Cougar boys play well in sectional loss

Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Freshman Treyton Smith drives against Monrovia for North Putnam Tuesday. (Banner Graphic/JOHNATHON GOODE)

SPEEDWAY--Tuesday night began the Indiana boys' basketball tournament that will eventually lead to four games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for four state championships. It all started with the first round of sectionals at various sites.

Speedway High School is hostins of Sectional 44 and Tuesday's lone game was held between the North Putnam Cougars and the Monrovia Bulldogs. North Putnam's young team saw its season come to an end, losing 63-43.

North Putnam (3-19, 0-4 WCC) finished its season withouy any seniors on the roster, starting a freshman and two sophomores.

Cougar junior Preston Porter fights into the lane. (Banner Graphic/JOHNATHON GOODE)

A young team in the making is what coach Collin McCartt has to look forward to and he does not have to move any pieces.

"It's huge to have everyone return," McCartt said. "We competed tonight more than we have in a while. I thought they (Monrovia) were more physical than us and that hurt us. Having the weight room in the offseason is one thing. Having guys like Jordan Bean and Daniel (Huffman), especially Daniel who has really emerged, is exciting. We're glad to have this team back."

After taking a 5-4 lead the Cougars lost its only lead of the game to the Bulldogs (6-17, 0-7 ICC) who went on an 8-0 run. Sophomore Luke Smith had four of those points to start his 19-point effort.

Monrovia concluded the first quarter with an 11-point lead, but without that quarter North Putnam held its own for the rest of the game and could have had a chance to win only being down nine in the fourth quarter.

"I think we had something like 16 first-half turnovers," McCartt said. "And second-chance points really helped them get the lead. I thought the second quarter we took that away from them. Like I said, the way they (North) competed I thought was pretty admirable."

The other big killer for the Cougars was that they gave up 11 second-chance points, which six of them were recorded in that dreaded first quarter.

"I think it's awareness," McCartt said. "You just got to adjust. The kids finally started adjusting and were in much better position to get a rebound."

One of the Cougars' sophomore starters, Jordan Bean, capped the night off with a double-double and made his presence known with his athleticism and quickness used on the offensive end. He had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Daniel Huffman, a junior, has not seen much varsity action this year, but he got a great deal of time off the bench during this game and provided an eight-point, five-rebound spark for his team.

Sophomore Preston Porter also had 10 points for the Cougars and freshman starter Treyton Smith had seven.

The Cloverdale Clovers (19-5, 4-0 WCC) will play the South Putnam Eagles (3-18, 1-3 WCC) in game three of Sectional 44 at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Monrovia will move on to play Cascade, who had a first-round bye, on Friday night.

Sectional 44

At Speedway High School

North Putnam 7 14 9 13--43

Monrovia 18 15 13 17--63

Scoring

North Putnam (14-35 11-16): Bean 5-10 1-3 11, Porter 3-8 1-2 10, Huffman 2-3 4-5 8, Smith 1-2 4-4 7, C. Judy 2-4 0-0 4, A. Judy 1-4 1-2 3, Jeter 1-4 0-0 2.

Monrovia (25-55 7-14): Smith 9-18 0-3 19, Seber 5-9 5-5 16, Eisenhut 4-10 0-0 10, Seals 2-6 3-4 7,Whitaker 2-2 0-2 4, Williams 1-5 1-2 3, Burgess 1-4 0-0 2, Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Nagel 0-0 0-0 0.

Rebounding

North Putnam (5 OFF 28 TOT): Bean 11, Huffman 5, Jeter 4, Porter 4, Smith 2, A. Judy 1, C. Judy 1.

Monrovia (13 OFF 30 TOT): Seals 13, Whitaker 6, Seber 4, Eisenhut 2, Williams 2, Smith 1.

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  • Maybe Huffman should have been playing more minutes all year long? Coach says we had at least 16 1st half turnovers but BG Reporter says "Cougars Play Well"? HS athletics start with the School Board and AD, do those at NPHS even have a clue? Just remember our motto here at NPHS: "It's not about winning"!

    -- Posted by nphs98 on Wed, Mar 4, 2015, at 10:15 AM
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