Cougars get first win; Eagles drop to 0-4 after tournament

Monday, December 7, 2009

GREENCASTLE -- When two teams that are winless face off, there are two things that can be guaranteed -- one team is going to gets it's first win, the other is going to be asking questions.

"It was closer than we wanted it and we obviously have some things that we need to work but overall this team played its butt off," NPHS coach Martindale said after the Cougars defeated South Putnam 45-43 Saturday night in the consultation round of the Putnam County Classic at McAnally. "And it's a win we deserve because we have been busting our tails off in practice and hopefully we can build on this as the season goes on."

SPHS coach Micah Elliott is the asking questions.

"We are going to reevaluate some things that we have been doing," Elliott said. "I told the kids that if they do what I ask them to do, we wouldn't be in this position and they did everything I asked them to do. This one is on me.

"But one good thing about basketball is that it is a long season and you can make adjustments through out the season and that is what we are going to do. We are going to make those adjustments," Elliott added.

After trailing by one, 7-6, after the first quarter, the Eagles offense started to click, outscoring the Cougars 15-14 and walk away at half time with the game tied a 21-all thanks to Nathan Welty, who put up eight of the teams second period points.

But then something happened.

The momentum that the Eagles had disappeared, and North Putnam continued with its into the third period -- putting itself out of South Putnam's reach.

"What we really wanted to do is come out is we wanted to come out and execute in areas where we thought we would be good at," NPHS coach Nathan Martindale said.

One of those areas where the Cougars were effective in was the post with Kyle Adams. He posted four of his 10 points in the second half, but that wasn't why he was effective -- it was his defense.

"He (Adams) was an absolute beast for us in the post tonight," Martindale said. "He had a huge number of rebounds and he did what we asked him to do and that was to handle Dean and Masters. He did what a good senior does, steps up to the challenge."

Adams held masters to only four points total and Dean to six points in the paint. Dean had 11 total for night due to him going 5-for-5 from the stripe.

North Putnam outscored the Eagles 14-10 thanks to James Hedrick and Travis Franklin. The duo paced the Cougars offense in the third fame with a combined 12 points.

The Cougars are now 1-3 on the season and are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Crawfordsville for a 7:30 p.m. showdown. With the loss to North Putnam, the Eagles are now 0-4 on the season and will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Cascade for a West Central Conference match up, slated for 7:30 p.m.

At McAnally

North Putnam 7 14 14 10 -- 45

South Putnam 6 15 10 12 -- 43

North Putnam -- Wiltermood 1 0-0 2, Hedrick 5 1-2 15, Franknin 6 1-3 13, Porter 1 0-0 2, Jones 1 0-0 2, Adams 5 1-3 11. Totals -- 19 FG, 3-8 FT, 45 TP.

South Putnam -- Hammond 1 0-0 2, Welty 5 1-2 12, Dean 4 5-5 13, Masters 2 0-0 4, Chestnut 6 2-2 14. Totals -- 16 FG, 8-10 FT, 43 TP.

Next Game -- The Cougars are now 1-3 on the season and are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Crawfordsville for a 7:30 p.m. showdown. With the loss to North Putnam, the Eagles are now 0-4 on the season and will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Cascade for a West Central Conference match up, slated for 7:30 p.m.