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South Putnam gets big win in opener
To say the South Putnam Eagles are a tournament team would be an understatement. Going into the opening round of the Eagle Holiday Classic, the Eagles' only two wins were from the Putnam County Classic. Now all three of their victories have come in tourney play.
Getting the ball inside and driving the lane, South Putnam overpowered the North Vermillion Falcons 75-59 to earn a berth in the championship game tonight.
South Putnam (3-5) plays Clay City (3-3) at 6 p.m., or immediately following the 4 p.m. consolation contest between Cascade (1-6) and North Vermillion (3-5). Clay City beat Cascade 60-52 in the first game Friday.
"It's a great opportunity (to prepare) for the sectional. It's a tournament atmosphere, you got to play two games in a row. We need to come out and play well," South Putnam coach Micah Elliott said.
Led by Cameron Chestnut with 17 points, South Putnam had five players score in double figures. Conor Frame scored 12 points, Noah Boswell had 11 points and nine rebounds, Adam Masters 11 points and eight boards and Dayne Nelson 10 points.
North Vermillion, playing without 6-6 Ryan Buchhaas for disciplinary reasons, was led by Jacob Rankin with 18 points.
South Putnam got the ball inside time after time and when the Eagles didn't get inside the lane, they put back rebounds. The Eagles led 14-10 after one quarter.
"We have big strong kids. We try to get a couple [ball] reversals every time down the floor [and] a couple of post touches every time. We feel of we do that it's going to open up our outside [shots] and also we can take advantage inside," Elliott said.
Chestnut opened the second period with a lay up and three-pointer. Buckets by Trey Vickery and Nelson gave the Eagles their first double-figure lead, 23-12, with 6:25 left in the first half.
The Falcons closed within three, 26-23, on a three by Rankin. But a nice pass from Chestnut to Vickery led to a basket and Frame drained a three to close the half with the Eagles up 31-25.
South Putnam opened the second half with a 15-5 run with Masters powering up three early baskets.
"[Masters] played extremely well. He played extremely hard. He hit the offensive boards very, very well. The second half we limited their offensive rebounds," Elliott said.
A deuce from Dean, a three from Chestnut and another Frame bucket gave the Eagles a commanding 46-30 lead with less than four minutes left in the third quarter.
But South Putnam didn't put North Vermillion away. The Falcons went on a 10-1 run and closed the gap to seven, 47-40.
"We haven't been in this position before and they haven't been the position in the past, so it's a learning opportunity. It's a situation where we've got to learn when to slow down, what kind of shot we want at the end of game," Elliott said.
The Eagles took a 53-42 lead into the final quarter and took out the Falcons early. Boswell scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter, a field goal and four free throws, to give the Eagles another 16-point lead, 59-43 lead with 6:44 to play.
This time South Putnam didn't led North Vermillion back into the game. A three-point play by Chestnut upped South's lead to 66-48 with 5:07 to play and the margin never dropped below 15 points.
"It was too big of a mountain to climb. The game was so physical to begin with. I was real proud of (the Falcons for) how hard they played. They didn't back down. We knew it was going to be a physical game. That's the way they played," North Vermillion coach Mike Ahrens said.
South Putnam shot 44 percent (28-63) from the floor for the game, including 33 percent (4-12) from three-point range. The Eagles hit 62 percent (15-24) from the free throw line.
At South Putnam
Cascade (52) -- Waggoner 2-4 0-0 5, Arthur 1-5 0-0 2, Heimansohn 4-5 0-0 8, Guthrie 5-10 1-3 12, Spencer 2-9 0-0 5, Pelley 3-3 2-4 8, Dunn 5-8 0-1 10, Alltop 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 22-46 FG, 5-10 FT, 52 TP.
Clay City (60) -- Kennedy 4-11 4-4 13, Defore 4-7 3-5 11, Seymour 2-3 2-2 6, Griffith 3-10 1-2 9, Rhodes 1-2 0-0 3, Heffner 2-5 1-2 5, Newton 0-0 2-2 2, Higgins 5-7 1-1 11. Totals 21-45 FG, 14-18 FT, 60 TP.
Cascade 13 8 14 17 -- 52
Clay City 19 8 14 19 -- 60
3-Pt. Goals -- Cas 3-10 (Waggoner 1-2, Guthrie 1-2, Spencer 1-5, Alltop 0-1), CC 4-11 (Griffith 2-5, Rhodes 1-2, Kennedy 1-3, Defore 0-1). Total fouls: Cas 19, CC 13. Technical fouls: None. Turnovers: Cas 17, CC 15. Rebounds: Cas 24 (Pelley, Dunn 5), CC 31 (Kennedy 8).
North Vermillion 10 15 18 16 -- 59
South Putnam 14 17 22 22 -- 75
North Vermillion (59) -- Rankin 7-17 2-3 18, Clore 1-2 1-2 3, Clark 3-5 2-2 8, Jumps 5-18 4-4 14, Goins 0-1 0-0 0, Morgan 0-2 0-0 0, Allen 1-2 0-0 2, Leigh 5-12 0-0 14. Totals 22-59 FG, 9-11 FT, 59 TP.
South Putnam (75) -- Dean 2-3 0-2 4, Boswell 3-10 5-5 11, Masters 5-9 1-2 11, Frame 4-11 3-4 12, Chestnut 6-11 3-5 17, Nelson 4-8 2-4 10, Cash 2-9 1-2 6, Vickery 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 28-63 FG, 15-24 FT, 75 TP.
3-Pt. Goals: NV 6-20 (Leigh 4-9, Rankin 2-8, Morgan 0-1, Jumps 0-1, Goins 0-1), SP 4-12 (Chestnut 2-7, Frame 1-2, Cash 1-2, Boswell 0-1). Total fouls: NV 19, SP 14. Fouled Out: None. Turnovers: NV 9, SP 7. Rebounds: NV 34 (Clark 10), SP 42 (Boswell 9, Masters 8).
Next game -- At 4 p.m. today at South Putnam High School, Cascade (1-5) plays North Vermillion (3-4) and at 5:30 p.m., Clay City (3-3) plays South Putnam (3-5).