Tough third quarter does in Cougars

Monday, December 15, 2008

By MIKE CLODFELTER

For the BannerGraphic

BAINBRIDGE -- The North Putnam Cougars boys' basketball team hosted the always competitive Crawfordsville Athenians Saturday night, hoping to earn their first victory of the season.

North Putnam battled Crawfordsville with great effort, leading at the end of the first quarter, 12-8, and at halftime, 23-16.

However, the Cougar shooting from the field turned cold in the third quarter, and Crawfordsville was able to take the lead from North Putnam with 5:00 left in the period, 24-23.

The Athenians never trailed from that point in the game, extending their lead during the rest of the game to 18 points, for the final score of 60-42, ending the Cougars hopes of getting in the win column for the season.

North Putnam began the game with solid play on both ends of the floor. Kyle Adams, Kyle Alcorn, Mitchell Crum, and Cory Dean all scored for the Cougars in the first quarter; while North Putnam's solid man-to-man defense limited Crawfordsville to eight points in the stanza.

Brock Jones joined teammates Crum, Alcorn, and Adams in the scoring column in the second quarter while the defense continued to throttle the Athenians' offense.

Again North Putnam limited the visitors to eight points in the period, and the Cougars entered the locker room with confidence at halftime, after playing a solid first half of basketball.

The third period turned out to be the down fall for the Cougars.

North Putnam was 0-for-14 in the period from the field in the quarter, taking good shots, but nothing went in the basket for the Cougars.

The only point of the period for North Putnam was a free throw by Scott Hunt with 4:48 left in the stanza to tie the score at 24-24.

Trailing, 37-24, going into the fourth quarter, North Putnam was never able to overcome the third quarter deficit.

"We held a team that can really score in the first half with a terrific man-to-man defense," commented North Putnam coach Brady Armstrong after the game.

"In the second half, we have to give Crawfordsville a lot of credit. They turned it up a notch and really got it going."

"I'm really proud of our kids. We're 0-5, but we are not playing like it," added Armstrong.

North Putnam was led in scoring by Crum with 10 points. Hunt followed with nine, Dean added eight, Adams had seven, Alcorn scored five, Hank Spencer had two, and Jones closed out the Cougar scoring with one point.

Hunt led the Cougars in rebounds with a game-high nine boards, and Crum had a game-high three steals.

In the junior varsity game, North Putnam lost to Crawfordsville, 41-32.

James Hedrick and Drew Hutcheson led the Cougar's in scoring with 10 points each, followed by Lucas with four. Garett Porter, Hank Spencer, Brandon Volland, and Wiltermood closed out the Cougar scoring with two points each.

The Cougars (0-5, 0-0 WCC) host Cascade Friday night, opening the West Central Conference season, in the second game of the girls-boys doubleheader. The girls' game begins at 6:00.

At North Putnam

North Putnam 12 11 1 18 -- 42

Crawfordsville 8 8 21 23 -- 60

North Putnam (0-5, 0-0 WCC)

Crum 3-12 4-6 10, Alcorn 0-5 5-6 5, Ban 0-4 0-0 0, Hunt 4-14 5-9 9, Dean 3-5 0-0 8, Adams 2-6 3-5 7, Jones 0-3 1-2 1, Hedrick 0-1 0-0 0, Spencer 1-1 0-0 2, Hutcheson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-51 FG, 18-28 FT, 42 TP.

Crawfordsville (2-2, 0-1 SAC)

Osmani 1-2 0-0 2, Anderson 1-2 2-2 4, Kinney 0-0 0-0 0, Harris 4-7 1-2 11, Boykin 5-6 4-15 14, Whittington 2-3 7-8 11, Demeter 0-0 1-2 1, Morgan 4-7 2-2 10, Wethington 0-2 0-0 0, Crabtree 2-10 1-2 5, Wren 0-0 0-0 0, Rasmussen 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 20-40 FG, 18-33 FT, 60 TP.

3-pt. FG -- NP 2-18 (Crum 0-7, Alcorn 0-4, Dean 2-4, Jones 0-2, Hedrick 0-1),

C 2-8 (Osmani 0-1, Anderson 0-1, Harris 2-2, Whittington 0-1, Crabtree 0-3).

Rebounds -- NP 26 (Crum 1, Alcorn 3, Ban 4, Hunt 9, Dean 1, Adams 6, Jones 1,Spencer 1), C 32 (Osmani 1, Anderson 1, Kinney 3, Harris 8, Boykin 3, Whittington 2, Demeter 1, Morgan 3, Crabtree 9, Rasmussen 1).

Blocks -- NP 0,C 4 (Boykin 2, Crabtree 2).

Assists -- NP 3 (Crum 1, Hunt 2), C 6 (Anderson1, Kinney 1, Boykin 1, Whittington 3).

Steals -- NP 3 (Crum 3), C 5 (Anderson1, Harris 2, Whittington 1, Rasmussen 1).

Total fouls -- NP 27, C 23.

Fouled out -- Crum, Ban, Hunt, Adams.

Turnovers -- NP 20, C 22.

Next game -- The Cougars (0-5, 0-0 WCC) host Cascade Friday night, opening the West Central Conference season, in the second game of the girls-boys doubleheader. The girls' game begins at 6:00.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: