Cougars fall to Charges, 64-46

Monday, January 30, 2006

The North Putnam Cougars boys' basketball team hosted the North Montgomery Chargers Saturday night, hoping to get back in the win column after suffering a disappointing 54-51 loss to Greencastle the previous evening.

The Chargers entered the game with a 10-3 record and had defeated Western Boone the previous evening.

With both teams beginning slowly at the start of the game, North Montgomery's dynamic duo, 6-foot-4 freshman D.J. Byrd and 6-7 senior Kevin Kyle proved to be too much of a challenge for the Cougars, and the Chargers defeated North Putnam, 64-46.

The game opened with both teams struggling to generate many points,

North Montgomery held a narrow 4-0 lead at the 4:35 mark of the first quarter over the Cougars when Brayden Dahlstrom hit a three-point shot after a steal and assist from Jake Mullis to close the Charger lead to one point.

That would be as close as North Putnam would get for the rest of the game.

Lee Fordice picked up his second foul at the 3:04 mark of the period and was forced to leave the game. Then, in the final 2:30 of the stanza, North Montgomery went on a 10-0 scoring run to lead at the end of the first quarter, 14-3.

Fordice re-entered the game with six minutes left in the second quarter with the Cougars trailing by 15, at 18-5.

North Putnam's offense began to click at that point as Fordice, Jake Mullis, and Griffen Dahlstrom scored during the rest of the quarter, but the Cougars trailed, 27-11, entering the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, Fordice, Riley McGaughey, Mullis, Brayden Dahlstrom, and Colby Ensor were able to score, but North Putnam was never able to overcome the deficit suffered in the first part of the game.

The Cougars played aggressively throughout the game and outrebounded the Chargers, 33-25. Fifteen of those rebounds were on the offensive end of the floor, but the athletic North Montgomery team won every other statistical category of the game. "North Montgomery is very good and their record shows that and the way they played tonight showed that," commented North Putnam coach Wes Peek after the game. "They had a tough game last night with Western Boone and they came out and didn't show any signs of being tired.

"(Kevin) Kyle is an exceptional post player and (D.J.) Byrd, while he's only a freshman, by no means does he play like a freshman. It's tough to overcome sometimes when you've got opponents who are so physically imposing.

'We did everything we could with them, but North Montgomery's just a very good basketball team,' Peek added.

North Putnam had three players who scored in double figures. Lee Fordice led the way with 12, and McGaughey and Mullis added 10 each.

Brayden Dahlstrom followed with eight, Ensor had five, and Griffen Dahlstrom closed out the Cougar scoring with one point.

McGaughey pulled down nine rebounds, five offensive, and Lee Fordice grabbed eight, with six on the offensive end of the floor.

Ensor had the only blocked shot of the game for the Cougars.

Brayden Dahlstrom had four assists, and Mullis dished out three.

In the junior varsity game, North Putnam lost to North Montgomery, 51-35.

Griffen Dahlstrom and Devon Jones led the scoring with eight each, followed by Max Schreiber with seven, Brian Blaydes and Raine Young added five each, and J.T. Francies closed out the North Putnam scoring with two points.

The Cougars (5-7, 1-3 WCC) travel to Speedway Tuesday night to play in the second game of a boy-girl WCC doubleheader. The girls' game will begin at 6 p.m.

At North Putnam

North Putnam 3 8 16 19 -- 46

North Montgomery 14 13 17 20 -- 64

North Putnam (5-7, 1-3 WCC) Alcorn 0-0 0-0 0, Trent 0-3 0-0 0, Diebold 0-0 0-0 0, Ensor 2-5 0-0 5, Lee Fordice 6-18 0-1 12, Brayden Dahlstrom 3-3 1-2 8, Schreiber 0-0 0-0 0, McGaughey 4-10 1-1 10, Cory Fordice 0-2 0-0 0, Mullis 3-10 3-6 10, Griffen Dahlstrom 0-0 1-4 1, Blaydes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-52 FG, 6-14 FT, 46 TP.

North Montgomery (11-3, 5-1 SAC) Galloway 0-0 2-2 2, Calder 3-6 0-0 6, Byrd 8-16 2-3 19, Evans 0-4 0-0 0, German 2-6 2-2 8, Kyle 6-11 6-8 18, Bowerman 2-3 0-0 5, Morris 2-4 0-1 4, Brady 0-0 0-0 0, Karle 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 23-50 FG, 14-18, FT, 64 TP.

3-pt. FG - NP 4-14 (Trent 0-1, Ensor 1-4, Brayden Dahlstrom 1-1, McGaughey 1-2, Mullis 1-5, Blaydes 0-1), NM 4-12 (Calder 0-1, Byrd 1-3, German 2-5, Kyle 0-1, Bowerman 1-2). Rebounds - NP 33 (Trent 1, Diebold 1, Ensor 2, Lee Fordice 8, Brayden Dahlstrom 5, McGaughey 9, Cory Fordice 2, Mullis 5), NM 25 (Byrd 2, Evans 6, German 2, Kyle 14, Morris 1). Blocks - NP 1 (Ensor 1), NM 4 (Kyle 4). Assists - NP 8 (Lee Fordice 1, Brayden Dahlstrom 4, Mullis 3), NM 12 (Calder 3, Evans 2, German 2, Kyle 2, Bowerman 1, Morris 2). Steals - NP 8 (Ensor 1, Lee Fordice 1, Brayden Dahlstrom 2, McGaughey 1, Mullis 3), NM 12 (Calder 1, Byrd 2, Evans 2, German 4, Kyle 2, Bowerman 1). Total fouls - NP 18, NM 16. Fouled out - Morris. Technical fouls - Ensor. Turnovers - NP 17, NM 7.

JV -- The Cougars lost 51-35.

Next game - The Cougars (5-7, 1-3 WCC) travel to Speedway Tuesday night to play in the second game of a boys-girl WCC double-header. The girls' game will begin at 6 p.m.

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