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Cougars dropped by Danville Warriors
The renewed focus of playing physical and aggressive led the North Putnam basketball team to draw 22 fouls and force 25 turnovers against Danville on Friday, but the team was still finding its feet with the new approach.
Danville won 52-19.
North Putnam coach Curtis Lawrence said he hoped a more physical approach to the game would help the Cougars turn the tables on teams that had used that strategy against them, and it showed.
NPHS attacked the basket aggressively, getting the Warriors two starting post players to foul out, but that idea worked against it during plays where the Cougars seemed tentative and unconfident.
Plays resulted either in trips to the free throw line, or in turnovers, as the Cougars decision-making was inconsistent.
The NPHS aggressive, physical plan was duplicated by Danville, a deeper, more experienced team that had played that style in the past. The Cougars were forced into nearly twice as many turnovers as the Warriors and the three players who defend the back line of their 2-3 zone, seniors Bethany Wiatt and Madi Asbell and sophomore Taylor Nauert, all got into early foul trouble.
With their starters on the court, the Cougars got out ahead early 4-1 in the first quarter, and again scored the first basket of the third quarter.
The NPHS younger bench players got plenty of time on the court, which will help improve the teams depth later in the season.
Wiatt led the Cougars with six points. Asbell had four points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Senior Alexandria Land had five points, five rebounds and four steals.
Junior Morgan Smith assisted on two of the Cougars' five field goals. Nauert had eight rebounds before fouling out.
North Putnam (0-2) plays at Covington (1-0) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in its final tune-up before the county tournament on Friday, when the Cougars open with Greencastle.
At North Putnam
Danville.............7 16 14 15 -- 52
N. Putnam.........6 4 2 7 -- 19
Danville (52): Newby 7-17 1-2 14; Motter 2-9 1-4 5; Bear 1-5 -0-0 2; Lake 0-4 2-4 2; Gould 0-1 0-0 0; Lynch 1-6 4-4 6; Kiefer 2-4 2-2 6; Ford 2-8 1-3 5; Utley 0-2 3-4 3; Sims 1-4 1-2 3; Collins 1-4 0-0 0; Gerdts 0-2 0-1 0. Total 18-68 15-24 52.
North Putnam (19): Wiatt 2-3 2-2 6, Land 2-6 1-1 5, Asbell 0-5 4-6 4, M Smith 0-6 0-1 0, Nauert 0-3 0-2 0, Mindiola 1-2 1-4 3, Evans 0-3 1-2 1, Laffin 0-0 0-0 0, B Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Total 5-29 9-21 19.
3PT_DAN 1-7 (Newby 1-1, Motter 0-2, Sims 0-2, Ford 0-1, Collins 0-1), NP 0-4 (M Smith 0-2, Land 0-1, Asbell 0-1). Rebounds_DAN 47 (Motter 11), NP 40 (Asbell 11). Fouled Out_DAN (Motter, Bear), NP (Nauert). Total Fouls_DAN 22, NP 20. Assist_DAN 9 (Ford), NP 3 (M Smith). Steals_DAN 22 (Ford 7), NP 12 (Land 4). Block_DAN 0, NP 4 (Asbell 2, Nauert 2).