Eagles earn road victory against Lakers

Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Katie Hewitt of South Putnam uses her post moves to get into scoring position. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

JASONVILLE -- The South Putnam Eagle girls' basketball team made the long trip to Shakamak High School for a high school basketball team and held off the Lakers for a 54-48 win. The Eagles battled through adversity to improve their record to 9-5 on the season.

"It was a big win. You have all the excuses in the world to not have any energy. The first day back to school, the long bus ride, those things play into making this a trap game. I thought are girls really battled and played hard," South head coach Brian Gardner said.

The Eagles not only overcame the long trip, but played the game missing two starters out with injury. Jessica Modglin and Maddie McHugh sat out the game, but the Eagles rallied together as a team.

"This was a great team effort. Logan Hawkins came off the bench and played well, particularly early in the game. She had five points in the first half. Ally Nichols played well, even though she got into foul trouble she continued to play well. Caitlyn Capps gave us spark in the second half with four points," Gardner said.

The two teams battled in the first quarter with the Eagles taking the lead at 7-6 on a Hawkins three-pointer with 2:58 left in the quarter. They never trailed after that point. Miranda Bieghler hit another Eagle trey with :05 left in the quarter to give South a 14-9 first-quarter lead.

It looked like the Eagles would break the game open in the second quarter. Sparked by Lillie Stein's consecutive steals and layups, South's lead ballooned to 27-12 at the half.

"We changed our defense a little and Lillie does a great job of anticipating that pass at the top," Gardner said.

The Eagles hit five of eight field goal attempts in the quarter and forced seven Laker turnovers in the pivotal second quarter.

The Lakers weren't done yet. The host team came out in the second half and had a 16-3 run to open the third quarter and cut the lead to a 34-31 third-quarter Eagle advantage. Alyssa Garo had nine of her game-high 21 points for Shakamak in the period. South only score scored seven points in the quarter as the made only 2-of-9 field goals.

"We talk about runs in games. In this game it was evident. They made their run and we battled back and did a good job of not losing our composure," Gardner said.

The two teams battled for most of the fourth quarter. Garo scored 10 points in the quarter for the Lakers, including five consecutive free throws with just under two minutes to play. The Eagles battled to maintain their edge and Bieghler knocked down five of six free throw attempts in the period to salt away a tough non-conference game. Katie Hewitt also hit two free throws in the final minute of play.

"We hit our free throws, especially down the stretch. You've got to hit them late in the game, especially on the road," Gardner said.

The Eagles were led by Bieghler with 15 points. Hewitt added 13 and Stein chipped in 11 points for South. Garo led all scorers with 21 for the Lakers. The Eagles will travel to Sullivan this Friday for a boys' and girls' WIC doubleheader.

At Shakamak

South Putnam 14 13 7 20 -- 54

Shakamak 9 3 19 17 -- 48

Johnson 1 0-0 1 3, Garo 5 9-11 5 21, D. Hinkle 2 1-1 3 5, Saksanen 0 0-0 1 0, Mattox 3 2-6 2 8, C. Hinkle 1 3-4 2 5, Samm 3 0-2 4 6.

Three point (Garo 2, Johnson 1)

Hewitt 4 5-7 2 13, Nichols 2 0-0 4 4, Bieghler 4 6-10 2 15, Carmichael 1 0-0 1 2, Stein 4 2-4 4 11, Hawkins 2 0-0 0 5, Bratcher 0 0-0 0 0, Capps 2 0-0 3 4, Vensko 0 0-0 0 0

Three point (Bieghler 1, Stein 1, Hawkins 1)

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