High School Sports

Brayden is a senior at North Putnam and participates in two sports, football and wrestling. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Brayden Glaze (BrG): “In sports, I’ve learned that I need to be a leader and to persevere though different challenges.”...

Soccer season ended two months ago at Greencastle and winter sports are in full swing. That doesn’t mean the mind of Aleeyah Johnson has wandered to being out on the pitch in the summer, preparing for a new season, a season that will take place in a kit that isn’t purple and grey...

BAINBRIDGE – Wrestling duals between North Putnam and Southmont have been close-run outings the past few seasons and Tuesday was no exception to the trend. The Cougars and A No. 7 Mounties once again were separated by one match with the latter managing to take home a 38-33 win...

The South Putnam Lady Eagles methodically strangled the Clay City Eel offense in a non-conference high school basketball game on Tuesday night while overcoming a slow offensive start of their own to defeat the Eels 48-20. South held Clay City to 23 percent (8-of-34) shooting and turned the Eels over 32 times in a game that did not see Clay City score double figures in any quarter, rarely getting a good look at the basket...

It wasn’t so much that Greencastle lost to Indian Creek in the boys’ basketball nightcap of a four-game day at McAnally Center Saturday. It was the way in which the Tiger Cubs were able to be undone mentally by the Braves once an already physical game was allowed to nearly get out of hand as the visitors used a mini 8-0 burst in the second quarter that turned a tied game into a runaway 74-40 win for the visitors...

After a sluggish start, Greencastle had finally started to find a grove, winning three-straight outings following an 0-5 start to the 2023-24 girls’ basketball season. Getting a fourth-straight victory on the ledger required the simple task of knocking off 3A No. 3 Indian Creek...

CLOVERDALE — Southmont and Cloverdale boys basketball squared off at Cloverdale on Saturday after both teams were coming off Friday night games. Southmont took down Sagamore Conference and Montgomery County rival North Montgomery in a very physical and draining 50-42 win in what was their season opener. Cloverdale fell to Edgewood 62-35...

Having to wait an extra 10 days to begin its boys’ basketball season, North Putnam traveled to South Putnam to face a home side that was still licking its wounds after a 30-point loss in its season opener to Clay City. The Cougars hit their first three triples of the night for an early lead but the Eagles steadied the ship, didn’t allow the advantage to blossom and turned the game into a see-saw affair until a 15-1 run from the third into the fourth quarter helped the visitors to a 60-50 win...

Two weeks after contesting the Putnam County Girls’ Basketball Tournament final on the same floor, South Putnam hosted North Putnam with both teams coming off wins Tuesday night. A much closer game than the county final, the Cougars had pulled to within two at 39-37 with four minutes to play, only for the Eagles to finish with 11 of the last 13 points for a 50-39 win...

It was raining Friday night, not just outside, but raining threes inside the McAnally Center. West Vigo jumped out to a 13-0 lead and hit four three pointers in the first quarter, as the Vikings handed Greencastle a 68-58 loss Friday night, despite 32 points from Sam Gooch...

ELLETTSVILLE – Cloverdale traveled to Edgewood on Friday night, but its offense did not get there in time as the Clovers could only manage two points in the first quarter while the Mustangs used a big early lead to cruise to a 62-35 victory in Western Indiana Conference boys’ basketball action...

On a night the baskets were hard to come by, the Greencastle Tiger Cubs girls’ basketball team did the little things, winning the rebounding and turnover battles, to pull out a 36-31 WIC victory over the West Vigo Vikings Friday night. The Vikings jumped out quickly to a 5-0 lead as Greencastle struggled from the field. Behind Bailey Brown’s five first quarter points, the Tiger Cubs brought the game back within one at 8-7 before the first break...

ELLETTSVILLE – An underappreciated statistic in basketball is rebounds. Rebounding finishes off your defense and gets you extra shots. The rebounding margin doomed the Cloverdale Clovers as they lost to the host Edgewood Mustangs on Friday night in a Western Indiana Conference game, 51-34...

Aleeyah is a senior at Greencastle and participates in two sports, soccer and basketball. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Tyson Bridges: “I’ve learned a lot, definitely teamwork, communication, commitment, hard work and dedication. I’ve learned a lot from my coaches and from fellow athletes that I’ve gotten the chance to play with.”...

A still-developing Greencastle wrestling team got the chance to entertain a home crowd Wednesday evening as the Tiger Cubs hosted West Vigo, winning an eight-bout dual 57-16 over the Vikings. “We’re young and getting better every day,” Greencastle head coach Kyle Shaffer said. “We’ve got a lot of freshmen and sophomores out there.”...

Steadily, North Putnam’s volleyball team has continued its upward trajectory over the past few seasons, recording its highest win total in four years and reclaiming the Putnam County Volleyball Tournament title in 2023. A large part of the Cougars’ ability to sustain success from year to year has been the play of Ashleigh Riley, who came into the rotation as a sophomore, having been away from the school as a freshman, and remaining ever-present in the lineup since...

BAINBRIDGE – Ten days after meeting in the Putnam County Girls’ Basketball Tournament, North Putnam hosted Cloverdale in the regular season and WIC matchup Tuesday evening. The result didn’t change from meeting to meeting as the Cougars got off to an even better start in the second go-around, jumping out to a double-digit lead after a quarter of play on the way to a 61-38 win over the Clovers...

CRAWFORDSVILLE – There are a lot of beautiful things about basketball — the swish of the net, the perfectly executed pass, or the magical spin dribble. Unfortunately, none of those things were on display at Crawfordsville High School on Tuesday night. The South Putnam Lady Eagles visited for a non-conference girls basketball game and managed to escape with a 39-23 win...

A 1968 Greencastle High School graduate is among the 2024 inductees into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Jay Frye was a three-sport standout at Greencastle, being named All-Western Indiana Conference in football, basketball and baseball during his senior year in 1967-68...

CLOVERDALE – An early Putnam County Bucket game was nearly over before it ever got going Saturday night at Cloverdale. Holders Greencastle started the game with a 14-0 run, withstood a quick start to the second half form the Clovers and answered with an 18-0 run through the end of the third quarter into the fourth as the Tiger Cubs picked up their first win of the 2023-24 boys’ basketball season 63-37...

Tyson is a senior at Cloverdale and participates in three sports, football, basketball and baseball. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Tyson Bridges: “Sports are super important for me. They have taught me a lot about discipline, work ethic and being able to be coachable. One of the most important things is being able to follow instructions and being able to do what people ask of you.”...

CRAWFORDSVILLE – An opening night defeat for Greencastle looked certain as Crawfordsville was 6-for-6 at the free throw line down the stretch Tuesday night. At least, it looked certain until the Tiger Cubs scored five points in the last six seconds to drag the Athenians to overtime...

CRAWFORDSVILLE – Off the back of its first win of the girls’ basketball season, Greencastle eyed a second win in four days when it traveled to Crawfordsville Tuesday night. It took time for the Tiger Cubs to get into the swing of things but a 14-0 run across the end of the first and start of the second quarter got the visitors on the right track in a 46-24 win over the Athenians...

NEW MARKET – To paraphrase the late Bob Knight, “Victory favors the team who makes the least mistakes.” That proved true on Tuesday night at Southmont as the North Putnam Lady Cougars turned the ball over 47 times and fell to the Mounties 54-45 in a non-conference high school basketball game...

The Clay City Eels boys’ basketball team came into the Eagles’ Nest at South Putnam and outscored the Eagles 44-21 in the second half to pull away to a 69-39 season-opening victory Tuesday night behind Ethan Edwards’ 22 points. The game started out like a season opener with both squads struggling on the offensive end, combining for 11 turnovers in the first quarter...

The South Putnam and Southmont girls’ basketball game had a more regal affair than your average Monday night meeting. Both teams came in having captured county titles over the weekend, the Eagles laying claim to the Putnam County Girls’ Basketball Tournament while the Mounties won the Sugar Creek Classic title...

It took a little time for North Putnam and South Putnam to get out of first gear in the championship game of the Putnam County Girls’ Basketball Tournament Saturday night. Both teams got moving in the second quarter but the Eagles hit top speed in the third quarter, making their first six shots of the period, to turn a six-point halftime lead into a 49-32 win, the school’s second county title in four years...

Greencastle and Cloverdale squared off in the Putnam County Girls’ Basketball Tournament consolation game on Saturday night at South Putnam High School. These teams had more at stake than a typical consolation game as both teams were looking for their first win and Greencastle seemed to want it more than Cloverdale on this night as the Tiger Cubs started fast and continued to have their way with the Clovers in the game en route to their 53-19 victory...

Growing pains were inevitable for Greencastle in the 2022-23 season. Having graduated five seniors from the prior year and only bringing back two starters while integrating a strong freshman class, the Tiger Cubs struggled for most of the year until February, where the young squad picked up five of its seven wins on the season...

Any thoughts that North Putnam might fall off with only a single senior and a group that was largely untested proved to be unfounded in the 2022-23 season. The Cougars finished 16-10, winning the Putnam County Bucket in their second game of the season, winning the Putnam County Classic for a third-straight year and reaching a sectional final for the third time in four years, though bettering Parke Heritage in the championship game still eludes the squad...

For the first half of the 2022-23 season, South Putnam started to piece things together and put on the kind of displays that showed a team that had a chance to have a statement season. On their fourth coach in four season, the Eagles, even in some tough losses, were competitive against the better teams in the WIC and the sectional...

For the first time since the 2004-05 season, there was no one named Rady pacing the sideline at a Cloverdale basketball game. It was a season of sea change for the Clovers as Karl Turk took over a squad that, for the first time in several years, didn’t have a flagship player to build a team around, nor the kind of experience prior rosters had...

The South Putnam Eagles used balance, consistency, teamwork and overall solid play in their opening game of the Putnam County Girls' Basketball Tournament to defeat the Greencastle Tiger Cubs 50-31. The Eagles placed four players in double figures, scored efficiently in all quarters, were effective from different areas of the court offensively and defensively stifled the Cubs to improve to 3-2 on the season, advancing to the championship game of the tournament against North Putnam...

The weight of numbers told a story in the opening act of the Putnam County Girls’ Basketball Tournament Friday night. North Putnam’s deep lineup allowed it to bring in fresh players throughout the evening, wearing down a Cloverdale team that kept plugging away but was unable to close a nine-point first quarter deficit in a 50-36 loss...

With the conclusion of the fall sports season, the Western Indiana Conference has released its list of All-WIC athletes. Athletes named to the boys’ and girls’ soccer, boys’ tennis, volleyball and football teams are selected by the coaches of the WIC. Athletes in girls’ golf and boys’ and girls’ cross country are on the All-WIC team based on their performances at their respective WIC meets...

Joscelyn is a senior at South Putnam and participates in three sports, volleyball, basketball and softball. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Joscelyn Pilcher: “Sports are very important to me. ...

CLOVERDALE – Even in a pair of losses in its last two outings, Cloverdale seemed to be finding its footing in the early girls’ basketball season ahead of Shakamak’s arrival Saturday night. Any progress made by the Clovers was halted by a Laker team that made it five-straight wins in the early season, sinking the Clovers 56-24...

Still searching for its first win of the season, Greencastle hosted Brown County Friday night in its third WIC girls’ basketball outing of the young season. The Eagles kept the tempo uncomfortably high, forcing 30 Tiger Cub turnovers, but couldn’t break free until the fourth quarter in a 57-44 win...

South Putnam hosted Edgewood in girls’ basketball Friday night. It may have been confused with a wrestling match or a rock fight, but it was a basketball game and the visiting Mustangs left the Eagles Nest with a physical 57-40 victory in Western Indiana Conference action...

After being voted out of the Western Indiana Conference a month ago, most Greencastle athletic teams will compete in the conference next year bar football. In a statement posted to ‘The Tigers Den’ Facebook page, Greencastle football head coach Dave Stephens relayed the message that, following a pair of meetings between administrators from the school and the members of the WIC, the Tiger Cubs will not be forced to spend the 2024-25 school year as an athletic independent ahead of joining a new athletic conference in the 2025-26 school year.. ...

COVINGTON - The North Putnam Cougars girls’ basketball team went on the road Thursday night and exploded for 49 second-half points as 10 girls scored to pace the visitors to a 68-47 non-conference victory over the Covington Trojans. North got out to a very slow start, missing its first six three-point attempts. The Trojans controlled the tempo and took advantage of the Cougars’ shooting woes, getting out to a nine-point lead in the opening quarter 16-7...

Lexi is a senior at North Putnam and participates in three sports, volleyball, basketball and softball. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Lexi Daigle: “Sports are very important to me, basically my whole life. They take up every night and most weekends. I’ve learned leadership roles, especially being a captain, and I’ve also gained lots of friendships.”...

CLOVERDALE – Digging an early hole is a challenge Cloverdale has handed itself in its first few games of the 2023-24 girls’ basketball season. It has proved a tough task to climb out of as an early 8-0 deficit against Clay City would be the same gap at the final horn as the Eels kept the Clovers from tying the game in the fourth quarter before easing out to a 37-29 win...

BAINBRIDGE – The North Putnam Cougars exploded out of the gate with a big first quarter lead and held off the Crawfordsville Athenians, 52-38, in a girls’ high school basketball game on Tuesday night. The host Cougars scored the first 17 points of the game and never allowed Crawfordsville to cut the lead under double digits as the Cougar defense forced 22 first half turnovers with their press and had command of the game all night long...

BAINBRIDGE – North Putnam hosted its Hoosier Heartland State Bank Tipoff Classic Saturday morning and afternoon, brining Eminence, Riverton Parke and Shakamak in for two games to cap the first week of the girls’ basketball season. The Cougars faced the Eels in the morning session, falling 48-44, before defeating the Panthers in the afternoon, winning a physical tussle 54-24. ...

CLOVERDALE – The opening Putnam County girls’ basketball game of the season between South Putnam and Cloverdale played out in the first half where the teams are currently at the start of the 2023-24 season. The Eagles led at halftime by 22 points but the Clovers didn’t allow the game to get out of hand, matching the visitors in the second half despite falling 52-30 Friday night...

In most early season high school basketball games, there are struggles. The girls’ game at McAnally Center between the Greencastle Tiger Cubs and the Edgewood Mustangs was a good example of that as Edgewood defeated the Cubs 38-24 on Friday night. The two teams combined to shoot 24-of-95 for only 25.3 percent on the night. They struggled from the line as well, shooting under 50 percent night at 11-of-27. A rough second quarter for Greencastle led to the Mustang win...

Jackson is a senior at Greencastle and participates in three sports, football, basketball and track. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Jackson Buis: “They are very important to me and they taught me how to work hard and get through tough situations.”...

BAINBRIDGE – The last of the four Putnam County teams to get the 2023-24 girls’ basketball season underway finally hit the floor Thursday night as North Putnam hosted North Vermillion. Trailing most of the game, the Cougars managed to take the lead twice in the final quarter but a woeful shooting night eventually caught up to the hosts as the Falcons scored their last nine points from the free throw line in a 38-34 win...

NEW MARKET – The opening game of the 2023-24 girls’ basketball season for Greencastle kept slipping through the team’s fingers Wednesday night at Southmont. Each time it did, Mountie senior DeLorean Mason was on the other side to collect it as the guard finished with a 30-point, 15-steal double-double for the hosts in a 59-37 win...