Turnover bug hampers North Putnam in 54-45 loss to Southmont

NEW MARKET – To paraphrase the late Bob Knight, “Victory favors the team who makes the least mistakes.”

That proved true on Tuesday night at Southmont as the North Putnam Lady Cougars turned the ball over 47 times and fell to the Mounties 54-45 in a non-conference high school basketball game.

The Cougars outshot and outrebounded the Mounties, but Southmont’s active defense and ability to get to the free throw line made the difference in the game.

North Putnam hit eight three-pointers compared to just one for Southmont, but the Mounties knocked down 17 free throws on the night, while the Cougars only got to the line eight times and converted five of them.

North fell to 4-4, while Southmont improved to 5-3 on the season.

“We talked about taking care of the basketball. (Southmont) is so active on defense. We needed to make short, smart passes because they were going to get their hands on a long pass. When we did that, we had some offensive success,” North Putnam head coach Curtis Lawrence said.

Southmont jumped to a quick 5-0 lead, spurring a timeout by the Cougars.

Following the timeout, consecutive three pointers by Hailee Daigle, Rose Haste and Jasmine Duvall offset a couple of Mountie buckets to tie the game at 9-9.

North Putnam then got a steal and layup from Haste while Duvall hit another from long range for an 11-2 run to close the quarter up 16-11.

The Cougars were able to maintain their lead in the second period as Duvall had five more points for the visitors, but the Mountie defense continued to give the Cougars fits.

North shot 9-of-19 in the first half, but had a total of 23 turnovers yet still led 26-21 at the intermission as the Mounties turned the ball over 17 times themselves.

“Offensively, I know we didn’t come out with the win, but this was one of our better performances. Whenever the ball goes in the basket it is a success. We were able to get good shot selection,” Lawrence said.

North’s inability to maintain possession in the third quarter led to the Mounties rallying.

Another Duvall basket with 4:29 left in the third gave the Cougars a 31-26 lead, but Southmont kept chipping away as the teams played back-and-forth basketball with Emily Link hitting two free throws late in the period to give the Mounties a 37-36 lead heading into the final quarter.

Duvall hit a trey to open the fourth quarter to give the Cougars their final lead of the night at 39-37.

Six-straight points from Southmont, with two of the buckets coming on steals and layups, put the Mounties up by four.

A free throw by Lexi Daigle cut the Cougar deficit to 46-45 with 2:25 left to play, but a banked three-pointer by DeLorean Mason and solid free throw shooting in the final minutes spelled doom for North Putnam as the Mounties were able to score the last eight points of the game for the 54-45 win.

“I was proud of how the girls played. We worked hard and we did some things well,” Lawrence said.

Mason led all scorers with 22 points and Link supported her with 12 for Southmont. Duvall had 18 points for the Cougars as the only North player in double figures.

The Cougars have a tough stretch next week as they host Cloverdale on Tuesday night before traveling to South Putnam and Edgewood on Friday and Saturday, all those games being Western Indiana Conference games.

NORTH PUTNAM (45) – Haste 3-6 1-2 8, Osburn 0-2 0-0 0, Duball 7-13 0-0 18, L. Daigle 2-10 1-2 5, H. Daigle 1-4 1-2 4, Hoops 1-2 0-0 3, Mason 0-0 0-0 0, Huffman 0-0 2-2 2, Davies 1-3 0-0 2, Day 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 16-41 FG, 5-8 FT, 45 TP.

SOUTHMONT (54) – Link 3-9 6-6 12, Gomez 2-12 2-4 6, Jenkins 1-8 2-4 4, Shaw 3-6 0-0 6, Mason 8-11 5-8 22, Gray 0-1 2-2 2, Kessler 0-2, 0-0 0, Wood 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 18-50 FG, 17-24 FT, 54 TP.

3-point shooting – NP 8-20 (Haste 1-2, Osburn 0-2, Day 1-1, Duvall 4-7, L. Daigle 0-2, H. Daigle 1-4, Hoops 1-2), SHS 1-5 (Mason 1-2, Link 0-2, Gomez 0-1). Rebounds – NP 34 (Haste 7, Osburn 1, Day 1, Duvall 3, L. Daigle 7, H. Daigle 2, Hoops 2, Mason 2, Huffman 3, Davies 1) SHS – 30 (Link 2, Gomez 6, Jenkins 7, Shaw 1, Mason 7, Gray 2, Williams 1) FG Pct. – NP 39.0, SHS 36.0. FT Pct. – NP 62.5, SHS 70.1. Turnovers – NP 47, SHS 28.