2022-23 Sports Review

With Moratorium Week signaling the start of the 2023-24 IHSAA calendar year, the Banner Graphic takes a quick look back at the 2022-23 sports year among the Putnam County schools.

August

Football season gets off to a mixed start for all four Putnam County teams.

Greencastle and South Putnam win their opening games over Crispus Attucks and Cloverdale but fall in the second game of the season to Northview and Owen Valley.

The Clovers and North Putnam, both under new head coaches in Tyler Lotz and Scott Moore, show some growing pains in the first two weeks as Cloverdale also falls at Edinburgh while the Cougars drop early games to North Montgomery and Southmont.

Volleyball started in two separate ways for the four county schools.

North Putnam and South Putnam got off to solid starts, though both came back toward the mean by the end of the month, finishing 6-4 and 4-4 respectively.

For Greencastle, a change of coach right before the season started meant an already young team had additional growing pains to deal with, dropping its first seven games before two wins to close the month, while Cloverdale also was working with a young squad and new coach, picking up one win in the first two weeks of the season.

Both boys’ soccer teams get off to hot starts to the year as Greencastle wins four of its five matches, the only loss coming to eventual Sagamore Conference champions Crawfordsville, while North Putnam wins its first four matches before a loss at Monrovia to end the month.

The Tiger Cub girls’ soccer team opens with a run of Sagamore schools, losing to Tri-West, a win over North Montgomery and draw against Crawfordsville, before opening WIC play with a win over Owen Valley.

Meanwhile, the Cougars ended the month 2-2 in WIC play and 2-4 overall with wins over Brown County and Edgewood.

The girls’ golf season is a tough one around the county as Greencastle and Cloverdale start the year with just enough players to record a team score while North Putnam worked with a younger squad.

At the WIC Golf Match, the Cougars finish third overall ahead of South Putnam in fifth and the Clovers in eighth.

Boys’ tennis gets off to a bumpy start for both Greencastle and South Putnam with the Tiger Cubs finishing the month 1-4 in WIC play, the win coming over the Eagles. South Putnam’s lack of numbers meant the Eagles battled in its matches but were unable to pick up wins as the team was only able to field three positions each match.

The numbers game is also an issue in cross country as Greencastle has a hit-and-miss record on the boys’ side, taking the top-two individual spots at an event like the Jon Mitchell Invitational but not recording a team score while North Putnam and South Putnam are on each other’s heels when on the same course.

Cloverdale has a similar problem as five-deep roster means any missing runner keeps the team from scoring while Greencastle only fields a solitary runner. North Putnam and South Putnam have full rosters with middle of the pack results in the early season.

September

The biggest story in football was not on the field but off as Greencastle head coach Mike Meyer was placed on indefinite leave ahead of the Tiger Cubs’ final two games of the month. Matt Helmer took over as interim coach and led the team to wins over Brown County and Cloverdale to finish the month.

A five-game month for football was easy for South Putnam, which completed a county sweep with early wins over North Putnam and Greencastle before sweeping past Edgewood, Wet Vigo and Brown County.

Cloverdale picked up its first win of the year with a defensive stand over Brown County but also gave the Cougars their first win the following week, later adding a win over the Vikings.

After a false start to the volleyball season, Greencastle picked up seven-straight wins, capping the run with a Putnam County Volleyball Tournament win over South Putnam and North Putnam.

The Tiger Cubs traded off wins and losses from there but ended up losing control of the Paddle in the final match of the month after the Cougars pulled off a reverse sweep to win in five sets.

North Putnam’s win capped a five-match winning streak to close out the month which, to that point, had been a mixed bag of results.

South Putnam played .500 volleyball until a late three-game slide at the end of the month while Cloverdale continued to work through its struggles, picking up its second win of the season late into the month.

The WIC Boys’ Soccer title came down to the two county schools as Greencastle and North Putnam came into the match unbeaten in conference play.

The Tiger Cubs came into the match 7-0-1 with a draw at Cascade the only non-win with the Cougars 6-1-0, the loss coming at Crawfordsville.

In the end, it was all Greencastle as a 5-1 win, combined with a win over Owen Valley in the next match, saw the Tiger Cubs finish WIC play 8-0 while North Putnam would finish as runner-up with a win over Indian Creek leaving the Cougars at 7-1 in the conference. Both teams would go into sectional play off the back of losses with Greencastle falling to Terre Haute North and North Putnam dropping a match at Cascade.

The Tiger Cubs would also win the WIC Girls’ Soccer title as Greencastle ends the regular season with an 8-1-2 mark, including a 8-0 win over North Putnam to secure the conference title and a 1-0 win over Danville prior to postseason play.

The Cougars struggled to finish the season, going 0-8-1 until finishing the regular season with a win over Indian Creek on penalties.

South Putnam broke North Putnam’s hold on the county title, winning the Putnam County Golf Match 195-202, ending the Cougars’ four-year run atop the county with Greencastle third and Cloverdale fourth.

At the Northview Sectional, the Eagles finish fourth, 12 strokes outside the final team slot to advance to the regional round, though Madie and Alie Newby advance as individual qualifiers. Cloverdale finishes eighth and Greencastle 11th in the sectional. North Putnam’s Kylie Dresbach also advances to the regional round as the Cougars finish eight at the Attica Sectional.

Another up-and-down month for Greencastle’s tennis team saw the Tiger Cubs finish 1-2 in its three WIC matches while South Putnam continued to work with its short-handed squad.

Both teams fell in their opening match of sectional play as the Eagles lost to host Northview while Greencastle lost to Owen Valley.

A scorching WIC Cross Country Meet saw Cloverdale finish fourth in the girls’ race to top the team finishes with North Putnam sixth and South Putnam eighth.

The Cougars top the Eagles by 10 points for fifth place in the boys’ conference meet with Greencastle and Cloverdale short runners for a team score.

A few days later, Cloverdale won its fourth-straight girls’ Putnam County Cross Country Meet with Ella Szczerbik winning her fourth-straight county title while North Putnam fended off South Putnam for the boys’ meet.

October

The final month of football in Putnam County is a bumpy ride that does provide the game of the year as North Putnam defeats Greencastle in overtime in the regular season finale.

The previous week, South Putnam played one of its best games of the season to defeat Heritage Christian but a double-shot of No. 1 teams in the state, Linton and Indianapolis Lutheran, saw the Eagles slump to two losses to end the year.

The Tiger Cubs and Cougars also lost in the opening round of sectional play, both leading their opponents in Cascade and Sullivan early before falling away in the second half.

Cloverdale ends up being the last team standing, courtesy of an opening-round bye, but also sees its season come to an end against the Saints, who would eventually win the Class A state title.

Greencastle found mixed results in its final games of the volleyball season before turning on the jets in the first two games of sectional play, rolling past North Putnam and South Putnam before falling in the sectional final to Southmont.

For the Cougars, it was the cap to a late-season swoon as, after winning five games in a row, North Putnam lost its last four outings after the reverse sweep of the Tiger Cubs. The Eagles, meanwhile, beat Parke Heritage in both the regular season and sectional play but fell in its other three contests around the two wins over the Wolves.

Cloverdale got its third win of the season, beating Eminence in four sets, but were paired off with the Mounties in the opening round of sectional play.

A reshuffle in sectional alignments meant Greencastle hosted its own boys’ soccer sectional, featuring primarily fellow WIC schools, and repeated wins over Owen Valley, Brown County and Northview in the final to win its first sectional in four years.

A strong season for the Tiger Cubs ended the following week at the Providence Regional, falling to the Pioneers 4-1 to finish the season 16-3-1.

North Putnam, meanwhile, saw its season end at the Bethesda Christian Sectional against the hosts in the opening match of sectional play.

Both girls’ soccer teams end their season at the Cascade Sectional with the hosts defeating North Putnam to open sectional play while Greencastle, after defeating Bethesda Christian, couldn’t find a way past the Cadet defense as the hosts claimed the sectional with a 1-0 win.

At the Brownsburg Cross Country Sectional, Cloverdale finished fifth in the girls’ race and qualified for the Ben Davis Regional.

Nine individuals advanced to the regional as well in North Putnam’s Jacy Huffman and Maddie Trent and South Putnam’s Elise Kendall on the girls’ side. Cougars Jeremiah Miles and Brayden Monnett, Eagles Keaton Chew and Dunkin York and Tiger Cubs Landon Miller and Charlie Menzel advanced from the boys’ race.

Miller, Menzel, Monnett, Miles and Cloverdale’s Szczerbik advanced to the Shelbyville Semi-State from the regional where the cross country season came to an end.

November

The month kicks off with three of the four girls’ basketball teams opening their seasons on the first day of the month, though only North Putnam starts in season with a win while Greencastle and Cloverdale start with losses.

It would get better for the Tiger Cubs. Much better.

Greencastle wins the remainder of its games in the month, including taking control of the paddle after routing the Cougars and defeating the Eagles in the Putnam County Girls’ Basketball Tournament to start the season 6-1.

The Cougars end up with a 6-2 mark, beating Cloverdale twice and scrapping past both Crawfordsville and Southmont while South Putnam ends up at .500 at 4-4 across the month. The Clovers would still be looking for its first win by month’s end, having lost four games between the Eagles and Cougars.

Boys’ basketball gets under way briefly as Greencastle wins the first county matchup of the season over Cloverdale and North Putnam defeats Southmont in its season opener while South Putnam drops its opener, as did the Tiger Cubs and Clovers.

In the pools, Greencastle’s smaller girls’ swim team competed well in several early meets while the boys’ side continued to build up its numbers while. Cloverdale senior Carson Hall picked up several early individual wins.

South Putnam, due to lingering construction, leads a nomadic life with home meets having to be changed into away meets as facilities at the school were unable to host meets for the first two months of the year.

On the mats, the numbers game hampers Greencastle, South Putnam and Cloverdale while North Putnam starts off finishing as runner-up at the Parke Heritage Classic, falling a point short of a five-win day with a 40-39 loss to South Vermillion.

December

Winter’s chill descended hard on the boys’ basketball teams with only South Putnam having any fun in the final month of 2022.

Though North Putnam would knock them off by two points to start the month, the Eagles would win four-straight games, including county wins over Greencastle and Cloverdale, before ending play for the year with a loss to Parke Heritage.

The Cougars would beat Edgewood in overtime following the win over South Putnam but would fall into a slump, losing seven of their remaining eight games in the month, the lone win coming over Rising Sun.

Greencastle and Cloverdale also lost seven of eight games in the month with the sole win for the Tiger Cubs coming over Casey-Westfield in the Wabash Valley Classic while the Clovers manage to beat Brown County.

In girls’ basketball, Greencastle splits its six contests, running into a tough stretch of a win at West Vigo, followed by a close loss at 3A No. 10 Indian Creek before a tough defeat against No. 15 Danville.

A win against South Putnam was followed by a gut-wrenching loss against Sullivan in overtime before swatting aside South Vermillion to start the Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic, a tournament that will resume in the new year due to inclement weather.

The Eagles also have a bumpy month, going 2-4 with losses to the Tiger Cubs and North Putnam in county play.

For the Cougars, the win over the Eagles was their only one of the month, entering a midseason swoon that will extend into the new year with a 1-5 mark in the month. Cloverdale’s search for its first win of the year will continue into the new year.

South Putnam completed a sweep at the Putnam County Swim Meet, winning 14 of the 23 contested events with Greencastle second in the girls’ meet and North Putnam second in the boys’ meet.

North Putnam added to a five-win day at the Kenny Kerns Wrestling Invitational with a sweep of the Russ Hesler Invitational, winning the Putnam County title as a result, finishing the day 5-0. Greencastle finished as runner-up with South Putnam third.

At the North Montgomery Holiday Duals, North Putnam went 3-2 and Greencastle 1-4 in the duals session while Cougar Lucas Murphy and Tiger Cub Chase Carrington finish as runners-up in the individual tournament that follows.

January

North Putnam had a false start in the opening boys’ basketball game of the new year, an overtime loss at West Vigo, but sprung to life, defeating eventual Class 2A semistate finalists Fountain Central in overtime, kickstarting a six-game winning streak to finish the month with wins over Greencastle and Cloverdale mixed in.

South Putnam also had a tough start to the month with loses to Sullivan and Edgewood but would win five-straight games to finish the month.

The turn of the calendar did not manage to alleviate problems for Greencastle and Cloverdale as both teams went a combined 0-13 in the first month of the new year.

On the other side of the hardwood, the Tiger Cubs start the new year with a hectic rush of games as the State Farm Classic resumes play after New Year’s Day with wins over Parke Heritage and Terre Haute North leading Greencastle to its second girls’ basketball title of the season.

The Tiger Cubs win five games in six days, finishing the regular season with a 11-game winning streak, including wins over Cloverdale and North Putnam to stay unbeaten in county play, before opening sectional play on the final day of the month at McAnally Center, avenging its season-opening loss against Southmont.

For the rest of the county, it’s a tough stretch of the season as the Cougars end a nine-game slide with a win over Owen Valley but finish the regular season 1-6 while South Putnam finish 1-7, grabbing a win at Eminence. Cloverdale gets a win in the State Farm Classic, defeating South Vermillion, but ends up 1-9 across the month.

South Putnam beat out North Putnam again in the pool, this time to claim the WIC Boys’ Swim title with Greencastle fourth overall and Clover Carson Hall nearly catching West Vigo for seventh overall.

On the girls’ side, the Eagles finish second overall behind Edgewood while Greencastle finishes fourth overall ahead of North Putnam in fifth.

North Putnam tops the county teams at the WIC Wrestling meet, finishing third overall, with Greencastle eight, South Putnam ninth and Cloverdale 11th.

Cougars Murphy and Isaac Polley win conference titles, as does Tiger Cub Carrington.

At the Avon Sectional, Carrington and Murphy win sectional titles North Putnam held off Greencastle for fourth place overall with South Putnam ninth.

The pair are joined by eight other wrestlers at the Mooresville Regional in Cougars Braden Glaze and Corie Stancombe, Tiger Cubs Dylan Archer, David Olson, Cayden Blodgett and Cooper Robinson and Eagle Ethan Harcourt.

February

The rest of the county schools enter into girls’ basketball sectional play with North Putnam falling to Parke Heritage while South Putnam advanced with a win over Riverton Parke.

Greencastle reaches the final with a win over Cloverdale while the Eagles are picked off by the Wolves to set up the final, one in which the Tiger Cubs end up ending a decade-long drought with a 54-32 win.

An even longer drought is broken the next week as Greencastle ends a 43-year long wait for a second regional title, defeating Union County 58-38 in the Southmont Regional.

The magical Tiger Cub season eventually ends at the Shelbyville Semi-State to eventual state champions No. 2 Forest Park as the team finishes 23-5 overall.

Despite an early loss to start the month, North Putnam kept its momentum going, winning the Putnam County Classic and finishing the regular season on a four-game winning streak.

After one win in two months, Greencastle also righted the ship, getting a win over Brown County before pushing the Cougars hard in the opening round of the Classic, later defeating Cloverdale in two overtimes to kick start a four-game winning streak to close the regular season, though they would fall to eventual sectional champion Parke Heritage on the opening night of sectional play.

South Putnam reached the Classic final but fell into a tailspin from there as injuries and other issues saw the Eagles pick up just one win in their final six games.

The Clovers, having struggled most of the campaign, ended the regular season with a win over Eminence.

At the Avon Girls’ Swim Sectional, South Putnam leads the county schools with a fifth-place finish, leading Greencastle in seventh and North Putnam in 10th.

Eagle Kallie Pastore finished as runner-up in the 100 breaststroke, missing out on qualification to the state finals.

The boys’ sectional, which moved from Terre Haute to Plainfield, South Putnam again finished fifth with North Putnam seventh, Cloverdale ninth and Greencastle 10th.

At the Mooresville Regional, Murphy and Carrington are able to advance to the Evansville Semi-State, with Carrington winning a regional title and Murphy finishing fourth.

At the semistate, Murphy was knocked out in the opening round while Carrington reached the ticket round but was unable to qualify for the state finals.

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North Putnam makes it through a tough sectional opener against Southmont and knocks off Riverton Parke for a second time in three weeks but falls in the sectional final to Parke Heritage.

The Wolves also ended the season for South Putnam while Cloverdale fell to the Panthers to see their season come to an end.

Just before the month ends, softball season gets under way as South Putnam drops a one-run game on the road at North Vermillion while North Putnam gets off to a winning start against Eminence.

April

Baseball season begins with a bang for all four county schools as each team picks up at least one 10-run win in the opening week of the season.

North Putnam has the best month to start the year, going 9-5 and winning the Putnam County Baseball Tournament in comeback fashion over Greencastle.

The Tiger Cubs split the month evenly at 6-6 while Cloverdale, after a 4-3 start, falls in its next six games and South Putnam, after splitting its first two games, drops eight-straight to end the month.

Softball also begins in earnest as Greencastle and Cloverdale begin play after North Putnam and South Putnam got a game in the prior month.

The Putnam County Softball Tournament highlights the month with the Tiger Cubs and Cougars playing out a 12-inning classic that ends with a walk-off home run as North Putnam reclaimed the Paddle and keeps it the rest of the season.

The Cougars end up 11-6 in the month, adding another win over Greencastle later in the month while the Tiger Cubs end up 9-7 across the opening half of the season.

After a .500 start at 4-4, Cloverdale entered into a midseason swoon, dropping its last six contests of the month, that would continue until late in the season.

South Putnam picked up its first win in its seventh outing, beating the Clovers, and ended the month 4-9 with a pair of losses against North Putnam among the results.

Early season meets saw Cloverdale split with North Putnam, as did South Putnam with the Cougars, as North Putnam won both boys’ meets while the Clovers and Eagles won the girls’ meets.

Greencastle in-between Northview and West Vigo and a home three-way meet while splitting with Martinsville. North Putnam added a pair of wins over Parke Heritage and Riverton Parke.

Greencastle got off to a very good start in girls’ tennis, winning five of its first six matches, the only loss to Terre Haute South, winning a further five matches before a loss to Sullivan that would prove decisive in the WIC Girls’ Tennis title race. South Putnam, much like in the boys’ tennis season, works through its matches but finds wins hard to come by.

On the fairways, Greencastle and Cloverdale pick up several early wins with North Putnam and South Putnam fielding inexperienced teams.

May

A win over North Putnam saw Greencastle claim the Bucket to end the year, though South Putnam nearly rallied twice just four days later in an attempt to take the traveling trophy in the final county game of the season.

The Tiger Cubs would end the regular season 6-5, never picking up more than two wins in a row, while the Cougars hit a five-game slump to end the regular season. The Eagles would pick up a pair of wins, including one of the surprise results of the season over Parke Heritage while Cloverdale, which was mired in a 10-game losing streak, found some life late in the year with a pair of wins before sectional play.

Greencastle and North Putnam won their sectional openers, effectively creating a mini Putnam County Tournament in the Parke Heritage Baseball Sectional on Memorial Day.

The Cougars won the rubber match against the Tiger Cubs while the Clovers defeated the Eagles in the afternoon games to reach the final, one that appeared to be heading North Putnam’s way until a seventh-inning rally saw the Clovers claim the sectional title 4-3, having trailed the Cougars 3-0 in the final half inning, ending a near four-decade sectional drought for Cloverdale.

On the softball diamond, North Putnam led the county schools with a 6-3 mark to close the regular season with Greencastle ending the season just under. 500 at 5-6 while South Putnam won its first game of the month but backed into sectional play with a 1-6 mark, as would Cloverdale, which broke an eight-game skid with a win over Greenwood Christian Academy but also went into sectional play with a 1-7 mark to end the regular season.

The Clovers find their footing in the Clay City Sectional, however, reaching the final after beating Bloomfield and Shakamak before falling to the Eels in the championship game.

At Southmont, South Vermillion looked for a fifth-straight sectional title and took down South Putnam and Greencastle to reach the final.

North Putnam reaches the final after defeating the hosts, setting up another meeting with the Wildcats in postseason play.

In another thriller, North Putnam finally get the better of South Vermillion, winning 7-6 in walk-off fashion to win the school’s second softball sectional title, adding to the 2006 title win.

The following week, the Cougars were bested by Cascade in regional play 8-0, finishing the season 20-10.

At the Putnam County Track Meet, Greencastle managed to retain its hold on the county titles though Cloverdale ran the Tiger Cubs close in the girls’ meet as the Clovers were just two points behind.

North Putnam would be the top finisher at the WIC Track and Field Meet the following week as the Cougars finished fifth in the girls’ meet and sixth in the boys’ meet.

At the Terre Haute North Track Sectional, North Putnam’s Nolan Hackleman would claim three events to help the Cougars finish fourth at the sectional, advancing alongside Matt Farrington, Jeremiah Miles, Evan Polley, Corie Stancombe Myckah Slagle and Brayden Monnett.

Greencastle’s Andrew Adams also won a sectional title, winning the pole vault, while teammate Landon Miller, Cole Hutcheson, Clay Glessner, Brendle Brennan, Dylan Olson, Jake Miller and Lamar Moore, South Putnam’s Wyatt Switzer, Gabe Feltner, Dunkin York, Evan Hinkle, Keaton Chew, Hayden Meredith and Ben Teipen and Cloverdale’s Tayt Jackson advanced to the regional round.

At the Bloomington North Regional, Hackleman finished runner-up in the long jump, as did Switzer in the 300-meter hurdles, to advance to the IHSAA Boys; Track and Field State Finals.

Three girls advanced from the Terre Haute North Track Sectional in North Putnam’s Jenna Day, South Putnam’s Bailey Brickert and Greencastle’s Kylee Owens, all of whom would finish their season at the Bloomington North Regional.

Greencastle continued to blister through the girls’ tennis season, closing the regular season with six-straight wins before defeating South Vermillion to reach the sectional final against Northview.

The Knights provided stiff resistance, taking several positions to third sets, before a rain delay sent the match to DePauw’s Indoor Tennis Center where the Tiger Cubs completed the 5-0 sweep for a third-straight sectional title.

Sullivan once again stood in the way of Greencastle, this time at the Crawfordsville Regional, winning 4-1, though Allie Landry would advance in the individual tournament, winning the Crawfordsville Sectional over Parke Heritage’s Laura Hansmann to advance to the Fishers Regional.

Cloverdale makes a sweep of the Putnam County Golf Match at WIC Boys’ Golf Match, taking the top four all-county spots in the former with Eli Kelley talking medalist honors, while Zach Thomas earns medalist honors at the conference golf match.

Greencastle finishes as runner-up on both occasions, trailing by 21 strokes at the county but closing the gap to just a solitary stroke at Cascades GC. South Putnam finished third and North Putnam fourth at the county while the Eagles finished 10th at the WIC; the Cougars did not have enough golfers for a team score.

June

At the IHSAA Boys’ Track and Field State Finals, Switzer finishes 12th overall in the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 39.83 seconds. Hackleman finishes 16th overall in the high jump with a distance of 21-01.50.

Landry, in her first appearance at the regional level, wins her opening match over Southport’s Carlie Streit to reach the regional final but falls to Lawrence North’s Isabelle May. Landry finished the year 22-2 while Greencastle as a team finished 18-3.

Cloverdale’s trip to the Loogootee Baseball Regional ends in defeat to eventual Class 2A State Finalists Covenant Christian.

The Clovers later top the county finishers at the Martinsville Boys’ Golf Sectional, finishing fifth overall, with Kelley winning a three-way playoff for the final individual qualifier, finishing his season at the Harrison Boys’ Golf Regional.

The Traveling Trophies

Greencastle keeps the Bucket, Cougars retain the Paddle

The most ubiquitous trophies in Putnam County didn’t travel much in the 2022-23 sports year.

Greencastle began and ended the year with the Putnam County Bucket though it did not have a successful defense of the traveling trophy, winning the Bucket back in the final county baseball game of the season.

The Putnam County Paddle, meanwhile, only existed on the northern half of the county as North Putnam and Greencastle took turns holding it for the entirety of the calendar, though it too started and finished in the same place as the Cougars held it in hand on either side of the 2022-23 sports year.

The Tiger Cubs came into the year with the Bucket in hand after winning it at the 2022 Putnam County Baseball Tournament and making three defenses during the rest of the season.

South Putnam would win the first, and only, Bucket game of the football season, defeating Greencastle 35-13 on Sept. 9.

As the Eagles had already beaten Cloverdale and North Putnam by that point, however, the next time the Bucket was up for grabs was three games into the boys’ basketball season.

North Putnam would take possession of the Bucket on Dec. 2, defeating South Putnam in a 45-43 nailbiter and would hold on to it for the next five months.

In that span, the Cougars defeated Greencastle 51-46 on Jan. 13, Cloverdale 41-28 on Jan. 19 and won the Putnam County Classic with wins over the Tiger Cubs 37-34 and the Eagles 67-58, taking the Bucket to the baseball diamond.

North Putnam kept the Bucket through the Putnam County Baseball Tournament with a scorching 23-2 win over South Putnam and a comeback 8-6 win over Greencastle in the final.

The Cougars added an 11-1 win over the Eagles on April 19 and an 8-3 win over the Clovers on May 4 before the Tiger Cubs won a tense 3-2 win in eight innings on May 12.

Greencastle needed another eight-inning win to finish the year with the Bucket in hand, holding off two South Putnam rallies to win 10-8, closing out the Bucket games for the year.

North Putnam came into the year with the Paddle after taking it off of Greencastle in the softball regular season meeting and beating Cloverdale to retain the title.

The Cougars made one defense of the Paddle in volleyball, winning a five-set thriller over the Eagles on Sept. 1 25-15, 20-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-13 but a young Tiger Cub squad took it over nine days later on Sept. 10 at the Putnam County Volleyball Tournament, defeating the Eagles in three sets and the Cougars in two sets to win the tournament.

Greencastle won its first defense in four sets over South Putnam on Sept. 20 but nine days later, North Putnam took back the Paddle with a wild reverse sweep, winning 20-25, 18-25, 25-16, 26-24, 15-11 on Sept. 29.

The next time the Paddle was up for grabs was at the Putnam County Girls’ Basketball Tournament, one in which the Cougars were rolled by the Tiger Cubs on the opening night 75-19, ensuring the title would be changing hands in the championship game, one won by Greencastle 66-41 over South Putnam.

In the midst of a magical run to the semistate, the Tiger Cubs made three successful defenses of the Paddle, first defeating the Eagles on Dec. 9 56-39 before beating the Clovers on Jan. 7 62-32 and the Cougars six days later 46-14 on Jan. 13.

The Paddle sat around for three months before called into action, this time at the Putnam County Softball Tournament April 15 where Greencastle defeated Cloverdale 23-0 while North Putnam handled South Putnam 16-1, setting the stage for perhaps the most dramatic game of the 2022-23 sports calendar.

A 12-inning battle between the two teams was settled on a walk-off two-run home run as the Cougars won 7-5, the last time the Paddle would change hands in the calendar.

North Putnam would defend the Paddle in its three county matchups, defeating South Putnam 9-2 four days later on April 19, Greencastle 6-3 on April 25 and Cloverdale 11-0 on May 4 to retain it ahead of the 2023-24 sports year.