Clovers, Tigers Cubs win county crowns
The Cloverdale eighth grade girls' basketball team became the only team to beat Greencastle in a middle school tournament game this year, winning the 2013 Putnam County Championship with a 32-30 victory in Thursday's final.
In the seventh grade game, Greencastle outlasted host South Putnam 26-23.
The eighth-grade Clovers were led by strong performances from Lauren Meek and Kelsey Helterbrand.
Helterbrand had a game-high 15 points and Meek chipped in 12. She also had two big steals late in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
"(Meek) likes to shoot. She was hot at the beginning and cooled off, but she just picked it up at the end and played hard," Cloverdale coach Ed Stevens said. "Kelsey Helterbrand has been playing hard all year. She's been the beast in the middle."
The Clovers came out hot on offense and scored 24 in the first half. When their shooting cooled off in the second half it was the defense that kept them at an advantage.
"They are fighters," Stevens said. "We've gone to this 1-3-1 trap, and it's worked for us for the last month and a half. The girls really played well. They're quick so we attacked with our speed."
Makayla Westell added five points for Cloverdale.
Greencastle eighth-grader Mia Stevens led her squad, scoring 12 points. Other GMS scorers included Grace Paul (six), Kate Anderson (four), Lindsey Bridgewater (four), Lexee Miller (two) and Gracie Smith and Whitney Weinschenk (one each).
The seventh grade contest came down to the final minute as well.
South Putnam's Alex Fanning nailed a three-point try to tie the game at 23-all with 35 seconds left, but Greencastle's Kaitlyn Patterson calmly got to the basket, drew a foul and completed a layup.
Patterson's bucket proved to be the backbreaker for South Putnam.
"It's really exciting to see my girls stay in the game and play hard," Greencastle seventh grade coach Janna Boggess said.
The Tiger Cubs were led in scoring by Rose White and energetic Macey Masten, who scored seven each.
Masten's aggressivess in the fourth quarter, and the defense of Sydney Cash, were keys in keeping the Tiger Cubs on top.
"Macey Masten gets all over in when she needs to, and she played her heart out tonight," Boggess said. "Sydney Cash's job was to face-guard Maddie McHugh and she did a great job. That was her only job was to follow (McHugh) all over the court, and she did it extremely well."
Greencastle's other scorers included Marin Nally (four points), Brynne Shuee and Julia Mundy (three each) and Emily Steadman (two).
South Putnam was led by Savannah McIntosh who scored six points and tallied 14 rebounds. Ally Nichols scored seven points to lead the Eagles.
Alex Fanning (five), Maddie McHugh (three) and Jessi Halcomb also scored for South Putnam.
The Tiger Cubs won both 2013 boys' county basketball tournaments and will be the reigning champs of three total going into next season.
At South Putnam
2013 Putnam County Girls' Basketball Tournament
Seventh Grade
Greencastle 8 4 5 9 -- 26
South Putnam 4 2 7 10 -- 23
Scoring
Greencastle: White 7, Masten 7, Nally 4, Mundy 3, Shuee 3, Steadman 2, Robinson 0, Cash 0.
South Putnam: Nichols 7, McIntosh 6, Fanning 5, McHugh 3, Halcomb 2, Bills 0, Perry 0, Ball 0.
Eighth Grade
Greencastle 10 9 7 4 -- 30
Cloverdale 12 12 3 5 -- 32
Scoring
Greencastle: Stevens 12, Paul 5, Anderson 4, Bridgewater 4, Miller 2, Smith 1, Weinschenk 1, Bodnarick 0, Bousman 0, Newton 0, Taylor 0, Schneider 0, Glaze 0.
Cloverdale: Helterbrand 15, Meek 12, Westell 5, Monnett 0, Davis 0, Frey 0, Price 0, Simpson 0, Speas 0.