South Putnam loses to West Vigo 64-19

Tuesday, November 26, 2013
South Putnam sophomore Katie Hewitt leaps to pull in a rebound during a scrimmage earlier this year. Hewitt led the Eagles in scoring on Tuesday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

WEST TERRE HAUTE -- The South Putnam girls' basketball team traveled to take on the West Vigo Vikings on Tuesday. The Eagles were trying to snap a three-game skid but failed 64-19.

SPHS (1-4) opened up its season with a win over Rockville, but it has failed to win since. They hoped to come in and upset the Vikings (3-1) and turn their season around, but things did not go the Eagles' way.

"We knew they (West Vigo) were an exceptionally good team. We always expect to come in and win, but we also know it is going to be a long road," Eagles' coach Bill Merkel said.

The Vikings, having a good start to the season, came in with high hopes for Tuesday and played with confidence. They were able to move the ball along the perimeter and make their way to the paint where they scored 36 of their 64 points on the night.

The Eagles had a tough time getting the ball inside. WVHS put the pressure on SPHS and forced them to turn the ball over 28 times.

Merkel believes that all teams are going to put pressure on them through out the season and that opposing teams will be faster. He said that they have to get the fundamentals down first before they can start winning.

They were making bad passes and taking bad shots, Merkel said, which is the first thing that needs to change.

The Eagles also had some players out with injuries and illnesses for Tuesday night's game. Merkel believed this might have been a factor.

SPHS had little momentum through out the game even though it stepped up on both sides of the ball in the second half. It stopped the transition game WVHS was playing and scored more than double its first-half points.

"We didn't do much (well)," Merkel said, "I put (Cydney Erickson) in because she hadn't played much, and I thought she did pretty well, but overall we just couldn't get the shots to drop."

The leading scorers for South Putnam was sophomore Katie Hewitt with six. Juniors Katelyn Lady and Olivia Arnold each had three on the night.

The Eagles did have nine offensive rebounds on the night. Their size and athletic ability helped them go up and get the ball when it was up in the air. The guards for SPHS had little trouble finding a size advantage, but bad passes hurt them.

The Eagles hope to move on from their slow start to the season as they play at Covenant Christian Wednesday night with a tip time of 7:30 p.m. Merkel wants the team to put this game behind them and keep working on the fundamentals, so they will be ready for this game.



At West Vigo
S. Putnam 2 3 5 9 -- 19
West Vigo 22 17 13 12 -- 64

Individual Scoring
South Putnam (6-37): Hewitt 6, Arnold 3, Lady 3, Barnes 2, Dobson 2, Nichols 2, Higgins 1.

West Vigo (22-50): Houser 14, Elkins 9, Cardinal 8, Curley 8, Lane 7, Barton 4, Edington 4, Morrison 3, Byrely 2, Elkins 2, Pointer 2, Little 1.

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