Cougars win frosh tourney

Monday, February 5, 2007
The North Putnam freshmen boys' basketball team won the Putnam County Championship Saturday. Team members include (front, from left) coach Tony Riggen, Nathan Jones, Tyler Osborn, Kenny Benge, Wes Bryan, Cory Huff, (back) and Mitch Hadley.

The North Putnam High School boys' freshmen basketball team was crowned county champions Saturday after defeating Greencastle, 27-23.

The Cougars led by as many as 10 points during the game, but Greencastle battled back, closing North Putnam's lead to one point, 24-23, with 46 seconds left. However, the Cougars held on to defeat GHS for the title.

"It was a great team effort today," North Putnam coach Tony Riggen said after the game. "All six of our players did something to earn this championship and our scoring was evenly balanced in both games. Through all the adversity, time and time again, if someone would make a mistake, everybody would help him and pick him back up, then we would go back and play defense and get a stop.

Kenny Benge and Wes Bryan both had seven points to lead North Putnam while Nathan Jones finished with six. Tyler Osborn also had four points while Mitch Hadley finished with three.

Greencastle was led by Jordan Hickam's nine points. David Cath also had five while Pat Richardson finished with four. Robby Phillips also had three while Ethan Mitchell finished with two.

North Putnam advanced to the finals after beating South Putnam, 31-24. Jones had eight points in the win. Trey Vickrey paced South Putnam with 13 points.

Greencastle advanced to the finals after beating Cloverdale in the first round Saturday, 27-26, in double overtime. Cath led the Tiger Cubs with 11 points while Hickam had eight. Reece McGuire led Cloverdale with 12 points.

Putnam County Freshmen

Boys' Tournament

Championship

North Putnam 11 5 4 7 -- 27

Greencastle 4 2 10 7 -- 23

North Putnam -- Benge 3-6 0-0 7, Osborn 2-3 0-1 4, Jones 4-8 2-7 6, Huff 0-0 0-0 0, Hadley 1-5 0-1 3, Bryan 2-6 2-4 7. Totals 12-28 FG, 4-13 FT, 27 TP.

Greencastle -- Phillips 1-3 1-1 3, Volland 0-0 0-0 0, Hickam 4-11 0-0 9, Cath 2-11 0-0 5, Richardson 2-9 0-2 4, Battin 0-3 0-0 0, Mitchell 1-3 0-0 2, Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-40 FG, 1-3 FT, 23 TP.

Opening Round

North Putnam 4 10 7 10 -- 31

South Putnam 3 5 5 11 -- 24

North Putnam -- Benge 0-3 0-1 0, Osborn 3-7 0-0 7, Jones 4-7 0-0 8, Huff 1-3 1-2 3, Hadley 1-7 3-6 6, Bryan 1-6 5-9 7. Totals 10-33 FG, 9-18 FT, 31 TP.

South Putnam -- Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, Rominger 0-0 0-0 0, Hayes 0-2 0-0 0, Olczak 0-1 1-2 1, Trent Vickrey 0-5 0-0 0, Trey Vickrey 5-15 1-2 12, Whitford 1-5 1-4 3, Smith 2-10 3-4 8. Totals 8-38 FG, 6-12 FT, 24 TP.

Greencastle 10 2 8 4 0 3 -- 27

Cloverdale 7 7 8 2 0 2 -- 26

Greencastle -- Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Volland 0-0 0-0 0, Hickam 3-12 1-3 8, Cath 3-7 2-2 11, Richardson 2-10 0-3 4, Battin 2-6 0-1 4, Mitchell 0-3 0-2 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 7-40 FG, 3-11 FT, 27 TP.

Cloverdale -- Evans 4-6 0-1 10, Butcher 0-2 0-0 0, Deakin 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Boller 0-3 0-0 0, McGuire 2-9 6-8 12, Foreman 0-0 0-0 0, Witt 0-0 0-0 0, Grounds 1-5 2-2 4. Totals 7-25 FG, 8-11 FT, 26 TP.

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