Cougars come up short at home to Athenians

Sunday, December 14, 2014
Jordan Bean (32) scores two of his four points. The athletic sophomore has made an impact for his team. (Banner Graphic/JOHNATHON GOODE)

ROACHDALE-- The North Putnam Cougars boys' basketball team showed up to play Saturday night, but only shot 9-of-36 from the field and 9-of-16 from the free-throw strike. A close game turned into a loss, 44-30, to a struggling Crawfordsville Athenian team.

"They just made a few more plays than we did," coach Collin McCartt said. "I thought we played really well. We had some open shots, but we just didn't make them. I thought our guys came ready to play, our attitude was great, I thought their intensity was great, I thought we played with poise and I know it's disappointing for them not to be where they want to be on the scoreboard."

The Cougars (0-5) went back-and-forth with the Athenians (1-4) in the first half, taking the lead four times before going down 15-12 at the break. Junior Austin Judy and sophomore Jordan Bean each had four points. Crawfordsville's Konnor Smith led all scorers at the time with six.

It came down efficiency with North Putnam shooting a lower percentage from both the field and free throw line.

"They hit some shots," McCartt said. "That's what it came down to. We get to come back into practice and our shooting is a skillset we definitely need to improve on. We finally got a full week of practice ahead and then we got Christmas Break. I'm looking forward to that because I think our guys will make a lot of strides. I think we can get on the practice floor and really make some improvements."

Sophomore Trent Johnson erupted in the half with three three-pointers and 13 points total for the Athenians. He finished just two rebounds short of a double-double.

"I don't know that (pressure) affected us that much," McCartt said. "I thought we moved the ball pretty well. I just think there were some shots we didn't hit. There was probably an offensive adjustment I should've made a little bit earlier, but other than that I didn't think we were tentative. Tonight we attacked."

After the Athenians got up by double figures, the Cougars came back to within seven with 3:39 left in the game, but the final three-pointer by Johnson ended any hopes of getting closer.

Good free throw shooting helped Crawfordsville seal the game off. Johnson hit 4-of-5 with the sixth being called off because of a lane violation. Ryan Barr also hit 1-of-2.

Michael Roberts, the Cougar leader, struggled for his second straight night scoring the majority of his points in the final two minutes. He scored seven points on 3 of 9 shooting and went an uncharacteristic 1 of 4 from the foul line.

After being dominated on the boards against Rockville Friday night, McCartt challenged his team to be like Rockville Saturday night. The plea worked and his team secured 15 offensive rebounds.

"I challenged them to look like Rockville," McCartt said. "They were unbelievable on the glass. Jordan Bean has been very active. Kyler Jeter went to the glass and Corbin Judy went there. I think they just had an attack mentality all the way around."

North Putnam's next game will be its conference opener of the season. It will square off with the Cascade Cadets at home on December 13.


At North Putnam

Crawfordsville 8 7 16 13--44

North Putnam 7 5 5 13--30

Scoring

Crawfordsville: Johnson 13, Page 10, Barr 8, Smith 8, Stewart 3, Yund 2, Corbin 0, Daniels 0, Guard 0, Lucas 0.

North Putnam: A. Judy 10, Roberts 7, Bean 4, Smith 4, Jeter 3, Hall 2, C. Judy 0, Porter 0.

Rebounding

Crawfordsville: Barr 9, Johnson 8, Corbin 7, Stewart 5, Daniels 1, Hutson 1, Page 1, Smith 1.

North Putnam: Bean 8, C. Judy 4, Roberts 4, Jeter 3, A. Judy 3, Hall 2, Smith 1.

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