Eagle defense stifles Mustangs

In high school basketball, fans love to stand and cheer for three-pointers, driving lay-ups and all the ESPN highlight moves, but Friday night at Edgewood the loudest cheers from the visiting Eagle fans came as the Lady Eagles made defensive stand after defensive stand in a 31-21 victory over the Mustangs.

“Any time you go on the road to Edgewood you know you are going to be in a dogfight,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said. “Shots weren’t going in, but defensively our intensity was excellent. In the two years I have been coach, this was the best we have played defensively. We kept the ball in front of us, kept our feet moving, and didn’t get out of position.

“Every shot they got was a battle for them.”

It was apparent early on that the game was going to be a defensive battle. The first quarter saw only six total points scored. The teams combined to shoot 2-for-21 from the field and had 10 turnovers.

Miranda Bieghler scored all four of the Eagle points to give them a 4-2 lead at the end of one period.

The Eagles continued to struggle offensively against the Mustangs in the second quarter. The Eagles hit only 2-of-9 from the field in the quarter while the Mustangs put up 10 points to take a 12-8 lead at the half.

The Eagles stayed close by not allowing the Mustangs to stretch out the lead.

South Putnam gave up a Payton Acuff three-pointer to start the third quarter, but didn’t allow another score by Edgewood in the quarter. The Eagle defense clamped down and held the Mustangs to just the one field goal.

Numerous times in the second half the Eagle crowd cheered South’s defensive effort and that effort paid off as the offense began to click.

“We want to end a game with the other team not wanting to play us again,” Gardner said. “We were tough tonight and I think Edgewood left tonight glad they don’t have to play us again.”

South closed the lead to 15-12 halfway through the third period when sophomore Aubrey Barker hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Eagles an 18-15 lead. She then finished the quarter with two free throws and the Eagles went into the final stanza leading by five points. Barker totaled eight of her 12 points in that pivotal third quarter.

“She (Barker) is really good at attacking the rim and creating opportunities for everyone,” Gardner said. “She did a good job of playing under control. She got herself some shots in the third and that opened it for others.”

Bieghler was the recipient of Barker’s creativity to start the fourth quarter. She hit two big three-pointers for South and stretched the lead to 26-18 halfway through the quarter. Bieghler scored six of her game-high 14 points in the final quarter.

The patient Mustangs’ offense was thwarted time after time in the final period as they moved the ball around and slowed the pace. The Eagle defense just kept turning them back time after time, holding Edgewood to a combined 2-of-14 from the field in the second half.

South held Edgewood to just 20 percent shooting for the game.

“When you play a team that is that patient, you have a tendency to get antsy and want to go for the steal. We did a good job of playing solid defense. Our defensive effort was outstanding,” Gardner said.

The Eagles improved to 2-0 on the young season. South has a week off until it hosts the Putnam County tournament next Friday night.

SOUTH PUTNAM (31) – Nichols 1-3 0-0 2, Bieghler 5-10 2-2 14, McHugh 0-3 1-2 1, Barker 4-8 2-2 12, Stein 1-7 0-0 2, Vensko 0-1 0-0 0, Capps 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 11-33 FG, 5-6 FT, 31 TP.

EDGEWOOD (21) – Phillips 0-3 0-0 0, Morris 3-10 1-4 7, P. Acuff 1-5 0-2 3, Shockney 3-14 2-3 9, T. Acuff 0-2 0-0 0, Meyer 0-2 0-0 0, Bretveld 0-0 0-0 0, Pace 0-0 0-0 0, Bennett 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 7-35 FG, 5-11 FT, 21 TP.

South Putnam 4 4 12 11 – 31

Edgewood 2 10 3 6 – 21

3-point shooting – SP 4-6 (Barker 2-4, Bieghler 2-2), EHS 2-12 (P. Acuff 1-3, Shockney 1-6, Phillips 0-2, Morris 0-1) FG Pct. – SP 33.3, EHS 20.0. FT Pct. – SP 83.3, EHS 45.5. Turnovers – SP 17, EHS 13.

JV game – South Putnam 42, Edgewood 32.

Next game – South Putnam (2-0) hosts Cloverdale in the opening round of the Putnam County Tournament at 7:45 p.m. on Friday.

• Monrovia 62, North Putnam 37 -- At Roachdale, the Bulldogs drained nine 3-pointers on their way to a win over the Cougars.

The Bulldogs led 9-4 after one quarter, 24-13 at halftime and 46-23 after three quarters.

Mia Runnels had a season-high 13 points to lead the Cougars, while Emilee Henninger added nine.

MONROVIA (62) -- Payne 2 0-1 4, Grimes 2 0-0 5, Keen 5 0-1 13, Swafford 2 0-0 6, Palmer 3 0-3 6, Wilkerson 2 1-2 5, Smith 1 0-0 2, Sears 0 1-3 1, Tharp 2 0-0 4, Whitney 5 1-2 14, Craig 0 0-0 0, Whalen 0 0-0 0, Davis 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 FG, 3-12 FT, 61 TP

NORTH PUTNAM (37) -- Duncan 2 2-3 6, Sims 0 2-2 2, Runnels 5 1-2 13, Young 0 0-0 0, Osburn 1 1-6 1, Lyons 0 0-0 0, Day 0 0-0 0, Gibson 1 0-0 2, Parent 1 0-0 2, Henninger 3 3-7 9, Tennis 1 0-0 2, Sawyer 0 0-0 0, Spencer 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 FG, 9-22 FT, 37 TP

Monrovia 9 15 22 16 -- 62

North Putnam 4 9 10 14 -- 37

3-point goals -- Runnels 2, Grimes, Keen 3, Swafford 2, Whitney 3.

JV game -- Monrovia 49, North Putnam 43 (Young 9, Simmerman 8).

Next game -- North Putnam (0-3) hosts Covington on Tuesday.