Menu
Eagles split homecoming doubleheader
Homecoming night at South Putnam had Eagle Country buzzing as South Vermillion came to town. The girls' basketball team played first and used defense to hop out to an early lead, which they maintained throughout in a 69-46 victory.
The Eagle men fought hard and when the Wildcats took a late lead South Putnam was unable to get back on top despite the great Eagle effort. The boys fell 65-61.
"I say it every night but the atmosphere that we have is a great thing," SPHS coach Brian Gardner said. "There's a great crowd here on homecoming night. But we've had a great home crowd at all of our games and it's great to se our kids come out and support us."
The Lady Eagles were fierce from the start, using a full-court zone early to jump to a 10-2 lead.
"We always talk about it no matter how our offense is going is how do we defend," Gardner said. "You've got to put other teams in position that they don't want to be in. We've done that all year and I thought tonight was the best that we've done moving our feet."
South Putnam was looking up the court after its defense forced a turnover and the Eagles were flying up the court to a 14-4 first quarter lead.
The Lady Eagles spread the ball around in the second as six players got in on the 24-point quarter. Gardner said the defensive effort played another role in allowing the South Putnam offense to flourish.
"We didn't reach a lot and we didn't foul lot," Gardner said. "When your girls that are playing well get to stay on the floor that helps you. By hitting shots and sharing the ball, tonight was the first night that I felt like we shared the ball well."
South Putnam had three girls in double figures and the second half wasn't close.
The Wildcats fought back with 16 and 17-point quarters but the Eagle offense continued to thrive. South Putnam also went 19-23 from the line, which helped the team earn its fifth win of the season. The Lady Eagles are now 5-2 with each of their losses coming by just one point and its most recent in a double overtime.
"As I told the girls our ceiling is really high," Gardner said. "We played really well tonight but there are still thing s to work on. We want to continue to work on the things we do to continue getting better. I'm a big proponent of do what you do well."
The Eagle boys were down on the scoreboard early but took the lead during the second quarter and held it until the fourth.
However Eagle coach Greg Dean didn't believe his Eagles gave enough on the defensive end to pick up the win.
"We went through some really good spurts offensively where we made some shots and we were aggressive but at the same time you've got to go out on the other end and get some stops. I didn't think our transition defense was very good."
The Eagles were able to stay close to the Wildcats as South Vermillion earned a 15-11 first-quarter lead. Josh Stewart, Daniel Grundlock, Jimmy Rutter, Allen Plunkett and Dalton Scott each made a shot.
Stewart got hot in the second and made three threes in the 18- point quarter.
South Putnam took the lead about two minutes into the quarter and held a 29-23 halftime lead.
In the third three more players knocked in threes Grady McHugh, Rutter and Grundlock as well as Stewart.
The South Putnam lead was 51-42 after three quarters. Apart from the three ball, the main weapon South Putnam used against the Wildcats was the height of Allen Plunkett, who was able to get into the lane a few times against the South Vermillion defense. The freshman put up 17 points and played a big role in the Eagle offensive attack.
"He played really aggressively and did a lot of good things going to the rim, but he didn't get rewarded by getting fouls called so he could got to the free throw line," Dean said. " I thought that went against him and that was nothing that he was doing. He was going to the basket hard."
South Putnam only put up 10 points in the fourth and the Wildcats scored 23. South Vermillion went 8-15 from the foul line in the fourth and the Eagles went 4-11 overall.
The Eagles are now 1-1 and will not have a game until Friday against Greencastle. The Lady Eagles will play Tuesday at Linton-Stockton.
At South Putnam
Girls'
South Vermillion 4 9 12 17 -- 46
South Putnam 14 24 15 16 -- 69
McHugh 7-8 16, Stein 3-10 4-7 11, Beighler 2-7, 6-10 11, Carmichael 3-3 4-6 10, Hewitt 2-8 2-2 6, Nichols 2-2 4, McIntosh 2-4 4, Hawkins 1-1 1-3 3, Bratcher 1-2 2, Modglin 1-1 2
3-pt shots 2-8 (Beighler 1-4, Stein 1-4) Reb: McHugh 5, Beighler 4, Hewitt 3, Stein 3, Modglin 1, Nichols 1, Carmichael 1,Vensko 1, Asst: Beighler 2, Carmichael 1, Stls: Stein 4, Modglin 3, Hewitt 1, Carmichael 1, Hawkins 1, Nichols 1
Boys
South Vermillion 15 8 19 23 -- 65
South Putnam 11 18 22 10 -- 61
Stewart 6-9 1-6 18, Plunkett 7-13 3-3 17, Rutter 6-17 13, Grundlock 2-6 5, Scott 2-3 0-2 5, McHugh 1-4
3-pt shots: Stewart 5-8, Grundlock 1-4, Rutter 1-4, McHugh 1-2, Scott 1-1 Reb: Rutter 6, Plunkett 6, McHugh 2. Fanning 2, Grundlock 1, Scott 1, Stewart 1, Scott 3, Rutter 3, Grundlock 2, Plunkett 2, Fanning 2, McHugh 1 Stls: Scott 2, Rutter 1, Plunkett 1, Grundlock 1, McHugh 1