Cougars fall to Western Boone, 59-56

The North Putnam Cougars boys' basketball team traveled to Western Boone Saturday night, to play the Stars. The Cougars were hoping to get another win after defeating Covington on Friday, 55-50.

After a slow start, trailing the Stars 2-14 at the end the first quarter, North Putnam rallied back, but lost to Western Boone, 59-56, in double overtime.

The Cougars were unable to hit shots in the first quarter, with Riley McGaughey scoring the only points of the period with 2:17 left in the stanza.

They also committed eight turnovers during the opening period.

The momentum in the game changed in the second quarter as the Cougars began to hit their shots.

Colby Ensor, Tyler Trent, Jake Mullis, and Lee Fordice got into the scoring column for North Putnam in the second quarter as the offense gained confidence and the Cougars outscored the Stars, 9-6 in the period.

North Putnam trailed going into the locker room at halftime, 20-11.

The Cougars' defense, combined with the continued balanced offense, allowed North Putnam to outscore Western Boone, 12-4 in the third quarter, to only trail 24-23 going into the fourth quarter.

North Putnam took the lead, at 25-24, for the first time in the game at the 7:12 mark in the final quarter when Ensor putback an offensive rebound.

The visitors never trailed for the rest of the fourth quarter, leading 41-35 with 8.4 left in regulation, but Western Boone was able to score six points in the final 4.4 seconds of the quarter to force the game into overtime.

The Stars jumped out to a 46-41 lead at the start of the overtime, but Fordice, Trent, and McGaughey each scored to give the Cougars a 47-46 lead with 30.9 left.

Western Boone scored twice more to lead 50-47 with 10.3 left, then Mullis hit McGaughey with a perfect pass, and McGaughey hit a well-defended, three-point shot at the buzzer to force a second overtime.

Both teams battled back and forth in the second overtime with the score tied at 56-56 with 23 seconds to go, but the Stars had possession of the ball, and then went in to a ball control offense.

North Putnam was forced to foul and Western Boone hit three free throws to seal the Stars' victory.

Statistically, both teams were even in every category, except one, as North Putnam had 24 turnovers compared to 14 for Western Boone. Seventeen of the Cougars' turnovers were committed in the first and fourth quarters.

"Tonight was the third game we have played in a week, but that can't be something that we use as an excuse," commented North Putnam coach Wes Peek after the game. "We've got to come out every night, whether it's a Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, or whatever night it is, and give everything we've got. We just got started too late.

"At halftime we talked about being in a position, still with as poorly as we had played in the first half, to win the game. We came out and got the lead and we kind of let things get away from us.

"That's something we've got to correct before we can even think about playing in the tournament.

"Our guys have fought and fought and fought and scraped and clawed to be in every game and have a chance to win at the end. We've got to understand that when we've got a lead with a minute and a half or two minutes to go, that lead needs to stay where it's at or get bigger.

"We've got North Vermillion Tuesday, and Danville Friday, so we've got to go back to work Monday and do the best we can to get better," added Peek.

North Putnam had four players who scored in double figures. McGaughey was the leading scorer in the game with 18, while Fordice had 14, and Trent and Mullis added 10 each.

Ensor closed out the Cougar scoring with four points.

Fordice pulled down nine rebounds, and Brayden Dahlstrom and McGaughey grabbed five each.

Fordice had three blocked shots, Mullis had two, and Cory Fordice had one.

Mullis had a game-high seven assists.

Lee Fordice had a game-high four steals and Trent, McGaughey, and Mullis had two each.

In the junior varsity game, North Putnam lost to Western Boone, 32-47.

Brian Blaydes and Griffen Dahlstrom led the scoring with eight each, followed by Devon Jones with five, J.T. Francies with four, Raine Young with three, and Shane Diebold and Kyle Alcorn closed out the North Putnam scoring with two points each.

The Cougars (7-11, 1-4 WCC) travel to North Vermillion Tuesday night. The junior varsity game will begin at 6 p.m.

At Western Boone

North Putnam (7-11, 1-4 WCC) -- Trent 2-6 5-6 10, Ensor 2-2 0-0 4, Lee Fordice 6-9 2-2 14, Brayden Dahlstrom 0-1 0-1 0, McGaughey 4-13 7-8 18, Cory Fordice 0-0 0-0 0, Mullis 2-12 5-6 10, Griffen Dahlstrom 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-43 FG, 19-23 FT, 56 TP.

Western Boone (10-9, 1-6 SAC) -- MacBeth 4-8 2-2 14, Pearson 0-2 0-0 0, Davids 5-14 4-7 14, Pierce 0-0 0-0 0, Cragun 3-8 2-5 10, Grieshaber 1-4 2-2 5, Knox 1-3 2-2 4, Weber 3-8 2-2 8, Way 0-3 0-0 0, Heffner 1-5 2-2 4. Totals 18-55 FG, 16-22, FT, 59 TP.

3-pt. FG - NP 5-21 (Trent 1-3, McGaughey 3-10, Mullis 1-8), WB 7-13 (MacBeth 4-7, Cragun 2-4, Grieshaber 1-2). Rebounds - NP 27 (Trent 3, Ensor 2, Lee Fordice 9, Brayden Dahlstrom 5, McGaughey 5, Cory Fordice 1, Mullis 2), WB 28 (MacBeth 1, Davids 11, Cragun 2, Grieshaber 2, Knox 5, Weber 3, Way 2, Heffner 2). Blocks - NP 6 (Lee Fordice 3, Cory Fordice 1, Mullis 2), WB 6 (MacBeth 1, Davids 3, Weber 2). Assists - NP 10 (Lee Fordice 1, Brayden Dahlstrom 1, McGaughey 1, Mullis 7), WB 11 (Davids 2, Cragun 5, Grieshaber 1, Knox 1, Weber 1, Way 1). Steals - NP 10 (Trent 2, Lee Fordice 4, McGaughey 2, Mullis 2), WB 11 (Davids 3, Pierce 1, Cragun 2, Knox 2, Weber 1, Way 2). Total fouls - NP 21, WB 20. Fouled out - Lee Fordice. Turnovers - NP 24, WB 14.

Junior Varsity - The Cougars won/lost, 32-47.

Next game - The Cougars (7-11, 1-4 WCC) travel to North Vermillion Tuesday night. The junior varsity game will begin at 6:00.