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Gritty Cougars hold off Covington; Tiger Cubs win big
BAINBRIDGE — As third-year coach Jarrod Duff is rebuilding the North Putnam girls’ basketball program, he looks for signs that the Cougars are turning the corner and headed for brighter days.
Duff got several of those signs on Tuesday night, as the Cougars overcame a few offensive lapses to finish strongly and defeat visiting Covington 36-33 to improve to 2-1 on the season.
“This is the kind of game we would have lost the past two years,” Duff said. “We have to play much better, and we have things we need to fix, but this game was all about these girls and their heart and toughness. There were some points where we had a hard time putting the ball in the basket.”
Duff noted his team was stuck on eight points for a lot of the second quarter (not scoring its first point of the period until 2:12 left in the half) and on 16 (no points for a 2:19 stretch).
“We dug our heels in and got stops and made some plays,” Duff said. “We had tons of shots that were 99 percent in the basket that came out. I am happy for them and I’m proud of them.
“All their hard work in the weight room is paying off.”
Covington ran out to an 8-1 lead, with the Cougars getting only a Hannah Sims free throw in the first 5:22 of the game.
The Cougars finished the period strongly, with freshman Brie Miller scoring her only two baskets of the game sandwiched around a Payton Lyons trey, and trailed just 10-8 at the first stop.
The second quarter was an offensive struggle on both sides, as Covington got its only points 20 seconds into the period on a putback plus a free throw by Abby Swaney.
Baylee Osburn broke the long North drought with a steal and a layup, and freshman Kyla Willis scored a basket on an assist from Osburn for the only two Cougar baskets of the period.
North trailed 13-12 at halftime, and Willis got a pair of baskets to open the third period and put North up 16-13, before Covington ran off 11 straight points to take command at 24-16.
The Cougars responded with eight of their own, with Dana Tennis hitting a pair of free throws and Kinzey Young sandwiching a pair of baskets around one by Willis, to tie the game at 24-24.
Young had seven points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Duff thought her energy and aggressive play was a key in helping the team to make its comeback effort.
“Kinzey was fantastic,” Duff said. “I went with her for such a long period of time because she played so hard. A couple of times I asked her if she was tired, and she didn’t want to come out of the game.
“She came out at the end, and I wanted to make sure she knew that it was only because we needed another ball handler out there.”
Covington got another trey from Chapman, who scored 12 of her 14 points in the period, and led 27-25 at the final stop.
A trey by Swaney put the Trojans up 30-26 before the Cougars came roaring back again.
Young had a putback basket, followed by two Willis hoops as the Cougars took a 32-30 lead with 5:54 left.
Covington got its final lead on a pair of Chloe Morris free throws, the final one coming with 4:40 left.
Tennis ended a 2:12 scoring drought by the Cougars on a pair of free throws with 3:42 that put North ahead to stay.
Sims hit a pair of free throws in the final 1:06 to help her team seal the win.
The Cougars take a two-game winning streak into the Putnam County tournament on Friday, where they will meet the defending champion Greencastle Tiger Cubs in the second game at 7:30 p.m.
“Every game is important,” Duff said. “We are playing to gain some respect, and we feel like as a program we have worked hard. The last two years haven’t been easy, and it’s not going to be easy this year.
“Stuff that is hard to accomplish is worth more than things that are easy to accomplish.”
Willis led the Cougars with 12 points, as seven different North players reached the scoring column.
COVINGTON (33) — Morris 103 3-4 5, Noble 1-11 0-0 2, Chapman 5-10 2-2 14, Karrfalt 1-5 0-1 2, Swaney 2-6 1-1 6, Linville 2-4 0-0 4, Lawson 0-2 0-0 0, O’Neill 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-41 FG, 6-8 FT, 33 TP
NORTH PUTNAM (36) — Willis 6-12 0-0 12, Miller 2-8 0-1 4, Tennis 0-7 4-5 4, Sims 0-3 3-6 3, Lyons 1-3 0-0 3, Osburn 1-1 1-2 3, Young 3-4 1-4 7, Day 0-1 0-0 0, Pace 0-1 0-0 0, Gibson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-39 FG, 9-18 FT, 36 TP
| Covington | 0 | 3 | 14 | 6 | — | 33 |
| North Putnam | 8 | 4 | 13 | 11 | — | 36 |
3-point shooting — Covington 3-10 (Chapman 2-4, Swaney 1-1, Lawson 0-1, Noble 0-3), North Putnam 1-7 (Tennis 0-5, Lyons 1-2). Turnovers — Covington 21, North 15.
In other action:
• Greencastle 68, Southmont 24 — The Tiger Cubs improved to 4-1 on the season with an easy win over the Mounties.
Greencastle dominated the first quarter by a 24-8 margin, but only won the second period by an 8-6 margin to take a 32-14 lead into halftime.
The Tiger Cubs responded with a 22-point outburst in the third period to carry a 54-22 lead into the fourth quarter.
Southmont only scored two points in the final period, while the Cubs scored 14.
Freshman Mia Shields led Greencastle with 15 points, shooting perfectly from the field and the free throw line.
Junior Allison Stevens added 13 points and senior Seelye Stoffregen had 10.
SOUTHMONT (24) — France 0-0 0-1 0, B.Thompson 0-2 1-2 1, Ward 0-2 0-0 0, L.Ward 4-7 0-0 8, H.Thompson 0-0 1-2 1, Rusk 0-0 0-0 0, Charles 1-4 0-0 2, Miller 1-6 0-0 2, Manion 2-7 6-8 10, Oppy 0-0 0-2 0, Remley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 8-31 FG, 8-15 FT, 24 TP
GREENCASTLE (68) — Trigg 1-3 0-0 2, Rodgers 1-7 0-2 0, Stoffregen 3-5 3-4 10, M.Shields 5-5 2-2 15, Zellers 1-2 0-0 3, Shuee 2-5 0-0 6, Duff 4-12 1-4 9, Stevens 4-9 5-5 13, Doan 3-7 0-0 6, Ray 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-56 FG, 11-17 FT, 68 TP
| Southmont | 8 | 6 | 8 | 2 | — | 24 |
| Greencastle | 24 | 8 | 22 | 14 | — | 68 |
3-point shooting — Greencastle 7-16 (Rodgers 0-4, Stoffregen 1-1, M.Shields 3-3, Zellers 1-2, Shuee 2-4, Duff 0-1, Stevens 0-1), Southmont 0-1 (B.Thompson 0-1).