North finishes regular season with loss to 92-38 Danville

BAINBRIDGE -- The North Putnam Cougars boys' basketball team ended the regular season Saturday night, hosting the powerful Danville Warriors, while celebrating Senior Night.

Danville raced-out to an early 13-2 lead in the first quarter, but North Putnam narrowed the Warriors' lead to 13-9, but that would be as close as the Cougars would get during rest of the game.

Danville steadily pulled away from North Putnam from that point, handing the Cougars a 92-38 loss.

North Putnam played with great effort, but the more experienced and taller Warriors hit 60 percent of their field goals, 83 percent of their free throws, handed-out 24 assists, and out-rebounded the Cougars 40-17.

That was the difference in the game.

"Danville's a great team, and they played tonight like a team wants to play, going into the tournament," commented North Putnam coach Wes Peek after the game. "They shot the ball extremely well, and they are a team that's good enough to go a long way in the tournament.

"This game, for us, was about gaining momentum going into our game with Cascade Wednesday night." he continued. "Our guys did that, and they never stopped competing tonight."

"These guys really enjoy the game, playing together as a group, and competing. They don't get down on themselves, so those are all positive things that we want to be doing, going into Wednesday's game. We're really looking forward to Wednesday night," added Peek.

North Putnam was led in scoring by Kyle Alcorn and Jerrett Ban with eight points each.

Griffen Dahlstrom led the Cougars in rebounds with four boards, and Ban had game-high two blocked shots.

This was the final home game for Seniors JT Francies and Zack Hedrick.

A final note: North Putnam opened the season with high hopes, demonstrated in an impressive effort in a 60-65 overtime loss at Southmont on November 21.

However, North Putnam's two leading scorers, Cory Dean and Zach Hedrick, were injured in an automobile accident on icy roads going the meet the team bus on December 1.

Both players were able to return to the team later in the season, but were unable to contribute like they had before the accident, but that was not important.

What was important was that they had recovered, and they were back with the team.

The North Putnam Cougars boys' basketball team learned this season that there are more important things in life than a win-loss record.

In the junior varsity game, North Putnam lost to Danville, 41-65.

Reece Heron led the Cougar's in scoring with 14 points, followed by Travis Franklin with 13.

Jake Lasiter and Drew Hutcheson had four points each, Cody Summerlot added three, James Hedrick scored two, and Garret Porter closed out the Cougar scoring with one point.

The Cougars (1-19, 0-6 WCC) play Cascade in the second game of the South Putnam Sectional Wednesday night. The game will begin around 7:30.

At North Putnam

North Putnam 9 8 8 13 -- 38

Danville 27 29 23 13 -- 92

North Putnam (1-19, 0-6 WCC) -- Alcorn 1-5 5-6 8, Ban 4-7 0-0 8, Francies 1-10 0-0 2, Adams 3-5 1-3 7, Dahlstrom 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 2-9 0-0 6, Hadley 0-2 0-0 0, Lasiter 0-0 1-3 1, Franklin 2-3 0-0 6, Dean 0-0 0-0 0, Hutcheson 0-0 0-0 0, Heron 0-0 0-0 0, Hedrick 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 13-45 FG, 7-13 FT, 38 TP.

Danville (16-5, 7-0 SAC) -- Phipps 3-6 0-0 7, Humphrey 4-7 0-0 9, Mabbitt 1-1 0-0 2, Weaver 12-14 2-3 30, Doub 4-7 2-2 10, Morris 3-5 0-1 6, Rigdon 3-5 0-0 7, Carroll 3-9 4-4 10, Mackey 4-6 2-2 11, Birchler 0-0 0-0 0, Chalfant 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 10-12 FG, 37-62 FT, 92 TP.

3-pt. FG - NP 5-22 (Alcorn 1-3, Ban 0-1, Francies 0-5, Jones 2-9, Franklin 2-2, Hedrick 0-2), D 8-13 (Phipps 1-4, Humphrey 1-2, Weaver 4-4, Rigdon 1-1, Mackey 1-2). Rebounds - NP 17 (Alcorn 1, Ban 2, Francies 2, Adams 2, Dahlstrom 4, Jones 2, Hadley 1, Lasiter 1, Hutcheson 1, Heron 1), D 40 (Phipps 2, Humphrey 7, Mabbitt 2, Weaver 4, Doub 2, Morris 6, Rigdon 3, Carroll 7, Mackey 1, Birchler 4, Chalfant 2). Blocks -- NP 4 (Ban 2, Dahlstrom 1, Lasiter 1), D 2 (Carroll 2). Assists -- NP 5 (Adams 1, Jones 2, Hadley 1, Lasiter 1), D 24 (Phipps 3, Humphrey 4, Mabbitt 4, Weaver 2, Doub 3, Morris 1, Rigdon 2, Carroll 2, Birchler 3). Steals -- NP 2 (Ban 1, Lasiter 1), D 5 (Phipps 1, Humphrey 1, Mabbitt 2, Rigdon 1). Total fouls -- NP 10, D 17. Fouled out -- none. Turnovers - NP 14, D 7.

Next games -- The Cougars (1-19, 0-6 WCC) play Cascade in the second game of the South Putnam Sectional at approximately 7:30 p.m. Wednesday