NPHS boys come up short against Monrovia

Saturday, January 16, 2016

BY JOHNATHON GOODE, For the Banner Graphic

ROACHDALE-- On Friday night the North Putnam boys' basketball team hosted an old West Central Conference foe, the Monrovia Bulldogs. The Cougars put up a good defensive battle through three quarters but could not get the job done offensively falling, 59-45.

The Cougars (3-11 0-3 WIC) did a nice job holding the Bulldogs (5-7 0-3 ICC) to only 5 of 13 shooting in the first quarter, which only produced 11 points and they did a nice job spreading out the floor and getting easy shots at the basket. What hurt them the most were missed layups and good looks. They missed three layups, including one wide open after a steal and only made three of their 13 first-quarter shots.

For the first three quarters the Cougars played good defense only giving up a total of 37 points. That is a point total most teams can overcome in the first two quarters, but the Cougars played good defense and the Bulldogs missed shots. They were 18 of 54 altogether.

"I though defensively we were pretty good tonight," NPHS coach Colin McCartt said. "Obviously we didn't shoot as well as we would've liked. We tried to come out and get some easy baskets by creating some offense off our defense. I was pleased with how hard we competed tonight and the energy we played with."

North Putnam could not put a string of scores together to overcome the Bulldogs. This is something the Cougars have struggled with all year. They did have 15 turnovers for the game, but they shot a poor 16 of 43.

In the fourth quarter the tide turned for the worse for North Putnam. The Bulldogs had only shot six free throws through the first three quarters, but they shot 21 in the fourth quarter. They were 20 of 27 total but Luke Smith did the most damage, hitting eight of the nine that he took. Monrovia put up a game-high 22 points in the quarter.

Duke Duff and Austin Judy both fouled out in the fourth quarter for North Putnam. Fouls were an issue in both halves, but the second was the most influential with Monrovia hitting the penalty mark at 5:15 left in the fourth quarter.

A freshman, Max Newman, made the best of the night finishing with a double-double for Monrovia finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Luke Seber added 14 points and eight rebounds and Smith had a game-high 16 points and six assists. For the Cougars Preston Porter led with 12 points and Kyler Jeter followed with 10.

North Putnam's next game will be played Saturday at WIC East Division rival Brown County (7-5, 2-2 WIC) at 6 p.m.

"It's kind of a tough situation coming off a Friday night game and having to play a division game with a long bus ride," McCartt said. "But I think it was one of those situations in which we got better tonight. I was just really proud of how we competed and I think our attitudes were really good tonight."

At North Putnam

Monrovia 11 12 14 22--59

North Putnam 8 11 8 18--45

Scoring:

North Putnam: Porter 12, Jeter 10, Smith 9, Bean 4, A. Judy 4, Duff 3, C. Judy 1.