooting — SP 1-11 (Custis 1-2, Bratcher 0-2, Vanihel 0-5, Bumgardner 0-1, Egold 0-1), EHS 0-5 (Sherfield 0-2, Minnick 0-2, Love 0-1). Rebounds — SP 39 (Custis 8, Bratcher 3, Vittetow 1, Vanihel 3, Bumgardner 7, Capps 5, Mahoney-Sutherland 5, Egold 3, Steffy 1, Crewes 1), EHS 31 (Sherfield 3, Spear 3, Minnick 4, Meyer 4, Helms 10, Ehrmann 5). Turnovers — SP 28, EHS 17.

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