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Cougars, Wolves split doubleheader
BAINBRIDGE – North Putnam’s varsity basketball teams each entered Saturday night’s home doubleheader with Parke Heritage seeking to break three-game losing streaks, on the heels of losing both ends of a Western Indiana Conference doubleheader at Sullivan on Friday night.
The Cougar girls were able to get past a 6-for-36 shooting performance in the first half to pull out a 52-46 win over the Wolves, while the PH boys were steady from start to finish in escaping with a 50-46 victory over North Putnam.
Girls’ Game
Parke Heritage led 12-6 after one quarter despite making seven first-period turnovers, as the Cougars hit just 2 of 13 shots from the field. North forced six more turnovers in the second period, and was able to cut the halftime deficit to 25-20.
The Wolves scored the first points of the second quarter to establish a 10-point lead before the Cougars mounted a comeback. Dana Tennis hit a trey, and Kyla Willis followed with a free throw and a basket to cut into the deficit.
Parke Heritage eased its lead back to 22-14 before the Cougars had another run. Baylee Osburn scored a basket to start the 6-0 stretch, while Marin Davies followed with a putback basket and Tennis hit a pair of free throws.
The third period was all Cougars, as Willis hit four baskets and Reghan Christy added a two and a three in a 19-9 surge that put North Putnam ahead to stay.
Trailing 32-26, the Cougars used another run of nine straight points to break the game open for good.
Tennis started the run with a basket, while Christy followed with a trey and Willis hit a pair of baskets, the second of which came after making a steal near midcourt.
Christy and Willis hit baskets to close out the period that put the Cougars ahead at 39-34.
The final quarter was played evenly, with North able to get the win and improve its record to 5-6. Parke Heritage fell to 4-9.
North coach Lukas Haworth was glad his team was able to get back in the winning column, especially considering the illness that struck his roster throughout the week.
“It’s always great to be back in front of your home crowd,” Haworth said. “The fans were great, our student section is great and it’s always great to have the band here. To be able to come back home and get a good win over a very good and hard-working Parke Heritage team is exactly what the doctor ordered. I’m really proud of the girls and the effort they gave tonight.”
The doctor was also hoping the Cougars would get over a run of the flu that went through the Cougars squad all week long.
“I have to give these girls a lot of credit, because we didn’t have our whole team together until Thursday due to sickness,” Haworth said. “We didn’t have five varsity players on the court any day from Monday through Wednesday. For them to come out on Thursday and have a good practice together, play a tough game at Sullivan and then go toe-to-toe with Parke Heritage is a good victory for us.”
Willis and Tennis each had 13 points to lead the Cougars, while Brie Miller had 19 rebounds.
The Cougars will close out their pre-Christmas portion of the schedule on Friday with another Western Indiana Conference game at Northview.
PARKE HERITAGE (46) – Ramey 1-3 2-2 5, Jones 1-8 4-6 7, Mad.Millspaugh 3-6 4-6 11, Mac.Millspaugh 1-2 0-0 2, Jeffries 4-9 1-2 9, O’Brien 3-5 3-3 9, Wilson 1-3 0-0 3, Mack 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-39 FG, 14-19 FT, 46 TP
NORTH PUTNAM (52) – Willis 5-134 3-4 13, Miller 2-13 3-6 7, Sims 1-8 2-4 4, Tennis 4-11 3-5 13, Osburn 3-7 0-2 6, Christy 2-5 2-2 7, Gibson 0-3 0-0 0, Davies 1-9 0-0 2, Gierke 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-70 FG, 13-24 FT, 52 TP
| Parke Heritage | 12 | 13 | 9 | 12 | -- | 46 |
| North Putnam | 6 | 14 | 19 | 13 | -- | 52 |
3-point shooting – PH 4-14 (Ramsey 1-2, Jones 1-6, Mad.Millspaugh 1-3, Wilson 1-3), North Putnam 3-21 (Willis 0-3, Sims 0-3, Tennis 2-8, Osburn 0-1, Christy 1-3, Davies 0-2, Gierke 0-1). Turnovers – Parke Heritage 27, North Putnam 14.
Boys’ Game
The Cougars of Vince Brooks had an even tougher chore ahead of them with the undefeated Wolves, who have already won two tournament championships in this young season.
Saturday night’s game was played evenly from start to finish, with the Wolves holding a 14-9 lead at the first stop but North coming back to cut the gap to 20-18 at halftime.
Mason Brooks had six of his team-high 20 points in the first half, while Aaron Pickel addd five in the second quarter.
Parke Heritage looked to break the game open in the second half, going on a 9-2 run to take a 29-20 lead.
Cool and collected freshman point guard Christian Johnson converted a steal into a layup to start the second half run for the Wolves, which also included a trey and a pair of free throws from Riley Ferguson.
North Putnam hit only 2 of 9 shots from 3-point range, but hit all three of its treys in the third period to get back into the game.
Ellis Lyons and Zach Huff hit back-to-back treys to cut the gap to 31-28 with 2:15 left in the period, and Dane Spencer added another. Huff followed that shot with a free throw, and the Cougars had trimmed the lead to 33-32.
Johnson, who led all scorers with 22 points, then hit a trey to restore a four-point lead for his team. Brooks was fouled on a 3-point attempt in the final second of the half, and hit two of the three free throws for a 36-34 deficit at the final stop.
Parke Heritage opened the fourth quarter strongly and took a 42-36 lead, before the Cougars came back to take their first lead of the game.
Brooks hit back-to-back treys to start an 8-0 run, and Pickel followed with a layup for a 44-42 Cougar lead with 4:43 to play.
The home team would only manage a basket by Brooks with 51 seconds left the rest of the way, while Johnson had five more points in the final 2:58.
North Putnam had the ball with 20.7 seconds left trailing just 47-46 and called timeout, but a crucial turnover near midcourt led to a Johnson breakaway layup and the Cougars were sent to their fourth straight loss.
Coach Brooks acknowledges his team has played four good opponents in this losing streak (including Edgewood, Covenant Christian and Sullivan), but acknowledges that Saturday night was “not our best” game.
“I felt we had maybe 75 to 80 percent of the game I was pleased with our competitiveness, but we had some times where I felt we just lost sight of who wer were for a moment,” he said. “Our youth was on display. I made some mistakes, and there are very specific things I should have done differently.”
Of the seven players who saw action, only Huff and Pickel were varsity contributors for the Cougars last season. Mason Brooks, who led his team with 20 points, was a reserve at Westfield last year.
“I know Parke Heritage is a very good team,” Brooks said. “We did everything according to our game plan, except we failed at boxing out. I’m still waiting for us to shoot well. I still believe in our guys, and we have not demonstrated our potential yet.
“I think I will go back and watch the film, and our game plan was right on,” he added. “Offensively, we got everything we wanted. We have to keep at it. This is a moment for a team…. I have been lifting them up and encouraging them, and they have to decide if they’re going to stay the course. We just can’t get over the hump, but we’re going to get there.”
The official statistics confirmed Brooks’ fears, as Parke Heritage had a total of 31 rebounds to 18 for the Cougars – with the Wolves holding a 13-3 edge in offensive boards.
Pickel had nine points and Huff added seven for the Cougars, who fell to 2-4. Huff added two assists and took three charges, while Brooks had four assists and Lyons added three. Brooks also led with seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
The Cougars will look to get back in the winning column on Friday with their final pre-Christmas game at Northview.
PARKE HERITAGE (50) – Johnson 10-16, 1-1 22, Petrillo 0-2 0-0 0, Ferguson 2-5 5-6 10, Cheatham 0-2 0-0 0, White 4-9 0-0 8, Davis 2-8 0-0 4, Wood 1-4 0-0 2, O’Brien 2-3 0-0 4, Crull 0-0 0-0 0 . Totals 21-48 FG, 6-7 FT, 50 TP
NORTH PUTNAM (46) – Brooks 7-15 4-8 20, Pickel 4-7 0-0 9, Huff 2-2 1-2 7, Spencer 1-1 0-0 3, Huffman 0-3 2-2 2, Lyons 1-4 0-0 3, Batchelor 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 16-33 FG, 6-12 FT, 46 TP
| Parke Heritage | 14 | 6 | 16 | 14 | - | 50 |
| North Putnam | 9 | 9 | 16 | 12 | - | 46 |
3-point shooting – PH 2-8 (Johnson 1-2, Petrillo 0-1, Ferguson 1-2, Davis 0-1, Wood 0-1), North Putnam 7-18 (Brooks 2-6, Pickel 1-3, Huff 2-2, Spencer 1-1, Huffman 0-2, Lyons 1-4). Turnovers – North 13, PH 12. Rebounds – PH 31 (Davis 9), North 18 (Brooks 7).