The North Putnam girls' varsity basketball team faced a tough Eminence squad Tuesday, falling 69-49 at North Putnam

The North Putnam girls' varsity basketball team faced a tough Eminence squad Tuesday, falling 69-49 at North Putnam.

Laura Blaydes led the Cougars with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Chelsea Greene added 14 points.

The Eels used crisp passing to set up consistent easy buckets down low throughout the contest.

Leading the way, Eminence forward Aulani Sinclair scored 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the field. Sinclair hit her first 10 shots of the contest, pacing the Eels to 33-21 first half lead.

Jessica Malott added 20 points and 11 rebounds to the winning effort, while Jacci Martin had 14 points and seven assists in the game.

The Eels jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, which later stretched to 17-8 when Martin hit Sinclair off the inbound for two points with just under one minute remaining.

The Cougars' responded with Brook Miller connecting with Sheila Diebold for a baseline jumper with five seconds remaining to cut their deficit to 17-10 going into the second quarter.

When Greene opened the second period with a 3-pointer, things were looking promising for North Putnam.

However, that was the closest the Cougars could get throughout the remainder of the contest.

The combination of Malott and Sinclair proved too strong, scoring 13 of the Eels 16 points in the second period. A 13-2 Eminence run to start the third period sealed the Cougars' fate.

Brook Miller led the Cougars with six assists in the game, while Shay Skene added seven rebounds in the game. Freshman Taylor Alles led the Cougars with three steals in the contest.

North Putnam had 11 steals in the game.

The Cougars fall to 2-7 on the season, and play at Fountain Central Thursday, with junior varsity action starting at 6 p.m.

At North Putnam

Eminence 17 16 20 16 -- 69

North Putnam 10 11 12 16 -- 49

Eminence --North Putnam -- Alles 1 0-0 2, Blaydes 8 2-3 20, Diebold 1 0-0 2, L. Doyle 2 0-0 5, Greene 6 0-0 14, Miller 1 0-0 2, Skene 1 0-2 2, Thornburg 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 FG, 2-5 FT, 49 TP.

Eminence -- Kreamer 1 6-8 8, Malott 9 2-3 20, Sinclair 11 2-2 24, Harrison 1 0-1 2, L. Burns 0 0-0 0, K. Burns 0 1-2 1, Martin 6 0-0 14. Totals 28 FG, 11-16 FT, 69 TP.

3 pt. -- Eminence 2 (Martin 2), North Putnam 4 (Greene 2, Blaydes 2), Rebounds -- Eminence 23 (Malott 11), North Putnam 22 (Blaydes 8), Assists -- Eminence 14 (Martin 7), North Putnam 10 (Miller 6), Steals -- Eminence 6 (Martin 3), North Putnam 11 (Alles 3).

JV -- North Putnam won 28-25.

Next game -- The Cougars play at Fountain Central Thursday, with junior varsity action starting at 6 p.m.