Strong second half gives Cougars second straight win over Northview
BRAZIL — Trailing by seven points at halftime, North Putnam’s boys dominated the second half by a 37-26 margin to pull out a 62-58 win at Northview.
The Cougars won 62-46 on their home court last year in the Western Indiana Conference matchup.
North Putnam coach Vince Brooks pretty well nailed the goal for his team all week long.
“We said it was going to be a battle to 60,” he said. “If we could hold them under 60, we had a chance to win. It worked out pretty well.”
Northview led 16-14 at the first stop and 32-25 at halftime. Drew Cook, leading scorer for the Knights on the season, had 13 of his team-high 19 points before intermission.
Cook hit a trey 34 seconds into the second half to keep Northview’s lead at seven points at 34-27 before the Cougars got going.
Aaron Pickel scored on a putback of an Ellis Lyons miss, and Lyons then scored eight straight by himself on a pair of free throws, an “and one” 3-point play and a trey.
Northview battled back to take the lead, but a Zach Huff trey in the final seconds tied the game at 45-45 at the final stop.
The Cougars also started the fourth period strongly, getting treys from Pickel and Lyons and a pair of Nolan Hackleman free throws for a 53-45 lead.
Two straight turnovers down the stretch kept the Cougars from putting the game away, and Northview did not give up.
A Cook trey and a pair of Braden Allen free throws cut the Cougar lead to 59-56 with 1:08 left.
Nolan White turned a steal into a layup with 18 seconds left to cut the Knight deficit to 59-58, but the Cougars hit three of four free throws in the final 10 seconds to wrap up the win.
Lyons had 22 points to lead North Putnam, while Huff added 18 and Pickel had 11.
The game was like a reunion of old friends for Lyons, who has played AAU with four members of the Knights.
“It tastes really good to beat them,” he said. “Our game plan was to keep them off the glass. We are not a very big team, so we just want to be stronger. In the second half, we came our more physical and got a lot of fouls by boxing out.”
Brooks likes how his team is being tested so much early in the season, coming off last Saturday night’s win over top-10 ranked Parke Heritage.
“These games have been battles, and I’m just so proud of the fact that our guys just don’t quit,” he said. “They just keep going after it. We just did enough to get back in it defensively. We switched a few guys on Cook, who might be the best shooter in our conference. Nolan Hackleman did an especially good job on him.”
Lyons agrees, and has a simple approach to how he plays.
“We’ve had two big wins in a row, and we need to keep this streak going,” he said. “I just look for shots in the flow of the offense. If they’re face-guarding me, I look for my teammates”
NORTH PUTNAM (62) — Huff 5-8 5-7 18, Lyons 7-12 5-7 22, McHargue 2-2 0-0 4, Pickel 4-11 0-0 11, Hackleman 2-5 0-0 7, Monnett 0-1 0-0 0, Hensley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-40 62.
NORTHVIEW (58) — Cook 9-14 0-0 19, Carr 2-7 0-1 5, White 3-10 8, DeHart 5-11 0-0 12, Fowler 2-6, Allen 2-9 4-4 8, Roembke 0-1 0-0 0, Sampson 0 0-1 1. Totals 23-60 FG, 6-9 FT, 58 TP.
North Putnam | 14 | 11 | 20 | 17 | — | 62 |
Northview | 16 | 16 | 13 | 13 | — | 58 |
3-point shooting — North Putnam 8-21 (Monnett 0-1, Huff 3-5, Lyons 3-5, Hensley 0-1, Pickel 1-6, Hackleman 1-3), Northview 6-25 (Allen 0-3, Cook 1-4, Carr 1-3, Roembke 0-1, White 2-8, DeHart 2-5, Fowler 0-1). FT Pct. — Northview 78, Northview 67. Rebounds — Northview 29 (Carr 9, Fowler 8), North Putnam 21 (McHargue 5, Huff 5). Assists — Northview 14 (White 5), NP 9 (Lyons 5).