South Putnam dominates Eminence for Estridge's first win as head coach

The South Putnam boys’ basketball squad took advantage of 24 turnovers and had eight different players score to pick up its first win of the season for coach Josh Estridge, blowing out the Eminence Eels 68-24 Saturday night.

The Eagle defense created chaos early and often. Ten first-quarter miscues by the Eels got South Putnam rolling. Drew Hill was the benefactor, scoring nine first-period points, helping the Eagles jump out to a 14-5 first-quarter lead.

Eminence was only able to get up five shots in the opening session, compared to 20 for South.

The lead would keep growing in the second. Five quick ones from Hill boosted the advantage. The Eagles then began distributing the ball around and finding quality shots.

Threes from Cameron Bozell and Wyatt Mullin stretched the lead even further. Mullin would knock down another three ball and all of a sudden it was a 28-point game as the hosts shot 10-of-19 from the field in the quarter to take a 40-13 lead into halftime.

South would continue to stretch the lead out in the second half as several players were getting into the action.

Khalil Jefferson began crashing the boards while threes from Mullin and Drew Cline pulled the hosts out to a 35-point advantage.

The onslaught continued in the final session as back-to-back baskets from Parker Harris started the next run while Hayden Tincher and Isaac Gardner also got in the scoring column.

The Eagles allowed just 29 shots on the game, while shooting almost 50 percent themselves as they would go on to the 68-24 victory.

“It’s a great feeling. We have gotten off to a slow start this season. Tonight, everything paid off. It was good to see the ball go through the hoop more often than it has. Proud of the kids and hopefully this can help us get some momentum,” Eagle coach Josh Estridge said about the first win of the season and his first win as head coach.

Three Eagles finished with three players in double figures. Mullin led the way with 15, Hill added 13 and Isaac Garner chipped in 11. All in all, eight got into the scoring column.

“It’s great to see those guys out there executing at a high level. They are taking what we teach in practice and make it happen in the game,” added coach Estridge.

Jefferson finished with nine rebounds as South won the battle of the boards 29-18. The big difference was in the turnovers, with Eminence committing 24 to the Eagles’ eight.

South will next play at county rival Cloverdale on Dec. 15 to try and make it two in a row.

Team Stats

Individual Stats

Scoring - (SP) Mullin 15, Hill 14, Garner 11, Jefferson 8, Bozell 7, Cline 7, Harris 4, Tincher 2; (E) Bieler 6, Bridges 6, Jeffries 5, Myers 4, Girt 3

Rebounding - (SP) Jefferson 9, Hill 5, Garner 4, Bozell 3, Cline 3, Witt 2, Harris 2, Mullin 1; (E) Myers 5, Girt 4, Bieler 3, Jeffries 3, Bridges 1