South girls soar past Clay City, 67-23

Tuesday, December 4, 2018
South Putnam's Jersee Crewes (24) blocks Clay City's Hayley Walton during first half action Tuesday evening.
Carey Fox photo

CLAY CITY — A frustrated South Putnam Eagle girls’ basketball team was coming off a tough one-point loss to county rival North Putnam on Friday.

The Eagles took those frustrations out on the Clay City Eels by a 67-23 margin in Tuesday night’s non-conference high school basketball game.

The Eagles limited the Eels to under 20 percent shooting, forced them into 24 turnovers (10 in the first quarter) in a convincing win to improve their record to 5-4 on the season. Clay City fell to 2-7 on the year.

“We wanted to come out and impress our will and play South Putnam basketball. We wanted to be physical and be able to bounce back from Friday night,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said.

Clay City was able to move out to a 5-2 lead in the first minute and a half of the game, but the Eagle defensive pressure began to take its toll. The Eels found South players in the passing lanes and generally disrupting anything Clay City tried offensively.

The Eagle offense, which had struggled shooting recently, found its rhythm. South consistently went to junior guard Alex Bratcher, who scored 11 points in the period. She hit 3-of-4 from behind the arc and led South to a 23-7 lead at the end of the quarter.

“I thought in the half court, we really moved the ball and got some good looks. Alex Bratcher hit three threes and they were in rhythm,” Gardner said.

South didn’t let up in the second quarter. The Eagles continued to pressure the basketball limiting the Eels to just five second-quarter points. Bratcher matched that output with five more points and the Eagles led comfortably, 34-12, at the half.

“I thought tonight, we played well on both ends of the floor. We were physical, intense and played really well,” Gardner said.

South didn’t slow down in the second half. The Eagles continued to build upon their margin. The more physical South team pounded the boards and continued to extend their lead. The Eagles hit 5-of-10 shots and were a perfect 4-of-4 from the line in the third quarter. The Eagles had pushed their lead to 49-18 heading into the final stanza.

The Eagles backed off the full-court pressure in the second half, but that didn’t keep them from shutting down Clay City’s offense.

Clay City couldn’t find any openings and hit just 4-of-17 from the floor in the second half, while South hit on 50 percent of their shots after the half. Even as the benches emptied, the Eagles continued to increase the margin.

“I thought we did a good job in the second half in our half court defense. Sometimes when you are up, you don’t play with same intensity. I thought we kept them off the boards and defended well,” Gardner said.

Bratcher led the Eagles with 19 points and Lexi Vanihel added 15 while also posting five steals, seven rebounds and five assists.

“Sometimes she (Vanihel) gets down on herself when she misses shots, but she gives you rebounds. She gives you steals. She gives you every little thing. When she is not on the floor, we just don’t function the way we want,” Gardner said.

The Eagles will take their confidence-building win into Friday night’s Western Indiana Conference home game against Greencastle.

Not only is the game against a county and conference rival, but will be South Putnam’s homecoming.

SOUTH PUTNAM (67) – Custis 2-6 2-2 6, Bratcher 6-9 2-4 19, Vanihel 6-10 2-2 15, Bumgardner 4-7 0-0 8, Capps 0-5 0-0 0, Egold 2-8 3-6 7, Mahoney-Sutherland 3-3 0-0 6, Vittetow 1-2 0-0 3, Steffy 0-1 0-0 0, Crewes 1-2 0-2 2, McHugh 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 25-53 FG, 9-18 FT, 67 TP.

CLAY CITY (23) – Hernandez 0-1 0-0 0, Walton 0-6 2-2 2, Harrison 0-1 0-0 0, Myers 4-11 1-4 10, Wertz 1-8 2-4 4, Hyatt 1-4 1-2 3, Wolfe 0-1 0-0 0, Wagner 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Hauer 0-0 0-0 0, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Arthur 1-4 1-2 4. Totals 7-36 FG, 7-14 FT, 23 TP.

South Putnam2311151867
Clay City756523

3-point shooting – SP 7-18 (Custis 0-1, Bratcher 5-8, Vanihel 1-2, Egold 0-5, Steffy 0-1, Vittetow 1-1), CC 2-12 (Arthur 1-3, Myers 1-2, Wertz 0-6, Hyatt 0-1) Rebounds – SP 41 (Custis 1, Bratcher 2, Vanihel 7, Bumgardner 6, Egold 7, Crewes 1, McHugh 2, Steffy 2, Mahoney-Sutherland 5, Vittetow 3) CC – 28 (Walton 4, Harrison 4, Hauer 1, Myers 3, Wertz 1, Hyatt 6, Miller 2) FG Pct. – SP 47.2, CC 19.4. FT Pct. – SP 50.0, CC 50.0. Turnovers – SP 16, CC 24.