Cougars run close by Clovers

Tuesday, November 29, 2022
North Putnam's Jacy Huffman (center) tries to split Cloverdale defenders Sarah Nichols (33) and Sydney Bernard (22) during Tuesday night's 40-36 win for the Cougars, their second in 10 days over the Clovers.
Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

CLOVERDALE – It had been just 10 days since Cloverdale and North Putnam met in the consolation game of the Putnam County Girls’ Basketball Tournament.

With both teams having not played in at least a week, it took a quarter for the game to get up to speed and though the Clovers kept things close again, pushing the Cougars to the final horn, the visitors’ experience in tight contests this season helped them to prevail 40-36.

“We told the girls after the game we’ve been in a number of one-possession games and that experience is starting to pay off a bit,” North Putnam assistant coach Curtis Lawrence said. “Cloverdale has gotten a lot better in the last 10 days; they are grinding through things, they’re a physical team and they gave us fits in the first quarter.

“We established ourselves in the second quarter but to their and (Cloverdale head coach James Wade’s) credit, they owned the third quarter. We had to battle our way back in the fourth quarter and that’s where the experience pays off.”

“(North Putnam head coach Craig) Franklin and I spoke before the game about how they are 7-2 and how they won so many close games,” Wade said. “We haven’t been in those scenarios.

“You want to work on scenarios and game-type situations, something we haven’t been able to do as much because we’re working on fundamentals and understanding different things. Later on, we got the ball in the hands of someone we wanted to foul but we didn’t get over and foul. We’re going to learn from those.”

Cloverdale (0-7, 0-2 WIC), having not played since the tournament, needed some time to get on track as North Putnam (7-2, 1-0 WIC) opened with threes from Samie Hoops and Lexi Daigle for a 6-2 lead.

The Cougars, however, also hit a wall offensively, having not played in a week’s time, and a late burst from the hosts saw Andrea Nees hit a three while Sarah Nichols and Emily Mann both scored to take a 9-6 lead into the second quarter.

Much like in the first meeting, the second eight minutes was where North Putnam made its move, outscoring Cloverdale 15-2 in the frame.

Rose Haste scored the opening basket of the period, followed by two Jacy Huffman free throws that put the Cougars ahead 10-9.

Haste and Aubrey Yoho traded off free throws before Kyndal Brewer scored her only points of the night with a three that made it 14-10.

Daigle scored on a second chance look before Hoops added a three and Marin Davies scored in the final seconds to send the visitors into halftime leading 21-11.

“The halftime deficit came down to rebounding,” Wade noted. “We were in a zone and weren’t rebounding on the back side, giving up too many second chance points.”

Haste opened the second half with a three but, unlike the first matchup, Cloverdale roared back with an 11-0 run.

Mann started things off with a three before Nees added a second from behind the arc.

Nichols scored off an offensive rebound before Mann hit a second three, trimming the gap to two at 24-22.

Layups either side of the quarter break from Addi Osburn allowed North Putnam to build back up a 29-22 lead but consecutive jumpers from Sydney Bernard and Mann cut the gap to 29-26.

Mann converted a three-point play that made it a one-point game at 31-30 but free throws from Haste Hoops made it 34-30.

Another Mann three-point play halved a growing gap to 37-34, later adding two free throws to make it 38-36 but Osburn sealed the deal with two free throws in the final seconds.

“We just ran out of time,” Wade said about the comeback attempt. “We were fighting back, outscored (North Putnam) in the second half but ran out of time and they hit their free throws.”

Haste finished with 10 points, the only Cougar in double figures but with four others scoring at least six points and seven total players scoring, Lawrence said

“That’s who we are,” Lawrence said. “To be successful, we have to have balanced scoring because we don’t have that one girls that’s going to go off for 20-25 points a night.

“We have five kids on the floor capable of scoring 8-12 points a night and that works in our favor as the season progresses.”

Mann led all scores with 21 points,

“(Emily) has embraced her role as a leader and works really hard in practice to put shots up,” Wade said about the junior. “We can put her in a lot of places and she’s very versatile, which makes her hard to guard at times.

“She’s not the only one that does. Our shooting percentage has improved, though it’s still not where we want it to be.

Both teams return to action Friday as part of boy/girl doubleheaders with North Putnam hosting South Putnam and Cloverdale hosting Edgewood at 6 p.m.

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Cloverdale9211 1436

Scoring

North Putnam (5 2FG; 5 3FG; 15-23 FT) — Haste 10, Osburn 8, Daigle 8, Hoops 6, Davies 3, Brewer 3, Huffman 2

Cloverdale (7 2FG; 4 3FG; 10-16 FT) — Mann 21, Nees 6, Nichols 4, Yoho 3, Wade 2

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