The North Putnam Cougars boys' basketball team hosted the Riverton Parke Panthers Saturday night, hoping to get back in the win column after suffering a disappointing loss to Cascade the previous evening

The North Putnam Cougars boys' basketball team hosted the Riverton Parke Panthers Saturday night, hoping to get back in the win column after suffering a disappointing loss to Cascade the previous evening.

The Panthers proved to be a worthy opponent.

The Cougars defeated Riverton Parke in overtime, 55-53, to win their second game of the season.

The game opened with both teams trading baskets from the outset of the game and the score was tied at 10-10 at the 4:00 mark of the first quarter.

Then the Cougars' defense stiffened to shut down the Panthers' scoring for the rest of the period.

Riley McGaughey, Jake Mullis, Lee Fordice, and Brayden Dahlstrom all scored in the stanza.

North Putnam led going into the second quarter, 17-10.

The Cougars continued to dominate the game until halftime, outscoring the Panthers, 14-11, with Cory Fordice, Mullis, and Lee Fordice contributing to the offense's dominance of Riverton Parke.

North Putnam took a 31-21 lead into the locker room, but the second half would be much different than the first.

Riverton Parke made adjustments to its offense at halftime and scored as many points, 21, in the third quarter as they had during the entire first half as the Panthers' shooters were virtually unstoppable during the period.

North Putnam held a one-point lead going into the final quarter, 43-42.

The game went back and forth in the final period, with Riverton Parke taking the lead for the first time in the game at 46-45 with 3:55 left in regulation.

McGaughey gave the Cougars the lead 27 seconds later, but the Panthers answered to lead 48-47 at the 2:13 mark and extended the lead to three at 50-47 with 30 seconds left.

Lee Fordice hit a basket off an offensive rebound to close the score to 50-49 with 16 seconds left and was fouled seven seconds later and the drama began.

Fordice tied the game at 50-50 by hitting the first shot of a one-and-one free throw opportunity. The second shot bounced off, but Colby Ensor Ensor grabbed the missed free throw and the game went into overtime.

During the overtime, Ensor grabbed three more rebounds, two of which were on the offensive end of the floor, and scored four of the Cougars' five total points scored in the extra period, the final one putting North Putnam in the lead for good at 54-53.

Mullis hit a free throw with 12 seconds left to seal the Cougars' second victory of the season.

North Putnam won the game by hitting nearly 50 percent from the field and outrebounding Riverton Parke, 29-25. Nine of the rebounds were on the offensive end of the floor.

The Cougars' defense limited the Panthers to 35 percent shooting from the floor.

"Riverton Parke had a couple of kids who we hadn't seen make or take many shots," commented North Putnam Coach Wes Peek after the game. "We laid off of them in the first half and in the third quarter (Riverton Parke) coach Menser helped them out with that adjustment and McMullen hit some threes and he ended up being their second leading scorer tonight.

"Tracking him was something we hadn't planned on doing. It turned out later in the game, he was one of the guys we were keying in on.

"We weathered the storm and being up 10 is nice and it's a lot easier to finish a game that way than it is to win by a couple of points in overtime, but our kids needed that.

"It's a good learning experience for them and we've had the same effort every night and that's the biggest thing," added Peek.

North Putnam had two players who scored in double figures. Lee Fordice led the way with 20, and Mullis added 18.

McGaughey followed with nine, Ensor had four, and Dahlstrom and Cory Fordice closed out the Cougar scoring with two points each.

Lee Fordice was the leading rebounder of the game with eight caroms, including four offensive boards, and Ensor pulled down seven, with three on the offensive end of the floor.

Mullis had four assists, and Lee Fordice and Dahlstrom dished out three each.

Lee Fordice and Mullis also had one block each.

In the junior varsity game, North Putnam evened its record at 2-2 by defeating the Panthers, 32-31.

Griffen Dahlstrom led the scoring with 10, followed by J.T. Francies with nine, Kyle Alcorn added six, Shane Diebold chipped in four, and Brian Blaydes closed out the North Putnam scoring with three points.

The Cougars will not play a game for nearly three weeks when they host Turkey Run on Friday, January 6th. The junior varsity game will begin at 6 p.m.

At North Putnam

North Putnam (2-4, 0-1 WCC)

Trent 0-1 0-2 0, Ensor 2-5 0-0 4, Lee Fordice 8-11 4-6 20, Dahlstrom 1-2 0-0 2, McGaughey 4-11 0-2 9, Cory Fordice 1-2 0-0 2, Mullis 6-13 3-6 18. Totals 22-45 FG, 7-16 FT, 55 TP.

Riverton Parke (2-4, 1-0 WRC)

Fox 1-10 2-3 4, Cleghorn 1-7 2-2 4, Jukes 0-2 0-0 0, Mager 0-0 0-0 0, Lunsford 2-4 0-0 6, Wilson 1-2 2-2 4, Morgan 9-16 6-8 24, McMullen 4-11 0-0 11. Totals 18-52 FG, 12-15, FT, 52 TP.

3-pt. FG - NP 4-9 (Trent 0-1, Ensor 0-1, McGaughey 1-2, Mullis 3-5), RP 5-14 (Fox 0-3, Cleghorn 0-1, Lunsford 2-2, Morgan 0-3, McMullen 3-5). Rebounds - NP 29 (Ensor 7, Lee Fordice 8, Dahlstrom 2, McGaughey 5, Cory Fordice 1, Mullis 6), RP 25 (Fox 2, Cleghorn 3, Jukes 4, Lunsford 5, Wilson 3, Morgan 8). Blocks - NP 2 (Lee Fordice 1, Mullis 1), RP 2 (Lunsford 1, Morgan 1). Assists - NP 11 (Lee Fordice 3, Dahlstrom 3, McGaughey 1, Mullis 4), RP 9 (Fox 5, Lunsford 2, Wilson 1, McMullen 1). Steals - NP 0. RP 5 (Jukes 1, Lunsford 1, McMullen 3). Total fouls - NP 16, RP 16. Fouled out - Dahlstrom. Turnovers - NP 9, RP 4.

Next game - The Cougars will not play a game for nearly three weeks when they host Turkey Run on Friday, January 6th. The junior varsity game will begin at 6 p.m.