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Quick starts vital in county split
Tiger Cub girls, Eagle boys each come out strongly
Most basketball coaches consider getting off to a good start in each game as a key element to having success.
Friday night’s Western Indiana Conference doubleheader between Greencastle and South Putnam provided evidence to support that theorem, as the Tiger Cubs took a 12-0 lead in the girls’ game on their way to a 54-43 win and South Putnam opened the boys’ game on an 11-0 run en route to a 55-44 victory.
South Putnam’s girls entered the contest with the only blemish on their 7-1 record being a 55-33 loss to Greencastle last month in the Putnam County tournament, and that dominance from the Tiger Cubs carried over into this regular-season contest.
Gracie Smith hit a 3-pointer just 52 seconds into the game that started a 12-0 run and put the Tiger Cubs ahead for good.
Jalyn Duff added a pair of free throws, Bailey Shuee contributed a putback basket and a 3-point basket and Rose White hit a basket to end the run with 3:11 still remaining in the period.
South Putnam’s Caitlin Capps got her team’s first points, and teammate Miranda Bieghler added a trey 31 seconds later as South Putnam came within 14-5.
The rest of the first period was all Nailah Ray, as the Greencastle post player recorded a basket and a free throw on an assist from Smith and added two more hoops
“You have to give Greencastle credit,” South Putnam coach Brian Gardner said. “They came out and shot the ball very well from the beginning, and we didn’t come out with that same kind of intensity.
“When you put yourself info a 21-5 hole, it’s hard to get back out of it.”
Gardner thought Greencastle’s early play carried the Tiger Cubs through the rest of the game.
“You always want to come out at the beginning of the game and make a statement, and Greencastle definitely did that,” he said. “We didn’t match it.”
Greencastle improved its record to 6-6 with the win, with half of those wins coming in the South Putnam gymnasium after two county tournament wins last month.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” Greencastle coach Bradley Key said. “We came out and played hard, and we had to because South Putnam is a good team and we knew they would come out after us.”
South Putnam got untracked a little in the second quarter with an improved 12-point effort, and cut the lead to 30-17 at halftime. Freshman Lexi Vanihel closed out the half with a basket and a 3-pointer for the Eagles, sandwiched around another Shuee trey.
Greencastle utilized a 3-2 zone defense during the game, and limited the Eagles to just 7 of 20 shooting in the first half.
“They have a lot of great shooters, and you have to come out on them,” Key said. “We tried to limit them from getting into the flow and I think we did a good job of that.”
“We worked against the 3-2 defense this week,” Gardner said. “We talk about how you have to have ball movement and attack if off the dribble. The ball did not move well enough, and we didn’t create opportunities.
“The ball was too stationary at times, and that wasn’t what we had done in practice,” he added. “It’s hard to simulate length in practice.”
The Eagles came out the stronger team in the third period, scoring the first eight points on a basket by Capps and two straight treys from Bieghler to make it 30-25 with 3:57 left in the period.
Greencastle’s Jalyn Duff then hit a trey, but Lillie Stein matched it with one of her own and it was 33-28 with 2:13 to play. The Tiger Cubs got baskets from Ray and Duff in the final two minutes of the period to take a 37-28 advantage into the fourth quarter.
“We knew South Putnam was going to make a run and not let us run away with us,” Key said. “We have to stem the tide through ebbs and flows. What a great learning experience this was in a high-pressure situation.”
The Tiger Cubs only committed seven turnovers in the game, an uncharacteristically low total that pleased their coach.
Much of that credit got to Duff, a sophomore who has gradually improved her play this season and not only directed her team but also led it in scoring.
“She was shoved into that [point guard] role when she probably wasn’t ready yet, but she ran the show well for us,” Key said. “I would never have thought she had 17 points, but she kept us in things and eliminated the silly turnovers. We only have seven turnovers, and that’s tremendous. Her improvement is really important to our team.”
Ray had 14 points off the bench as the only other Tiger Cub in double figures.
Bieghler led South Putnam with 17 and Capps added 10.
While the girls’ game opening stretch featured contributions from many different players, the start to the boys’ game was all Allen Plunkett.
The 6-5 Eagle sophomore opened the game by hitting three straight treys to put his team up 9-0 after just 2:06. Dalton Scott added another basket for the 11-0 lead.
Greencastle’s Colin York hit his team’s first hoop with 3:39 left in the period, but Thomas Fanning matched those two points with a pair of free throws and the Eagles led 13-2 at the first stop.
“Our kids were emotionally excited, and to come out and play that way propelled us into some really good thing,” South Putnam coach Greg Dean said. “I was proud of our effort right off the bat, and how well we executed defensively.”
York would eventually lead all scorers with 29 points, but required 26 shots to accumulate that total.
“Colin York came out and continued to grind and hit shots,” Dean said. “In the first half, we did a good job defensively. We were talking on screens and hedging, and Thomas Fanning did a good job of maintaining contact with Colin all night.”
South Putnam gradually increased its lead to 28-14 at the half, as Austin Arnold scored his team’s final seven points on a trey and two baskets.
The Eagles opened the second half on a 7-0 run, getting two free throws from Wes Lesko, a trey from Fanning and a basket from Plunkett to go up 35-14 with 5:45 left in the period.
Greencastle dominated the rest of the quarter, closing out the period on an 11-5 run that brought the Tiger Cubs within 40-25 at the final stop.
Devin Clar had four points in that stretch, while J.T. Matthews added three more and York also had a couple of hoops.
The Tiger Cubs made things interesting down the stretch, extending their defense full court and creating some problems for the young Eagles — who have only two juniors and no seniors on their squad.
“They put a little bit of pressure on us, and it change the momentum of the game,” Dean said. “Offensively we got a little bit quick. Had we worked a couple of possessions, the trap would have been a little different. We have to work on taking better care of the basketball.”
A Scott basket with 4:09 left gave the Eagles another 15-point lead at 46-31 before Greencastle’s pressure starting taking its toll.
Nick Costin had two free throws and a basket, followed by a steal and a layup by York and the Tiger Cubs had cut the lead to 46-37 with 2:32 left.
Fanning stopped the run with a hoop for South Putnam, but York answered with a trey to make it an 8-point game.
Fanning and York each hit a pair of free throws, and it was 50-42 with 1:24 left.
Greencastle could get no closer, however, and fell to 0-4 on the season.
The Tiger Cubs had their highest scoring output of the season, but coach Bryce Rector knows his team’s offense has to be much better for it to start recording victories.
“Offensively we weren’t very good,” he said. “Colin was pretty good with 29 points, and he had to take a lot of shots to get that. We missed a lot of easy layups and some free throws, too.”
Rector said he and his staff need to rethink its offensive methods.
“Our other guys have to step up, and we have to find places to get them better shots,” he said. “Part of that is on us.
“All the credit for this game goes to [South Putnam],” Rector added. “They came out ready to go, and coach Dean had them ready to play. We were able to speed them up a little bit, and our kids didn’t give up and kept competing.”
Rector is not losing confidence in his team, and feels things will get turned around.
“I haven’t questioned the effort of these kids all year,” he said. “They’re trying hard, we’re gust not hitting shots right now.”
Dean was pleased his team was able to survive the Greencastle comeback, and feels the game was a benefit to his squad.
“We are growing up every game when we get into those situations, and we are getting a little bit better here and there trying to put the pieces together,” he said. “We want to put those things together as we go down the home stretch. We have to celebrate this win for a short time, and then get ready for Southmont [tonight].”
Plunkett led South Putnam with 17 points, while Arnold added 10.
Girls’ game
GREENCASTLE — Smith 1-7 0-3 3, Gillen 1-4 4-6 6, Shuee 3-8 0-0 7, White 3-7 0-0 6, Duff 3-4 10-12 17, Ray 6-11 2-5 14, Stoffregen 0-0 0-0 0, Nally 0-1 0-0 0, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-44 FG, 16-23 FT, 54 TP
SOUTH PUTNAM — Bieghler 5-9 4-4 17, Stein 2-16 2-6 7, Barker 1-4 0-0 2, Nichols 0-0 0-0 0, Capps 3-6 4-4 10, Vensko 0-1 0-0 0, Vanihel 3-6 1-2 7, Hill 0-1 0-0 0, Boswell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-43 FG, 10-14 FT, 43 TP
Greencastle 21 9 7 17 — 54
South Putnam 5 12 11 15 — 43
3-point shooting — Greencastle 4-13 (Smith 1-6, Shuee 2-5, Duff 1-1, Nally 0-1), South Putnam 5-14 (Bieghler 3-4, Stein 1-7, Barker 0-1, Vanihel 1-2).
Boys’ game
GREENCASTLE (44) — York 10-26 6-7 29, Bollman 1-2 0-5 2, N.Costin 1-6 2-2 4, Hutcheson 1-7 0-0 2, Clar 1-2 2-3 4, Matthews 1-3 1-2 3, Lucas 0-1 0-0 0, A.Costin 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-50 FG, 11-19 FT, 44 TP
SOUTH PUTNAM (55) — Plunkett 6-19 2-4 17, Fanning 2-2 4-4 9, Scott 3-8 0-0 7, Watson 0-0 3-4 3, Lesko 0-1 2-4 2, Zeffel 1-1 0-0 2, Arnold 4-6 0-0 10, Schnepp 2-2 0-0 5, Adams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-39 FG, 11-16 FT, 55 TP
Greencastle 2 12 11 9 — 44
South Putnam 13 15 12 15 — 55
3-point shooting — Greencastle 3-19 (York 3-14, N.Costin 0-3, A.Costin 0-2), South Putnam 8-20 (Plunkett 3-12, Fanning 1-1, Scott 1-2, Arnold 2-4, Schnepp 1-1).