First quarter dooms Eagle boys

If Friday night's Indiana high school boys' basketball game was played from the second quarter on, the South Putnam Eagles would be in great shape. The Eagles fell to the Owen Valley Patriots 60-50 after spotting the Patriots a 20-4 first-quarter lead.

The Eagles fall to 3-17 on the season, while the Patriots improved to 12-10.

Owen Valley shot 8-of-12 from the field and hit all three of their free throws in the opening quarter. The Patriots forced the Eagles into six turnovers in the stanza as they built their big lead.

"In the first five minutes or so we turned the ball over too many times. We just had a hard time getting settled," South Putnam head coach Greg Dean said.

The second quarter looked like it was going to be the same when Caleb Wade opened the period with a three for the Patriots, but the Eagles wouldn't go away. South began to chip away at the Patriot lead. Allen Plunkett scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the quarter.

"Allen is really good when he is going inside and getting to the line," Dean said.

The Eagles hit of 7-of-10 shots in the quarter and cut their turnovers in half. They also forced the Patriots into five turnovers and got the lead under double digits at the half, 31-22.

"We busted our tails and did a lot of good things after the first quarter. We got more aggressive offensively," Dean said.

The two teams battled pretty evenly after the break. The Eagles struggled to score in the third, netting just eight points, but they found their rhythm defensively and wouldn't let the Patriots run away. The Eagles held the Patriots to just 4-of-12 shooting in the quarter, but still trailed 43-30.

"Defensively, we started in man, then went to zone, then back to man. After that our defense really perked up. We contained well and kept them out of the lane and got out on their shooters," Dean said.

The Eagles continued to battle in the fourth quarter. Late in the quarter they cut the lead to nine, but couldn't overcome the early deficit as they did win the scoring battle in the quarter, 20-17. Jimmy Rutter led the Eagles in the quarter scoring, 10 of his 12 points.

"We started to recognize our matchups and he (Rutter) was able to get to the rim. When he gets in double digits it really helps us," Dean said.

Cameron King led the Patriots in scoring with 18 points, while Austin Boyd added 11. Plunkett led all scorers with 24 and Rutter tallied 12.

The Eagles don't have much time to rest as they travel to North Vermillion Saturday night.

At South Putnam

Owen Valley 20 11 12 17 -- 60

South Putnam 4 18 8 20 -- 50

Eagle Scoring: 19-41 10-17 50 (Fanning 1-3 1-2 2 3, Stewart 0-4 0-0 0 0, Parks 0-0 0-0 0 0, Grundlock 1-3 0-0 0 2, Long 0-1 0-0 0 0, Rutter 5-8 2-3 5 12, McHugh 1-2 0-0 1 2, Watson 0-0 0-0 0 0, Scott 3-4 1-2 4 7, Plunkett 8-16 6-10 4 24)

3-point shots 2-11 (Plunket 2-5, Stewart 0-3, Grundlock 0-2, Fanning 0-1) Reb: Fanning 1, Stewart 2, Grundlock 2, Rutter 5, McHugh 4, Scott 1, Plunkett 4.

Patriot Scoring 22-37 11-15 60 (Sturgeon 0-2 2-2 2 2, King 5-8 5-6 3 18, E. Wade 2-4 2-4 0 6, A. Boyd 5-7 1-1 2 11, Trimble 3-5 1-2 2 7, Light 4-5 0-0 2 9, Heckman 0-0 0-0 3 0, Arthur 2-5 0-0 0 4, C. Wade 1-1 0-0 2 3, N. Boyd 0-0 0-0 0 0, Herrington 0-0 0-0 1 0)

3-point shots 5-8 (King 3-5, Light 1-2, C. Wade 1-1) Reb: King 3, E. Wade 5, A. Boyd 1, Trimble 4, Arthur 1, C. Wade 1, N. Boyd 1, Herrington 2.