Boswell scores 26 as South Putnam loses to Monrovia 76-48

MONROVIA -- South Putnam's Noah Boswell played magnificently Friday, scoring 26

ponts and grabbing nine rebounds, but the Eagles lost 76-48 to Monrovia in a

West Central Conference boys basketball game at Branch McCracken Memorial Gym.

Boswell, a 6-foot-3 junior, made 6-of-10 field goal attempts and was 14-of-16 at the foul line.

"He did a great job posting up," South Putnam coach Brian Gardner said. "He made strong moves to the basket. When he gets the ball inside,he does good things. He can put the ball in the basket."

South Putnam (2-10, 0-4 WCC) had problems protecting the basketball and keeping the Bulldogs (9-4, 5-0 WCC) from getting offensive rebounds. The Eagles committed 19 turnovers and Monrovia capitalized on many of them for transition baskets.

"Turnovers and offensive rebounds killed us," Gardner said. "I'd say out of the 19 turnovers, Monrovia scored 20 points and from the offensive rebounds, they scored another 20 points. That's 40 points. You can't give that up against any team, espcially a good team like Monrovia.

"Part of the credit goes to Monrovia. They get into the passing lanes and they get into you defensively. They have good team speed."

South Putnam also had trouble keeping Monrovia from running its offense. The Bulldogs committed a season-low eight turnovers.

South Putnam made 15-of-46 (34.7 percent) from the field and were 1-of-9 on 3-pointers. They were 15-of-20 from the foul line.

The Eagles stayed with the Bulldogs early, trailing 11-10 midway through the

first quarter.

Monrovia's man-to-man defense created fast break opportunities on the perimeter and it went on a 12-2 run to close out the period with a 23-12 lead.

The Eagles were outscored only 11-10 in the second period, tailing 34-22 at halftime.

Monrovia steadily stretched out its advantage in the third period, which ended with the Bulldogs on top 56-40.

Conor Frame and Adam Masters each scored eight and Nathan Welty had eight for the Eagles.

At Monrovia

South Putnam 12 10 18 8 -- 48

Monrovia 23 11 22 20 -- 76

South Putnam -- Boswell 6 14-16 26, Frame 4 0-0 8, Masters 4 0-0 8, Welty 2 1-2 6, Chestnut 0 0-0 0, Sebanc 0 0-1 0, Cash 0 0-1 0, Totals 16 15-20 48.

3-point field goal -- Welty 1.

Monrovia -- Smith 2 2-2 6, Sampson 2 0-0 5, Hadley 6 1-3 13, Connor 3 5-6 12, Speck 7 14-16 31, Johnson 0 1-2 1, Dillon 1 0-0 2, Shuee 2 0-0 4, Jord. Standeford 1 0-0 2, Totals 24 23-29 76.

3-point field goals -- Speck 3, Connor 1, Sampson 1.