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SPHS girls' comeback bid falls short
A comeback bid by the South Putnam girls' basketball team sputtered in the fourth Tuesday night when Riverton Parke found its footing and took the victory 54-43.
Lillie Stein was hot from start to finish in the game and got SPHS off to a good start hitting a three a and Jessica Modglin and Miranda Biegler followed suit. Katie Hewitt was a force on the inside for the Eagles. The Eagles were only down 17-13 after one but fell behind in the second.
South Putnam was without Maddie McHugh and Caitlyn Capps stepped up in the second scoring four however the Eagles fell behind 36-22 at the half as the Panthers won the quarter 19-9.
In the third, the Eagles came out with inspired passion fueled by Stein who scored seven of the 11 third-quarter points. She also played well on the defensive end, getting four steals on the night which led to points.
"That's the one thing about this group of girls," SPHS coach Brian Gardner. "There is no quit in them. They fought and fought. They weren't going to give up easy. When you make some defensive stops and gets some buckets it inspires you anyway. The problem was we dug ourselves too big of a hole."
Stein knocked down a three to end the third to make the score 43-33 and then right out of the gate in the fourth to make the score 43-36.
"For us it's the little things. I thought we boxed out well tonight and that gave us a chance," Gardner said. "They like to come up and trap and we had to make sure we could adjust to that. There were a few times we didn't do that.
"But getting the ball in the post was one of the things and when it went into there good things happened. Jenna Carmichael didn't score but she did a lot of good things like sealing hard and making them have to play."
The Eagles kept up the hard work all through the fourth but free throw shooting woes didn't help the comeback effort and once the team fouls became a factor and Hewitt went out with five fouls, followed shortly by Biegler the game was decided.
Gardner was full of praise for his Eagles and his seniors in particular, who have played their last regular season home game before sectional play.
"For my two seniors Katie and Jess, the great thing is this isn't their last home game," Gardner said. "Our last home game will be in the sectional and that's good for us. They've been our leaders all year long. They're the ones that keep everybody together. I would've loved to be able to get them a chance to win. But that continuous fight that we do that comes from Jessie and Katie."
South Putnam (9-7, 1-3 WIC) will now have five straight games on the road to close the season, not counting the WIC Crossover game, with the next game at Northview (9-7, 3-1 WIC) on Friday in a boys' and girls' double header.
At South Putnam
Riverton Parke 17 19 11 7 -- 54
South Putnam 13 9 11 10 -- 43
Eagle Scoring: 15-37 7-16 43 (Stein 5-14 2-5 15, Beighler 2-13 3-4 8, Modglin 2-2 6, Hewitt 3-4 1-5, Capps 2-3 4, Nichols 1-1 2
3-point shots 6-17 (Modglin 2-2, Stein 3-7, Beighler 1-7) Reb: Bieghler 7, Carmicheal 6, Stein 4, Hewitt 3, Modglin 2, Nichols 1, Capps 1 Asst: Hewitt 4, Beighler 3, Carmicheal 2, Modglin 1, Stl: Stein 4, Modglin 1, Carmicheal 1