Eagles pick up road win against Panthers

By MIKE CLODFELTER

For the Banner Graphic

MONTEZUMA -- The South Putnam Eagles boys' basketball team traveled to Riverton Parke Saturday night, hoping to get a victory against the Panthers and spoil their homecoming after suffering a disappointing loss to county and West Central Conference rival Cloverdale Friday night.

That they did, playing terrific basketball on both ends of the floor, soundly defeating the Panthers, 63-44.

South Putnam exploded out of the gates, outscoring the Panthers 16-6 in the first quarter using an unselfish offense that provided scoring opportunities for Derek Dean, Grant Zimmerman, Adam Masters, Conor Frame and Dayne Nelson to get in the score book for the Eagles.

The visitors continued to click in the second quarter as Cameron Chestnut, Noah Boswell and Drew Cash joined their teammates in the scoring mix, and the Eagles took a 28-18 lead into the locker room at half time.

South Putnam continued to dominate Riverton Parke in the third quarter, outscoring the Panthers, 20-10 in the period, as Boswell, Masters, Chestnut and Frame kept the scoring going for the Eagles, while the team's solid man-to-man defense caused significant problems for the Panthers.

The Eagles cruised to the victory in the final period and Trey Vickery joined his team mates in the score book, getting the last four points of the game for South Putnam.

South Putnam dominated every phase of the game, hitting 64 percent of their shots from the field, grabbing 25 rebounds, blocking three Riverton Parke shots, passing for 19 assists, and getting 10 steals from the Panthers.

"We played well all the way around tonight," commented South Putnam coach Micah Elliott after the game.

"We played very unselfishly on offense, and great on defense and that made a big difference in the game," added Elliott.

South Putnam was led in scoring by Chestnut with 16 points.

Frame followed with 13, Masters added 12, Boswell had eight, Zimmerman scored five, Vickery had four, Nelson and Cash scored two points each, and Dean closed out the Eagle scoring with one point.

Boswell led the Eagles in rebounds with a game-high nine boards, Chestnut had a game-high two blocked shots, Frame had a game-high six assists and Chestnut and Zimmerman had game-high four steals each.

In the junior varsity game, South Putnam defeated Riverton Parke, 41-37.

Trey Vickrey led the Eagles in scoring with 12 points, followed by Dean Varvel with 10.

Brayden Freeman added seven, Seth Arnold and Robbie Gibson scored four each, and Corey Stanton and Seth Hammond closed out the Eagle scoring with two points each.

At Riverton Parke

South Putnam 16 12 20 15 -- 63

Riverton Parke 6 12 10 16-- 44

South Putnam (5-10, 0-4 WCC)

Nelson 1-1 0-2 2, Chestnut 6-8 0-0 16, Cash 1-3 0-0 2, Frame 4-6 4-4 13, Dean 0-2 1-2 1, Boswell 4-7 0-1 8, Masters 6-7 0-1 12, Zimmerman 2-4 0-0 5, Varvel 0-0 0-0 0, Vickrey 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 25-39 FG, 7-12 FT, 63 TP.

Riverton Parke (2-14, 0-5 WRC)

Lawson 0-7 0-1 0, Vaughn 4-6 0-0 8, McLaughlin 3-7 1-3 7, Hardesty 1-4 0-0 3, Wilson 4-11 1-3 9, Vauters 3-4 5-8 13, Helton 2-6 0-1 4. Totals 17-45 FG, 7-16 FT, 44 TP.

3-pt. FG -- SP 6-12 (Chestnut 4-4, Cash 0-1, Frame 1-3, Boswell 0-1, Zimmerman 1-3), RP 3-16 (Lawson 0-2, Vaughn 0-2, McLaughlin 0-1, Hardesty 1-3, Wilson 0-4, Vauters 2-2, Helton 0-2). Rebounds -- SP 25 (Chestnut 1, Cash 2, Frame 3, Dean 4, Boswell 9, Masters 4, Zimmerman 2), RP 14 (Lawson 2, McLaughlin 1, Hardesty 1, Wilson 4, Vauters 5, Helton 1). Blocks -- SP 3 (Chestnut 2, Masters 1), RP 0. Assists -- SP 19 (Nelson 3, Frame 6, Dean 2, Boswell 4, Masters 2, Zimmerman 2), RP 7 (Lawson 2, Vaughn 2, McLaughlin 1, Wilson 1, Helton 1). Steals -- SP 10 (Nelson 1, Chestnut 4, Frame 1, Zimmerman 4), RP 7 (Lawson 1, Vaughn 4, McLaughlin 1, Wilson 1). Total fouls -- SP 23, RP 16. Fouled out -- Wilson. Turnovers -- SP 24, RP 21.

Next game -- The Eagles (5-10, 0-4 WCC) host county and WCC foe North Putnam Friday night in the second game of the girls-boys doubleheader. The girls' game begins at 6 p.m.