Eels turn in electric second half to ground Eagles

The Clay City Eels boys’ basketball team came into the Eagles’ Nest at South Putnam and outscored the Eagles 44-21 in the second half to pull away to a 69-39 season-opening victory Tuesday night behind Ethan Edwards’ 22 points.

The game started out like a season opener with both squads struggling on the offensive end, combining for 11 turnovers in the first quarter.

South Putnam took the lead at the 3:12 mark after a three from Isaac Garner to make it 7-4. Drew Hill added four points in the quarter while Garner hit another three ball as the Eagles were up 12-8.

Dalton Hill then was able to get to the basket for the Eels on two-straight possessions to tie the game at 12-12 the first break.

Drew Hill would score five more in the second quarter to give the Eagles their last lead at 17-16. Clay City was able to get the ball back inside to Ethan Edwards, who scored six in the quarter.

South’s offense really began to struggle, only able to score one point the rest of the period, going 2-of-7 from the field, as the Eels stretched out to a 25-18 advantage at the half.

After a Drew Hill bucket to open the second half, Clay City began to control the game.

Effectively working the ball inside for good looks, the Eels were a stellar 11-of-13 from the field in the quarter to keep extending their lead.

South was not getting any second chances, either, as it was outrebounded 7-1 in the third period and, next thing you knew, the Eagles had let the game get away from them as Clay City took a commanding 51-28 lead going to the final quarter.

“Both teams were playing hard; we made a little run in the second quarter and really did a good job carrying that over in the third. I give a lot of credit to our assistant coaches for pinpointing some things we needed to look at,” said Eel head coach Chris Ames.

Clay City was able to maintain its lead and take advantage of its inside game, controlling the glass with 10 offensive rebounds on the night.

In all, 10 Eels were able to get into the scoring column and cruise to a 69-39 victory.

“I think we played hard tonight. In the second half we kind of lost our purpose and lost what we were trying to do in the game plan. (Clay City) got aggressive on the boards and were able to take advantage. I like this group, we had good effort, attitude is good and we can work with that. I’m excited to move forward,” said Eagle coach Josh Estridge.

Drew Hill led the way for South with 17 hard-fought points. Garner added nine on three from beyond the arc while Wyatt Mullin added six.

The Eels had two in double figures, paced by 22 from Edwards, while Bryce Wiram finished with 12. Edwards was also the leader with seven rebounds. The Eagles have a little time to regroup and next face North Putnam at home on Dec. 1.

Team Stats

Individual Stats

Scoring — (SP) Hill 17, Garner 9, Mullin 6, Harris 2, Bozell 2, Cline 2, Witt 1; (CC) Edwards 22, Wiram 12, Z. Keller 8, Hill 6, D. Keller 5, Stoelting 4, Tucker 4, Camp 3, Sawyer 3, Bettenbrock 2

Rebounding — (SP) Mullin 2, Hill 2, Cline 2, Harris 1, Garner 1, Bozell 1, Witt 1, Benton 1; (CC) Edwards 7, Hill 3, Wiram 3, D. Keller 3, Tucker 3, Z. Keller 2, Johnson 2, Dayhoff 2, Stoelting 1, Camp 1