South captures third place in Holiday Classic

Monday, December 31, 2007

South Putnam coach Debbie Steffy set the goal of being plus-.500 after the holiday portion of her Eagles' basketball schedule.

That goal was accomplished on Saturday afternoon when South Putnam powered away from Shakamak with a 17-5 second half run on the way to a 54-35 victory to capture third-place in the Eagle Holiday Classic.

"We've got most of our conference games in the second half of the season," commented Steffy following the win. "We want to play for a (conference) championship.

South Putnam forward Leeah Butts puts up a shot in Saturday's win over Shakamak.

We needed to get a win and we wanted to go into thenew year above .500."

The day didn't start well for the Eagles when NorthVermillion was able to grind out a 29-26 win over South Putnam in the opening round of the tourney.

The Eagles were slated to face the Lakers for third-place when Clay City earned a 45-37 win over Shakamak in the other opener.

Oceaia Boetjer made sure that the day would have a happier ending for her South Putnam teammates, drilling three straight 3-pointers to end the third quarter and blow open what had been a tight affair.

"Oceaia has played well the last few games," noted Steffy. "I'm really pleased with her effort."

Her perimeter outburst late in the third period helped open up what had been a 28-24 contest after Shakamak had outscored South Putnam 12-4 to open the second half.

Casey Fougerousse was a big reason for that for the Lakers, scoring off a steal and then sinking a long 3-pointer from the wing. Sam Crosby answered with a pair of free throws and Shakamak had narrowed the lead to four points.

But Boetjer's first bomb came with 2:30 left in the quarter and Liz Mink stepped in to score in the paint, drew the foul and completed a three-point play to push the gap back to 34-26.

Shakamak, who had 16 turnovers in the game, lost the handle on the ensuing possession and Boetjer knocked home her third 3-pointer of the game. The Lakers' demise was continued with a second quick turnover and Boetjer dropped home her third trifecta of the quarter and the Eagles lead had grown to 40-26.

For good measure, Meghan Canary stole a Shakamak pass, drove to the hoop for a lay-in attempt. She would miss the shot after drawing contact, but Boetjer was there for the put back to complete an 11-point period.

Canary was held scoreless in the first half, but though her offensive game struggled early, her defense never wavered in pestering the Lakers' guards.

Canary's real value was reflected in the Eagles' turnover margin. South Putnam had just eight total turnovers in the game.

The Lakers would put together a brief run to get back within 45-33 after a score from Heather Gilbert, who had a team-high 12 points, and a tally from Marki Collins. But from there, Leeah Butts grabbed a rebound, one of 10 in the game for her, and scored.

Mink forced a Laker turnover and Butts added a second basket. Canary would follow with a pull-up jumper and a score off an inbounds play as the Eagles' lead grew to as many as 20 at 53-33.

"Liz (Mink) really hustled for us tonight," said Steffy afterwards. "She came through for us and I thought overall the whole team played well."

The defense held Shakamak to just 26 percent (13-of-50) shooting from the field and Steffy pointed to that stat as the key to the win.

"We played better in this game, we had some shots fall early, but our defense played a lot better," commented Steffy, in her 10th year with the Eagles. "We talked about coming out in the second half and concentrating defensively. We didn't let (Fougerousse) get free."

The win improves South Putnam's record to 7-6 overall and the Eagles will have a break until a Jan. 9 home game against Riverton Parke.

In the championship game, Clay City overcame a 34-30 third quarter deficit to North Vermillioni, using a 16-1 run on the way to a 48-40 victory to claim the hardware.

Angie Camp led the Eels with 14 points and Britney Glass added 12 in the win.

South Putnam Holiday Classic

Championship Game

Clay City1310718-48
N.Vermillion154156-40

Clay City (48) -- Glass 4-8 4-6 12, Reed 1-5 0-0 3, Steiner 2-6 4-5 9, Farmer 5-8 0-0 10, Camp 4-6 6-8 14, Targett 0-0 0-0 0, Bryan 0-0 0-0 0, Narlock 0-0 0-0 0, Seymour 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-33 14-19 48.

N.Vermillion (40) -- Axtell 2-3 0-0 4, Davis 5-8 2-3 15, K.Yoho 0-6 0-0 0, West 3-8 0-0 6, Poynter 1-7 1-2 3, Lively 4-12 2-4 5-9 10, Chew 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 16-47 5-9 40.

3-point fieldgoals -- CC 2-5 (Reed 1-3, Steiner 1-2), NV 3-10 (Davis 3-6, West 0-3, Axtell 0-1). Total Rebounds -- CC 28 (Camp 9, Glass 7), NV 23 (Lively 5). Total Fouls -- CC 9, NV 16. Fouled out -- NV (Davis). Turnovers -- CC 24, NV 17.

Third-place game

S.Putnam13111812-54
Shakamak39149-35

South Putnam (54) -- Canary 3-17 2-2 8, Birt 3-11 0-0 6, Boetjer 8-17 3-6 23, Mink 2-6 4-9 8, Butts 4-9 1-4 9, Hughes 0-3 0-0 0, Haynes 0-0 0-0 0, Minor 0-0 0-0 0, Searles 0-0 0-0 0, Barnes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-63 9-19 54.

Shakamak (35)-- Fougerousse 3-11 0-0 10, Kurtz 0-10 0-0 0, Durham 0-0 0-0 0, Crosby 0-2 4-4 4, Gilbert 6-14 0-0 12, Pearson 2-6 2-3 6, Holdaway 0-4 0-0 0, Collins 1-12 1-2 3. Totals: 13-50 7-9 35.

3-point fieldgoals -- SP 4-13 (Boetjer 4-9, Canary 0-2, Hughes 0-1, Birt 0-1), SH 2-8 (Fougerousse 2-6, Collins 0-2). Total Rebounds -- SP 38 (Butts 10, Boetjer 9), SH 38 (Pearson 8). Total Fouls -- SP 7, SH 12. Fouled out -- SH (Pearson). Turnovers -- SP 8, SH 16.

First Round

South Putnam8378-26
N.Vermillion61166-29

South Putnam (26) -- Canary 1 6-8 8, Birt 3 3-4 10, Boetjer 2 2-3 6, Butts 1 0-0 2, Mink 0 0-0 0, Hughes 0 0-0 0. Totals: 7 11-15 26.

N.Vermillion (29) -- Axtell 2 0-1 4, Lively 7 2-3 16, Yoho 1 3-3 5, West 1 0-0 3, Chew 0 1-2 1, Davis 0 0-0 0, Poynter 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 6-9 29.

3-point fieldgoals -- SP 1 (Birt), NV 1 (West). Total Fouls -- SP 12, NV 14.

Clay City1351413-45
Shakamak41977-37

Clay City (45) -- Camp 3 2-5 8, Farmer 3 0-0 6, Glass 5 0-1 10, Steiner 2 1-3 6, Reed 6 2-2 15, Targett 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 5-11 45.

Shakamak (37) -- Fougerousse 1 0-0 3, Crosby 2 0-0 4, Gilbert 2 2-2 6, Pearson 2 2-3 6, Holdaway 0 2-2 2, Collins 5 4-6 16. Totals: 12 10-13 37.

3-point fieldgoals -- CC 2 (Reed, Steiner), SH 3 (Collins 2, Fougerousse). Total Fouls -- CC 12, SH 10.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: