2014 North Putnam Girls' Basketball Preview

Thursday, November 6, 2014

ROACHDALE--A new head coach, a new assistant coach and an enthusiastic group of players are what lie in store for North Putnam girls' basketball.

Junior Maddie Smith passes the ball in a blue vs. white drill. She and Taylor Nauert (white) will both play significant roles for the Cougars. (Banner Graphic/JOHNATHON GOODE)

After a rough 4-15 year Jim Spencer was hired to become the new head coach of the girls' team and when the girls got wind of that, their demeanor went sky high.

North Putnam is trying to build off its previous foundation left by Curtis Lawrence and Jim Brothers. Spencer should be included in that list of names because just over a decade ago he coached North Putnam for three years, winning three sectional championships and two regional championships in his final two years. He holds a 66-8 record as Cougar coach.

"All we are trying to do is build off the previous foundation that was already here," Spencer said. "There was already a foundation here and in place. Our philosophy this year is to be better each day than we were before. We can't worry about wins or losses, but our focus is to be better each and every day. Hopefully by the end of the season it adds up and it's something to be proud of, whether it's wins or not. It doesn't matter whether we win or not, but whether it mounts up to something that we can be proud of. Working hard and getting much better as a team accomplishes that."

Spencer also has experience in the collegiate atmosphere being an assistant to coach Bill Fenlon at DePauw University and working with some of the major inner-city schools over his career.

Girls' soccer coach Chase Hiland also stepped in as the assistant coach for the girls. Hiland brings an energetic passion that can be translated to helping the girls achieve their goals. Being a former post player helps him prepare the young posts.

With the coaching situation ironed out, the players are the core segment. Their preparation and attitude can determine the disparity between winning and losing.

According to senior guard Kayla Clodfelter, when they identified that Spencer would be the coach, they all started looking forward to the season. Spencer, who is a teacher at North Putnam, has a well-known reputation and these girls want to be a part of it.

North Putnam's Girls' Basketball team runs its offense during a recent practice. (Banner Graphic/JOHNATHON GOODE)

"We were super-thrilled when we found out Spencer would be our coach," Clodfelter said. "It's enthralling that he would come back and coach us."

Clodfelter also gleamed that she believed they would win a significant amount more than last year. She believes that this group gets along very well and that they all look forward to playing with each other, which is an important attribute to team chemistry.

"I think we are going to be the best we've been in a long time," Clodfelter said. "We all get along very well. We are very friendly with everybody and want to help. We have each other's backs."

"Team chemistry is very important," Spencer said. "I've been very impressed with their effort. I've been very impressed with their listening skills and their attempt to get better. They have worked very well together. They realize that being a team is the idea. I'm becoming really happy that their starting to accept their role on the team. Not everybody gets to do everything and they're doing a really good job contributing in a way that can help the team become better."

After a full week of practice the Cougars have really shown their potential to improve and over time become an elite team.

"I expect this team to really work well," senior Kaitlin Mindiola said. "I definitely think we work a lot harder. I want to be a positive role model, not only for the varsity players but the younger ones too."

North Putnam does not get long to prepare before it hits a brick wall of a schedule. After traveling to Crawfordsville on Nov. 11 for their first game of the season, the Cougars get to travel for a second game in a row to a rolling Danville Warrior squad. They face seven teams that were .500 or better last year in their first nine games. This does not include the county tournament that takes place Nov. 21-22.

"I've been out of high school coaching so long, that I don't know much about the other teams except for what I've seen on tape," Spencer said. "We're really going in completely blind. We don't have any scout information on the first two opponents. We're just going to have to learn as we go."

A hard schedule could benefit the Cougars by helping them solidify their chemistry and finding out how they need to get better.

"I expect to win more than four games," Clodfelter said. "I expect a lot more companionship. I expect a better season. We are having a lot of fun and I look forward to practice each day."

As for county matchups, followers will have to uphold until January 23 when the Cougars take on Cloverdale at Cloverdale. January 30 they will play a county favorite Greencastle team and then they round out their regular season by travelling to South Putnam on February 6.

The Cougars play in the sectional 44 bracket at Speedway. Covenant Christian, Speedway and Monrovia are all tough teams in that bracket that should give them a run for their money.

"Every year is different," Spencer said. "Every year can be a very enjoyable experience if everyone makes it an enjoyable experience. It only takes one or two people to ruin it for everybody. At this point we have a group that's trying to make it enjoyable for everyone. You don't measure your season in wins. You measure it in how people progress, lessons learned, how you dealt with adversity and things like that."

Overall, the Cougars look like a very fluid team and as the future is concerned, a great team and a breathtaking program. Fans and basketball lovers should keep them on their radar.

"Being a senior means I can't have any regrets," Mindiola said. "I have to go all out. I may have an injury but that doesn't mean I won't work hard."

"I'm enjoying the high school experience," Spencer said. "I've been away from it for a long time. It about a lot of teaching, a lot more fundamentals and I think at heart coaches are all about teaching and fundamentals. It becomes so much team strategies and scouting. It's so fun for me because I haven't done this in the last few years."

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: