Cougars cling to one-point win over Mounties

BAINBRIDGE – The North Putnam Lady Cougars used an efficient night shooting to overcome 34 turnovers and a late rally by Southmont to pick up a hard-fought 46-45 victory in the opener of a girls/boys doubleheader at North Putnam on Tuesday night.

The Cougars shot almost 52 percent (15-of-29) from the floor on the game but needed all of those makes as they struggled to take care of the basketball.

The field goal shooting percentage did not translate to the free throw line. North hit just 10-of-22 from the charity stripe.

North allowed a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter shrink to the final one-point margin. The victory allowed the Cougars to improve to 6-2 on the season, while Southmont fell to 4-5.

“I told the girls that this was the kind of game that you learn from and it is better to learn in a game that you win, than otherwise,” North Putnam head coach Craig Franklin said.

Lexi Daigle paced the Cougars in the first quarter by picking up six points, including six of the first eight North Putnam points.

The Mounties led 9-8 before freshman Melanie Davies came off the bench to score four points in the last 24 seconds, including a buzzer-beating jumper to give North a 12-9 lead after one quarter.

The two teams battled back and forth with the Mounties holding a slim 21-20 lead with just over two minutes to play in the half.

Rose Haste then hit back-to-back three-pointers to turn the one-point deficit to a 26-21 lead. She would then get the last bucket of the half to send the Cougars to the locker room with a 28-24 lead.

“Rose is a phenomenal shooter. She shows it every day in practice and it hasn’t always translated to the games. She works hard and is just getting better,” Franklin said.

North began to pull away in the second half as it held the Mounties scoreless for the first 3:27 of the half. North was able to build a 38-24 lead as Sammie Hoops picked up a trey and a pair of free throws as North scored the first 10 points of the quarter. The Cougars would finish the third period with a 39-28 lead.

Kyndal Brewer opened the final period with a rebound basket but from there, the Mounties started to claw their way back into the game. They would score the next seven points and rally to 41-35 before North’s Jacy Huffman hit three free throws to boost the lead back to nine points at 44-35.

Southmont kept coming, eventually cutting the lead to 44-42 and then took advantage of Cougar mistakes to even cut the lead to 46-45 with just :08 left to play, but the Mounties could not get another shot before the horn.

North turned the ball over 11 times in the final quarter as well as hitting just 5-of-13 free throws allowing the Mounties to get close.

“I am going to have to try and get them to shoot some free throws in game situations in practice. We hit them all day long, but it got close tonight,” Franklin said.

Southmont’s Chloe Jenkins led them with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Delorean Mason added 12 for the Mounties. Haste led all scorers with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field including all four of her shots behind the arc. Daigle chipped in with 11 points.

The Cougars will take holiday break and then play its first Western Indiana Conference game on Nov. 29 against county rival Cloverdale.

Southmont (45) –Woods 2-6 1-2 5, Veatch 2-8 0-0 5, Shaw 2-4 0-0- 4, Mason 4-16 1-2 12, Jenkins 5-11 4-5 14, Gray 2-7 0-2 4, Douglas 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 17-53 FG, 7-13 FT, 45 TP.

NORTH PUTNAM (46) – Hoops 1-6 3-6 6, Haste 5-6 2-3 16, Brewer 1-2 0-2 2, Huffman 0-0 4-8 4, Daigle 5-7 1-3 11, Davies 2-3 0-0 4, Osbourn 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 15-29 FG, 10-22 FT, 46 TP.

3-point shooting – SHS 4-10 (Veatch 1-2, Mason 3-7, Jenkins 0-1), NP 6-14 (Hoops 1-5, Haste 4-4, Daigle 0-1, Osbourn 1-4) Rebounds – SHS 33 (Woods 1, Veatch 2, Shaw 4, Mason 3, Jenkins 10, Gray 4) NP – 30 (Hoops 6, Haste 2, Brewer 5, Huffman 3, Daigle 6, Davies 2) FG Pct. – SHS 32.1, NP 51.7. FT Pct. – SHS 53.8, NP 45.5. Turnovers – SHS 27, NP 34.