Wolves rip apart Cougars

BAINBRIDGE – The night started off slow for the North Putnam Lady Cougars and did not improve as play went on.

North hosted Parke Heritage on Saturday night and the Wolves ran roughshod over the Cougars for a 66-17 win.

Parke Heritage bullied, ran over and past the Cougars as they scored early and often feeding off of a pressure defense that gave the Cougars fits.

North only made four field goals for the game as they could not get any offensive rhythm going while the Wolves’ Emma Simpson scored 28 points and controlled the pace of the game.

The loss dropped the Cougars to 5-8 on the season, while Parke Heritage improved to 9-3.

“(Parke Heritage) is a physical team defensively and they get in the passing lane. We thought we had a pretty good game plan, but there are some things you can’t prepare for,” North Putnam head coach Curtis Lawrence said.

The Wolves came out pressing the Cougars and scored the first 13 points of the game before a Lexi Daigle free throw broke the run. North would not get a field goal in the first quarter as they managed just three free throws while Parke Heritage built a big early lead.

Simpson had nine of her game-high 28 points in the quarter and the Wolves made more field goals (eight to six) than the Cougars attempted as North would have 10 turnovers in the period.

Parke Heritage led 20-3 at the first stoppage in play.

The second quarter did not change much as the Wolves abandoned the press but applied heavy pressure in the halfcourt.

North found itself down 24-3 before Daigle hit the hosts’ first field goal, a three-pointer, but Simpson would continue to score for the Wolves as Parke Heritage went to the locker room with a commanding 36-8 lead.

“Emma Simpson, she is just a pogo stick. (Parke Heritage) is more athletic than us and they have some size inside,” Lawrence said.

The Wolves continued to build on the lead and pushed the score to 47-11 with 2:48 left in the third quarter to start the running clock.

Parke Heritage again limited the Cougars, who only scored three points on a Jasmine Duvall trey, and would post a 52-11 lead over North at the end of three quarters.

The fourth quarter began to get a little sloppy with the big lead, but Parke Heritage continued to dominate on the defensive end.

North would only get six points in the period as Kassidy Hackleman came off the bench to pick up three of those points, but Parke Heritage would put the game away and with the running clock the quarter went quickly for the Cougars as the final margin was set at 66-17.

“Some kids haven’t had the playing time recently, but they proved that when they come in, they perform,” Lawrence said.

Parke Heritage’s Simpson led all scorers with 28 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Raegan Ramsay added 18 for the Wolves. Daigle had six points to lead the Cougars.

The competition stays high for the Cougars as they will travel next Friday to Northview for a Western Indiana Conference game.

PARKE HERITAGE (66) – Addison Jenkins 0-3 0-0 0, Simpson 9-19 9-12 28, Addilee Jenkins 3-11 0-0 8, R. Ramsay 9-13 0-0 18, O’Brien 0-6 0-0 0, Benjamin 1-2 0-2 2, Perkins 0-1 4-6 4, Batty 1-1 0-0 2, Myers 1-2 0-0 2, Newnum 0-1 0-0 0, Veseli 0-0 2-2 2, A. Ramsay 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 FG, 15-22 FT, 66 TP.

NORTH PUTNAM (17) – Davies 0-4 2-5 2, Haste 0-2 0-0 0, H. Daigle 0-1 0-0 0, L. Daigle 1-2 3-6 6, Duvall 1-6 0-0 3, Day 0-2 0-0 0, Hoops 0-1 0-0 0, Osburn 0-2 0-0 0, Huffman 0-0 0-0 0, Reed 0-0 0-0 0, Hackleman 1-3 1-2 3, Mason 0-2 1-4 1, Carroll 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 4-27 FG, 7-19 FT, 17 TP.

3-point shooting – PH 3-14 (Addison Jenkins 0-1, Simpson 1-4, Addilee Jenkins 2-6, O’Brien 0-2, Myers 0-1), NP 2-13 (Davies 0-1, Haste 0-2, H. Daigle 0-1, L. Daigle 1-1, Duvall 1-5, Hoops 0-1, Osburn 0-2) Rebounds – PH 38 (Addison Jenkins 2, Simpson 12, Addilee Jenkins 4, Ramsay 5, O’Brien 3, Benjamin 4, Myers 1, Perkins 1) NP – 24 (Davies 2, Carroll 1, Haste 2, Mason 1, H. Daigle 4, Hackleman 2, L. Daigle 1, Duvall 3, Reed 1, Day 2, Hoops 2) FG Pct. – PH 40.0, NP 14.8. FT Pct. – PH 68.2, NP 36.8. Turnovers – PH 11, NP 31.