Mounties find themselves in a Pickel

Thursday, November 22, 2018
North Putnam’s Andrew Pickel drives to the basket against Southmont defender Cole Roach.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

Cougar senior dominant with 33 points, 15 rebounds in 58-33 blowout win

BAINBRIDGE — North Putnam boys’ basketball coach Collin McCartt knew he needed someone to step up with the graduation of leading scorer Elliot Gross after last season.

The obvious leading candidate was forward Andrew Pickel, and the 6-6 senior did not disappoint on Wednesday night in his team’s season opener.

Pickel hit 14 of 19 shots — including 3 of 5 from 3-point range — in scoring 33 points as the Cougars routed Southmont 58-33.

Besides single-handedly matching Southmont’s entire scoring total on the night, Pickel also grabbed 15 rebounds.

“Andrew played great tonight,” McCartt said. “He got off to a great start. I think we quit going to him in the second quarter, and that hurt us.”

The Cougars roared out of the gate strongly, jumping out to a 17-2 lead midway through the first quarter. Pickel had 14 points in the period, and his second 3-pointer with 2:23 left put North up 20-5.

The Mounties closed out the period strongly, though, scoring the final 10 points — with eight coming from junior guard Drew Glancy — in the final two minutes.

North’s lead was quickly cut to 20-15 at the first stop.

“We definitely got off to a great start, we just weren’t able to sustain it,” McCartt said. “We gave up way too many direct drives. They did a great job of getting to the basket, and we did a bad job of stepping over.

“We did a much better job of that in the second half.”

A low-scoring second quarter saw the Cougars hold Southmont to just three points, while scoring only seven themselves for a 27-18 halftime lead.

Southmont scored the first four points of the third period to slice the lead even further. Pickel had scored just one basket in the second quarter, but bounced back with 10 more on perfect shooting from the field and the line in the third period.

He had back-to-back “and one” plays late in the period to push North’s lead up to 42-27, and a steal and layup by James Duncan with 30 seconds in the period gave the Cougars a 46-30 lead at the final stop.

Southmont appeared ready to go home early at that point and put up little fight in the final period, as the Cougars scored the first nine points on their way do a 12-3 advantage in the final eight minutes.

No other Cougars reached double figures, although Chris Murray added seven points, Duncan and freshman Aaron Pickel each had five points and Evan Davies had four points.

Freshman point guard Zach Huff only scored two points, but ran the Cougar offense effectively and had several more assists than turnovers in his varsity debut.

“He doesn’t play like a freshman,” McCartt said. “Some people may watch him and not realize all the things he does. He’s never going to be flashy, and he almost always makes the right play.

“Defensively he got better as the night went along.”

Overall, McCartt was understandably pleased with his team’s first game.

“We got good shots for the most part, and we took care of the ball,” he said. “I was proud of the way we came back in the second half and getting stops.”

The veteran coach knows that teams will be focusing more defensive attention toward Pickel as the season progresses, and the Cougars are going to have to develop additional scoring threats.

“We have some people who are still figuring out their roles,” he said. “Getting scoring from other guys, and how they do it, is going to continue to evolve. We are going to have to find ways to get guys open and get them in good position.”

One of those players looking to increase production in the future is Duncan, the energetic senior guard whose court time was limited by foul trouble.

“He didn’t force things, but he made the right plays offensively when he had the ball,” McCartt said. “That’s a good sign of growth, and he caused a lot of problems on defense.”

Glancy had 15 points and Cole Roach added 12 for the Mounties, but the rest of the team managed just six points. Leading returning scorer Justin Howard did not play.

North is idle until Nov. 30, when the Cougars host South Putnam to open Western Indiana Conference action.

SOUTHMONT (33) — Gregg 0-0 0-0 0, Glancy 6-14 0-1 15, Stanley 1-2 0-3 2, Bowman 0-4 1-3 1, Roach 4-11 2-3 12, McVay 0-3 1-3 1, Mason 0-3 1-2 1, France 0-1 0-0 0, Mason 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 11-36 FG, 6-17 FT, 33 TP

NORTH PUTNAM (58) — An.Pickel 14-19 2-3 33, Duncan 2-5 1-2 5, Huff 1-3 0-0 2, Davies 2-8 0-1 4, Murray 3-4 0-0 7, Aa.Pickel 2-4 0-2 5, J.Huffman 1-3 0-0 2, A.Huffman 0-2 0-0 0, Chandler 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-48 FG, 3-8 FT, 58 TP

Southmont15312333
North Putnam207191258

3-point shooting — Southmont 5-21 (Glancy 3-6, Stanley 0-1, Bowman 0-2, Roach 2-8, McVay 0-3, France 0-1), North Putnam 5-14 (An.Pickel 3-5, Duncan 0-1, Huff 0-1, Aa.Pickel 1-3, Murray 1-2, J.Huffman 0-1, A.Huffman 0-1). Turnovers — Southmont 20, North Putnam 8. Rebounds — North Putnam 29 (An.Pickel 15), Southmont 22 (Roach 5).

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