Slow starts hinder Cougars in loss to Warriors

BAINBRIDGE – Getting off to a good start is essential in most endeavors.

High school basketball is no different and the North Putnam Lady Cougars found that out on Wednesday night as they hosted Covenant Christian.

The Warriors leapt out to an 11-0 lead to start the game and despite a second half-rally, North fell short 53-42 on senior night.

The Cougars’ slow start in the first quarter was almost matched by their slow start in the second half. Covenant scored the first 11 points of the second half as well and led by as many as 20 until North cut the lead to 46-40 with just over two minutes left but could not get over the hump.

The loss dropped the Cougars to 8-13 on the season, while the Warriors improved to 7-15.

“The fight that the girls had tonight was great. We were able to cut it down to 46-40 and give ourselves a chance. A couple of breaks and we could have still been right there,” North Putnam head coach Curtis Lawrence said.

Four different Warriors scored in the first three minutes of action, forcing Lawrence to call a timeout down 11-0.

Lexi Daigle got the Cougars on the board with a rebound bucket and the Cougars started getting the Warriors in foul trouble.

Rose Haste hit four from the charity stripe and Melanie Davies knocked down one, but the Cougars could not control Covenant’s Vivian Haffner, who stepped outside the arc and knocked down four of her seven three-pointers on the night in the quarter. Covenant led 20-12 at the first stop in the action.

“Our defense was not very good tonight. We didn’t recognize some things. We let (Haffner) hit seven threes,” Lawrence said.

The Cougar offense became stagnant in the second quarter. North managed only 2-of-12 shooting in the quarter for five points and the Warriors extended the lead to 31-17 heading to the intermission.

Covenant bumped the lead to a 20-point margin at 38-18 before the Cougars began rally.

Lexi Daigle had seven points in the period as the Cougars began to turn the Warriors over defensively.

North went on an 11-2 run and then cut the lead to 43-31 at the break as Davies knocked down a jumper near the end of the period.

“We did some good things tonight, we just had stretches where we didn’t play very well,” Lawrence said.

Other than another Haffner trey, the Cougars held the Warriors as they cut the lead to 46-40 on a Sammie Hoops free throw.

North Putnam would get no closer as Covenant was able to hold the ball on one possession for over a minute as the Cougars were not close to the bonus to put the Warriors at the line.

When Covenant did get to the line late, it knocked its free tosses in and was able to extend the lead late to the 53-42 victory.

Covenant Christian was led by Haffner’s 23 points while Avery Reichart added 14 for the Warriors.

Lexi Daigle knocked in 17 for the Cougars and Hailey Daigle added 10 points and nine rebounds.

“Hailey does some really good things for us. She hit some shots and for someone at her height, five-foot-five or six, she does a good job of rebounding,” Lawrence said.

The Cougars played their final home game of the season and the last game for seniors Saylor Carrell, Samie Hoops, Addisyn Osburn, Lexi Daigle and Layci Reed on their home court.

“These seniors have meant so much to the program. I can’t say enough about what they mean. Addi, Lexi, and Samie have been here for all four years. Saylor came back after taking a year off and Layci hadn’t played since her freshman year. They all contributed so much,” Lawrence said.

The Cougars final regular season game is Thursday at Owen Valley prior to taking on Greencastle in the Class 2A Sectional No. 44 opener next week.

COVENANT CHRISTIAN (53) – Hoffman 1-3 0-0 3, Reichart 4-9 5-9 14, Rademacher 1-8 0-0 2, Haffner 7-11 2-2 23, Mattick 4-5 1-1 9, Loy-Dawson 0-1 0-0 0, Flatt 0-0 0-0 0, L. Armstrong 1-2 0-0 2, M. Armstrong 0-2 0-0 0, Howard 0-0 0-0 0, Wills 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-42 FG, 8-12 FT, 53 TP.

NORTH PUTNAM (42) – Carrell 0-0 0-0 0, Hoops 1-3 1-2 3, Osburn 0-1 0-0 0, L. Daigle 7-14 3-5 17, Reed 0-0 0-0 0, H. Daigle 4-6 0-0 10, Haste 0-2 4-4 4, Davies 1-1 4-9 6, Day 0-2 0-0 0, Duball 1-9 0-0 2, Huffman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-38 FG, 12-20 FT, 42 TP.

3-point shooting –CC 9-19 (Hoffman 1-1, Reichart 1-2, Rademacher 0-3, Haffner 7-12, M. Armstrong 0-1), NP 2-19 (Hoops 0-2, Day 0-2, Osburn 0-1, Duvall 0-7, L. Daigle 0-2, H. Daigle 2-3, Haste 0-2) Rebounds –CC 22 (Hoffman 1, Reichart 5, Rademacher 4, Mattick 4, Loy-Dawson 3, Flatt 1, L. Armstrong 3), NP – 30 (Carrell 1, Hoops 2, Day 2, Duvall 1, L. Daigle 4, H. Daigle 9, Haste 6) FG Pct. – CC 42.9, NP 28.9. FT Pct. – CC 66.7, NP 60.0. Turnovers – CC 18, NP 23.