Eagles win opener behind Stein's 23

South Putnam's Lillie Stein makes her first three-point shot of the game Tuesday. The Eagles won their season opener against Clay City. (Banner Graphic/JAY LCOKETT)

Basketball season is underway and its opening night yielded a home-court win for the South Putnam girls' basketball team, which grinded out a 48-39 win against Clay City Tuesday. The Eels would not go away but a big fourth-quarter swing put the Eagles on top and led to the victory.

The Eagles took the floor in a fierce fashion and they jumped to an early 12-2 lead. South Putnam guards Lillie Stein and Miranda Bieghler caused havoc in the first quarter, earning steals by pressuring the passers that led to fastbreak points.

"I think the first thing is when you step on the floor in any contest the intensity level has to be there," Eagle coach Brian Gardner said. "When you start a season all the girls on any team is excited about playing. For us we needed to have a purpose when we stepped on the floor. I think all of the girls had that purpose."

Stein knocked down three in the first, as did Bieghler. Katie Hewitt scored in the first but picked up two early fouls and was on the bench for most of the first half.

"Katie got into foul trouble early and it kind of takes her out of it," Gardner said. "But she's one of those girl when she's over on the bench she's helping us."

Despite not having its team captain early, South Putnam still was able to get an early advantage on the floor.

"They did a lot of the things we've been doing in practice and it showed early on," Gardner said. "We were doing the little things right, we were fresh, we were moving our feet. We were doing the little things which is what I've been preaching all year."

The second quarter was tougher for the Eagles who only managed one shot by Stein from the field and a free throw by each Bieghler and Caitlin Capps.

The Eels meanwhile went on a run, scoring 15 points to South Putnam's four and ended the half on top 17-16.

"(Former Cloverdale) Coach (Pat) Rady always said it's a game of runs," Gardner said. "It was that same thing. We got into a cold spell and they got on a run with our fouls."

The game turned physical as the third quarter began and both team were grappling back and forth on the floor as well as the scoreboard.

"In the second quarter and the third quarter we got into some foul trouble," Gardner said. "We started getting onto foul trouble and they started hitting free throws. That's a really good Clay City team and when we put them on the line they started to hit shots. Then we had a little cold spell there."

The Eagle defense played a bigger role in the third as the physical play picked up and it forced Eels to take tough shots and it allowed South Putnam some easy buckets.

"In the third quarter they stayed pretty close," Gardner said. "I thought our defense really kept us in the game. When you have those cold spell you can always defend. I thought our girls did a great job tonight in defending."

The Eagle's offense fed off the defense and many steals led to points on the fastbreak, which helped South Putnam to its 15-point third quarter.

Stein hit two of her four threes in the third and she had three steals in the game. Maddie McHugh was also a menace with three steals of her own.

Bieghler was the floor general, dishing out five assists on the night to go along with her nine points.

The Eagles went into the fourth up 31-27 but Clay City was not going down easy. They made some tough plays, helped along by some free throws and took the lead 34-33 with four minutes to go.

Then it was the Eagles' turn to make a run. After an open jumper by Stein, who finished the game with 23, Ally Nichols stole a pass that led to an easy South Putnam bucket. South Putnam then stole the ball again and after a miss McHugh went up hard for the offensive board, ripping it away from the Eel defender and made the pass to Jenna Carmichael to give the Eagles a 42-35 advantage with two minutes left to play.

Gardner was happy with the effort he saw, saying that it's the kind of effort that a coach wants to see early in the season.

"Lillie played well," Gardner said. "Miranda played well. She had the ball in her hands. Jess Modglin played well. Ally Nichols made a great play on a steal that really sparked us on an 8-0 run that opened the game up a bit. I don't know that there was a moment where I could look on the floor and we didn't get that 50/50 ball. We were diving on the floor. "

South Putnam's next game is at North Putnam and has been moved to Thursday due to sectional games for each school's football team. Gardner will be looking for similar effort when the Eagles take on their Putnam County rival.

"I thought it was a great team win," he said. "We had a lot of girls that had to play in different spots and do different things. I was really happy with the way the girls played tonight."

At South Putnam

Clay City 2 15 10 12 - 39

South Putnam 12 4 15 17 - 48

SCORING

South Putnam (48): Hewitt 1-2 2, 12, Beighler 2-11 3-6 9, Stein 9-19 1-4 23, , Carmichael 4-7 0-2 8, Nichols 1-4 2 2, Capps 0-1 1-2 1, 1-2 1-3 3, TOTALS: 18-52 (6-17) 6-7, 48