Cougars come up short against Mustangs

Friday, January 9, 2009

The game began with North Putnam's Taylor Alles winning the tip-off and giving North Putnam control.

However, the Cougars didn't look like they were ready to play as much as the Mustangs did.

North Putnam came out a little slow and found themselves trailing 2-7 with 5:18 to go. Bad passes, missed rebounds and missed scoring opportunites allowed Fountain Central to start the game with a lead that they would hold onto for the entire night.

Leah Crosby scored the only points for the Cougars in the quarter. The Cougars trailed 19-4 going into the second.

The second quarter would be the best North Putnam had all night. They came alive and began playing very aggressively and quickly cut into the Mustang lead, bringing it to only six with 3:15 to go in the half. Sophomore Megan Robinson was very helpful under the basket for North Putnam by rebounding, taking shots of her own, and forcing fouls.

Fountain Central helped the Cougar effort by getting themselves into foul-trouble quickly and allowing the Cougars to come within four. However, despite all of the hard work and great teamwork that they displayed, North Putnam trailed 27-23 going into the half.

After halftime, the Cougars didn't seem to come alive and Fountain Central took control of the game. Turnovers were abundant on both ends of the court.

The first possession of the half ended with a turnover by the Mustangs. Crosby was the first to put in a basket for the Cougars in the second half. Fouls and turnovers began to plague North Putnam, allowing Fountain Central to lead 32-25 with 3:58 to go.

However, the Cougars weren't giving up. Teamwork was still abundant and was used by Alles when she passed the ball to Caryle McGaughey for the lay-up and two points. The Cougars started to look disoriented on offense and this would be a main factor for the rest of the game.

The Mustangs led 36-27 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. McGaughey began to put up valuable baskets, but it wasn't enough to stop the Fountain Central team. Natalie Robinson for the Mustangs lit up the scoreboard all night and made no exceptions in the fourth quarter.

Turnovers were once again abundant on both ends of the court.

With 3:14 to go, the Cougars called a timeout to regroup and re-establish their game plan for the rest of the game. But this didn't seem to inspire them because they were still looking confused, especially on defense because they weren't communicating as to which Mustang players everyone was guarding. Once again, McGaughey hit a three-pointer to help bring the Cougars back within ten but Fountain Central didn't stop playing. They would take their lead to 45-33 by the end of the game.

Head coach Kevin Smith was overall pleased with the effort his team put forth.

"This was the first game that we have played in four weeks," he said. "We had some very good practices over break but nothing is quite like playing a game. We came out flat, allowing Fountain Central to take the lead early. But the girls made a good effort and brought the game within four points before the half.

" I'm really proud of the heart and effort that they put forth because when we were behind, they could've rolled over in the second half but they didn't. They kept on battling back but we were beat in the second half," he added.

At North Putnam

Fountain Central-- 19 27 36 45

North Putnam -- 4 23 27 33

North Putnam -- L. Crosby 11, McGaughey 8, Alles 5, Robinson 5, E. Crosby 4

The JV Lady Cougars also fell to the Mustangs 26-20.

Next Game -- The Lady Cougars travel to Eminence on Saturday.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: