Cougar girls stay in WCC hunt with 38-36 win over Tiger Cubs

Saturday, January 26, 2008

North Putnam's varsity girls held off a late charge by Greencastle to win a Friday night match-up 38-36 at McAnally Center.

"I'm extremely proud of our girls tonight," Cougars coach Kevin Smith said following the contest. "With our defending and rebounding, I felt we did a good job on both ends of the court tonight."

Junior Taylor Alles led North Putnam with 15 points, while sophomore Dakota Malayer added 10 points, including two three-pointers.

Junior Shawna Johnston added seven points for North Putnam, and had 14 rebounds. Alles also pulled down six rebounds.

That rebounding did not allow Greencastle to get many second shots, Tiger Cubs coach Glenn Hile agreed.

"They got us in the game they wanted, and they did a good job defending us," he said. "The shots they gave us, you know, some nights they don't fall."

Hile said he felt his players did not have the intensity they needed throughout the game. Instead, they poured it on in the final three minutes as North Putnam held a 37-31 lead.

"I just don't think we played with the urgency we needed," Hile said.

For Greencastle, junior Hannah Spencer lead scoring with 17 total, including one three-pointer and two-of-three free throws. Senior Olivia Miller added seven points, and junior Cassie Alspaugh hit two three-pointers. Senior Grace Fisher was held to one field goal and a free throw.

North Putnam had an 18-15 lead at the half, and outscored Greencastle in the third quarter to maintain a 29-25 lead.

As the fourth quarter wound down, Greencastle pulled to within four with less than two minutes remaining. A stolen pass by Spencer and a pass to Fisher for a short shot took the game to 37-36.

With less than two seconds on the clock, Spencer missed a field goal, but then picked up her fifth foul to send Carlye McGaughey to the line, where the sophomore picked up her only point of the game.

Greencastle intercepted an inbound pass and got the ball to Fisher, but her shot was blocked as the game ended, giving North Putnam than 38-36 win.

"We have to given them credit. We had our chance," Hile said. "We can't get any better looks than we did in the last seven seconds."

North Putnam's Smith said he was pleased with his teams' man-to-man defense, and sophomore Elsiana Crosby as a good floor general foor the team.

"She just played a whale of a ball game," Smith said of Crosby.

North Putnam's record moves to 6-12 on the season, and 3-1 in the West Central Conference. They next take on Speedway in a WCC game Tuesday. And they finish the season next Friday at South Putnam.

Greencastle moves to 10-9 on the season, and 3-2 in the WCC. They conclude their season by hosting Monrovia at 6 p.m. next Friday.

At Greencastle

North Putnam 10 8 11 9 -- 38

Greencastle 11 4 10 11 -- 36

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