Eagles pull away from Cougars to win 73-53

BAINBRIDGE -- The South Putnam Eagles boys' basketball team traveled to North Putnam Saturday afternoon to, finally, play the Cougars after this game had been twice-postponed, due to inclement weather.

The game was a hard-fought contest, as all North Putnam/South Putnam basketball games have been throughout the schools' 38-year history.

South Putnam led North Putnam at the end of the first quarter, 11-10, and the game was tied at 23-23, with 3:18 left in the first half, but the Eagles steadily pulled away during the rest of the game, defeating the Cougars, 73-53.

The game was practically even statistically close in every category, except rebounding and free throws attempted and made.

South Putnam attempted and hit 20 more free throws, and grabbed 15 more rebounds than North Putnam, and that turned out to be the difference in the game.

"One of the things that were really big for us today was our post play," commented South Putnam coach Brian Gardner after the game. "Our post players sealed-off the defense, and our guards did a nice job of getting them the basketball.

"Earlier this season, we had trouble doing that, but today, our guards did a nice job of looking for the pass, and when our inside guys weren't open, they did a nice job of attacking the basket.

"I am really proud of how hard our kids played today," added Gardner.

"We had opportunities early in the game to either take control and build a lead, or keep the game within one or two points, and we allowed them to continually get second shots with offensive rebounds and that was ultimately, what got us behind" commented North Putnam coach Wes Peek after the game.

"They shot 38 free throws simply because they were more aggressive than we were today and that was the difference in the game," added Peek.

South Putnam had five players scoring double figures, Noah Boswell, the leading scorer of the game with 21, Cameron Chestnut with 13, Conor Frame with 11, and Drew Cash and Nathan Welty with 10 each.

Michael Sebanc followed with five, Dayne Nelson had two, and Adam Masters closed out the Eagle scoring with one point.

Chestnut and Boswell had double-doubles as they grabbed 10 rebounds each and Sebanc had two assists.

North Putnam had two players scoring double figures, Griffen Dahlstrom with 17, and Brock Jones with 11.

JT Francies followed with eight, Jerrett Ban added six, Kyle Adams had five, and Kyle Alcorn and Mitch Hadley closed out the Cougar scoring with three points each.

Dahlstrom led the Cougars in rebounds with seven boards, and had game-high statistics in three categories; blocked shots with four, assists with three, and he and Alcorn had game-high two steals each.

The Eagles (4-14, 1-5 WCC) host Owen Valley at 7:30 p.m. Friday night.

The Cougars (1-15, 0-6 WCC) host Tri-West 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night.

At North Putnam

South Putnam 11 23 19 20 - 73

North Putnam 10 17 9 17 - 53

South Putnam (4-14, 1-5 WCC) -- Nelson 0-0 2-2 2, Sebanc 1-5 3-4 5, Cash 4-6 1-2 10, Chestnut 5-11 3-4 13, Frame 3-4 5-6 11, Welty 0-5 10-10 10, Dean 0-0 0-0 0, Boswell 8-13 5-7 21, Masters 0-2 1-3 1. Totals 21-46 FG, 30-38 FT, 73 TP.

North Putnam (1-15, 0-6 WCC) -- Alcorn 1-7 0-2 3, Ban 1-4 4-6 6, Jones 5-14 0-1 11, Adams 2-3 1-2 5, Dahlstrom 7-12 3-6 17, Francies 3-9 2-2 8, Hadley 1-4 0-0 3, Lasiter 0-0 0-0 0, Franklin 0-1 0-0 0, Heron 0-0 0-0 0, Hutcheson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-54 FG, 10-19 FT, 53 TP.

3-pt. FG--SP 1-7 (Sebanc 0-1, Cash 1-1, Chestnut 0-2, Welty 0-3), NP 3-18 (Alcorn 1-5, Jones 1-8, Dahlstrom 0-1, Francies 0-2, Hadley 1-2). Rebounds--SP 35 (Sebanc 1, Cash 2, Chestnut 10, Frame 5, Welty 4, Boswell 10, Masters 3), NP 20 (Alcorn 1, Ban 4, Jones 3, Adams 4, Dahlstrom 7, Hadley 1). Blocks--SP 2 (Chestnut 1, Masters 1), NP 7 (Dahlstrom 4, Franklin 1, Hutcheson 2). Assists--SP 4 (Sebanc 2, Chestnut 1, Boswell 1), NP 7 (Alcorn 2, Jones 1, Dahlstrom 3, Hadley 1). Steals--SP 5 (Nelson 1, Frame 1, Welty 1, Boswell 1, Masters 1), NP 6 (Alcorn 2, Ban 1, Jones 1, Dahlstrom 2). Total fouls--SP 20, NP 23. Fouled out--Ban. Turnovers--SP 16, NP 16.

Next games -- The Cougars (1-15, 0-6 WCC) host Tri-West at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night. The Eagles (4-14, 1-5 WCC) host Owen Valley at 7:30 p.m. Friday.