Eagles grinded down by Mustangs in 52-24 defeat

South Putnam senior Amanda Barnes attacks the basket and draws an eventual foul during Thursday's game against Edgewood. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The South Putnam girls' basketball team held a brief lead on visiting Edgewood early in the second quarter when senior Aubrey Nichols hit a pair of free throws but the Mustangs got back on their horse and took control in a 52-24 win.

South Putnam battled but its inexperience and inconsistency gave Edgewood more than enough opportunities to pull away.

"It was a good game that we needed to experience to bring us back down to reality," SPHS coach Bill Merkel said. "The kids haven't made that varsity adjustment on how much quicker the game is going to be and they've got to get to there."

Junior Katelyn Lady, coming off a strong game in the Eagles' opener on Tuesday, opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and Nichols' free throws put her team ahead 9-8 at the 6:43 mark, but the Mustangs closed the quarter on a 17-4 run, holding the Eagles without a basket the rest of the first half.

The 3-ball was Lady's only basket. Nichols finished with four points, four rebounds, three steals and an assist.

While the offense struggled, the defense had solid stretches, particularly near the basket. The Eagles gave up more rebounds than they hoped, Merkel said, partially due to lack of aggressiveness, but most of the Mustangs' shots came from the outside.

Edgewood's star forward, senior Vanessa Brown, finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds, but she shot just 6-for-22 from the field.

For most of the game South Putnam played with a tall, lengthy front court that included senior Amanda Barnes, junior Emily Dobson and sophomore Katie Hewitt.

The trio disruptive drives and kept the Mustangs from attempting uncontested layups, but the jump shots they were forced into bounced off the rim deep and opened up offensive rebounding opportunities and second-chances.

South Putnam finished with 31 rebounds compared to Edgewood's 32, but 21 of those were offensive. Those, combined with the Eagles 33 turnovers, gave the Mustangs 25 more field goal attempts, an impossible margin to overcome.

"I wasn't totally disappointed," Merkel said. "I thought defensively we played pretty well at times."

Dobson finished with six points and nine rebounds. Barnes, recovering from an ankle injury, came off the bench to score a team-high seven points and grabbed seven boards.

Sophomore Deja Callahan had 13 points, seven rebounds and five steals for the Mustangs. Brown and sophomore Erin Sherfield also had five steals.

The Eagles (1-1) are off until the county tournament next weekend when they open with Cloverdale (0-2).

"We've just got to take baby steps and keep working," Merkel said. "We've still got some stuff up our sleeves. I didn't make many adjustments tonight, I just let them go. We've got a whole week to work for the county tournament."

At South Putnam
Edgewood 8 17 19 8 -- 52
S. Putnam 4 9 6 5 -- 24