Cold shooting Cougars fall to Fountain Central, 57-27

Samantha Lucas goes up for two of her team-high 10 points during Thursday's game with Fountain Central.

ROACHDALE -- The New Year got off to a rocky start for the North Putnam girls' varsity team. The Cougars suffered a 57-27 loss to Fountain Central Thursday and dropped to 3-9 on the season.

North Putnam struggled to find its shot early and often. The Cougars' struggles led to Fountain Central building a big lead in the opening quarter.

Samantha Lucas got things going for North Putnam connecting on two early buckets. Megan Robinson came off the bench to knock down a three-pointer as well.

With time winding down, the Cougars trailed 20-7, but a long bomb from Morgan Robinson from just inside half court found the net, cutting the lead to 10-points.

Continuing her strong play from the first quarter, Lucas pounded inside to score six second quarter points for North Putnam. Teammate Cayla Kientz hit a two-point shot and point guard Shelby Frye downed three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt.

North Putnam trailed Fountain Central 38-21 at the break, but their tough night didn't stop there.

The Cougars were outscored 19 to six in the second half and had a difficult time moving the ball. North Putnam committed numerous turnovers attempting cross-court passes, which Fountain Central plucked out of the air to get their offense going.

North Putnam head coach Jim Brothers said after the game his team simply wasn't executing the way they need to.

"Really I think the majority of our stuff is just we're not executing what we're needing to execute," Brothers said. "I thought our effort was not what it needed to be. We had a tendency not to block out. The things we work on in practice -- blocking out, getting in a stance in defense -- we're not putting out there on the floor.

"Then combine that with missing some shots we need to be making and then we force some shots because we get frustrated because our other shots aren't going in. And then it snowballs and that's been the story of our year so far," he added.

The Cougars converted just 3-of-17 shots in the second half and never could get their offense in sync. Brothers said his team does what they need to in practice, but it's just not finding its way to the court on gameday. Asked how to get that transition at this point in the season, Brothers said it's all comes from working.

"We just keep working at it. We just have to keep after it, keep after it and we will. It's just got to become second nature to us to do those things and for whatever reason it hasn't (happened) yet and we'll keep working until it does," Brothers said.

North Putnam will travel to Eminence at 2 p.m. Saturday.

At North Putnam

FC 20 18 8 11 -- 57

North Putnam 10 11 2 4 -- 27

Individual Stats

Fountain Central -- Lindquist 17, Smith 11, Nicholson 10, Carver 8, Louthen 5, Bowman 3, Yager 3. Totals: 21-55 FG, 10-19 FT, 57 TP.

North Putnam -- Lucas 10, Me. Robinson 5, Frye 3, Mo. Robinson 3, Pinney 2, Kientz 2, Wiatt 2. Totals: 10-39 FG, 5-8 FT, 27 TP.

Next game -- North Putnam will travel to Eminence at 2 p.m. Saturday.