Eagles come up short against Cadets

Saturday, December 13, 2008

By MOLLY MCLAUGHLIN, For the Banner Graphic

South Putnam won the tip and from that moment, the game became very fast paced and physical on both ends of the court. The Eagles ultimately fell 49-42.

The Eagles allowed many turnovers that Cascade was able to capitalize on and built a lead of 14-4 with 2:16 left in the first quarter. Tanner Dunn for the Cadets was a huge part of the game plan. Along with his teammates, Dunn was able to intercept passes and get inside for rebounds that the Eagles didn't. Cascade lead was 14-6 going in the second quarter.

South Putnam had the first possession of the second quarter and missed a scoring opportunity.

However, they were able to lessen the Cadets lead by using their aggression on both ends of the court.

Noah Boswell was a key component on the inside of the Eagles. Both teams utilized their benches throughout the entire game. Despite the effort by South Putnam, Cascade continued to lead 23-15 going into the half.

After halftime, it looked like a completely different Eagle team. They were playing more aggressively and going inside and making baskets. They were able to cut the Cadets' lead to only two points at one point in the third quarter.

Once again, Cascade came back.

With 2:45 in the third, they had a five-point lead. Then Conner Frame hit a three point shot to cut it to only two once again.

Going into the fourth quarter, Cascade lead by six, 37-31. The fourth and final quarter was one of turnovers and timeouts.

In the beginning, both teams made trips down the court and came up empty handed.

However, something clicked in both teams because the game became very physical once again.

With 2:16 to go, Cascade led 43-37 by capitalzing once again on errors, retrieving loose balls and missed rebounds by the Eagles.

In the final minute of the game, the Cadets held on to their lead, leading by ten points at one time until Boswell hit a three pointer to bring it to a seven point game. The Cadets won 49-42.

Eagle head coach Micah Elliott has confidence in his team for the rest of the season,

"We played well at times," he said. "We are still very inconsistent. There were a lot of good things that happened tonight. The outcome wasn't what we wanted but good things are happening.

"Defensively we held a pretty strong team to only forty-nine points. Offensively, things will take time. It's only the fifth game of the season. It's a very long season. We will get better. We have great opportunities to get better," Elliott concluded.

At South Putnam

Cascade 14 23 37 49

South Putnam 6 15 31 42

Individual Statistics

Cascade -- Guthrie 18, Waggoner 8, Hiemansohn 7, Pelly 4, Spencer 4, Hopper 3, Alltop 3, Spencer 2