West Vigo earns doubleheader wins over Cougars

WEST TERRE HAUTE — With a 6-foot-9 center and 6-foot-4 forward, West Vigo knew it had a sizable advantage – literally – in Western Indiana Conference matchup with visiting North Putnam on Friday in the Jim Mann Green Dome.

The strong inside play accounted for 34 of their season-best offensive performance in a 76-60 victory.

“We knew that we had a size advantage and we were going to take every advantage of that,” said West Vigo coach Joe Boehler. “If they gave us the inside, we were going to take it. But, we were also going to exploit the outside game if possible.”

The 6-foot-9 Austin Sappingfield led the Vikings with 22 points in making nine of his 11 shots in the contest. The 6-foot-4 Ty Lautenschlager added 12 points, including 10 in the first quarter.

In fact, the Vikings made 11 of their 13 shots in the opening quarter, most of them coming inside, to take a 26-15 first-quarter lead.

The hosts did not miss a field goal inside the three-point arc until the 4:56 mark of the second quarter.

West Vigo increased its 10-point halftime advantage to 49-33 following a layup by senior Tyler Kernstein.

The Cougars made a run after Sappingfield picked up his fourth foul with 2:59 left in the third quarter. They scored 10 straight points to get within 49-44 with 1:05 left in the third quarter. Leading the way for the Cougars were juniors Treyton Smith with four points and Elliott Gross chipped in three points during the stretch. A floater by senior Corbin Judy brought North Putnam to within the five-point margin.

That’s when senior guard Corey Vickers rose to the occasion by connecting on four straight 3-pointers.

And that helped push the margin back into double figures. He ended up scoring 17 points for the Vikings.

“We have been waiting for Corey to come out and play like this,” stated Boehler. “We got a little complacent and careless and Corey stepped up at a crucial time.”

Gross had a game-high 27 points and led the Cougars with seven rebounds. Judy scored nine points, while Smith chipped in seven points.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Vikings got back in the win column after nine consecutive losses with a 50-27 victory. The hosts picked up their first WIC victory on the season. Senior Kayla Ennis led the way for West Vigo with 19 points and 11 rebounds. She scored 11 of those points during the second quarter as the team built a 25-10 halftime advantage.

West Vigo held the Cougars to just three points in the third quarter and led by a game-high 23 points early in the fourth quarter. Senior McKayla Little scored eight points. The team held a 56-36 rebounding edge in the contest.

North Putnam was led offensively by Mia Runnells with eight points and Aleah Duncan chipped in seven points.

Boys’ game

NORTH PUTNAM (60) — Smith 2-6 2-2 7, Duff 1-7 2-2 5, Judy 4-8 0-0 9, Porter 2-8 0-1 5, Gross 9-16 9-10 27, Mitchel 0-0 0-0 0, Webster 3-7 0-0 7, Pickel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-42 FG, 13-15 FT, 60 TP.

WEST VIGO (76) — Vickers 6-10 1-2 17, J. Lautenschlager 2-2 0-0 5, Kerstein 5-6 2-6 12, Sappenfield 9-11, 4-5 22, T. Lautenschlager 6-8 0-0 12, Hannahs 1-3 0-0 2, Stoner 1-2 1-1 3, Dickerson 0-0 0-0 0, Deckard 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 30-43 FG, 9-16 FT, 76 TP.

North Putnam 15 12 17 16 — 60

West Vigo 26 11 15 24 — 76

3-point shooting — WV 5-12 (Vickers 4-7, J. Lautenschlager 1-1, Hannahs 0-2, Stoner 0-1, Sappenfield 0-1); NP 5-21 (Webster 1-3, Smith 1-2, Judy 1-4, Porter 1-7, Duff 0-4). Rebounds — WV 28 (Kerstein 7, T. Lautenschlager 6, Sappenfield 4, Vickers 3, J. Lautenschlager 2, Dickard 2, Team 4); NP 24 (Gross 7, Smith 3, Porter 3, Webster 3, Duff 2, Mitchel 1, Judy 1, Team 4). Turnovers — WV 13, NP 12. Total fouls — WV 15, NP 15. Fouled out — None.

Next — West Vigo (7-3, 3-1 WIC) travels to Sullivan on Friday at 7:30 p.m. North Putnam (3-8, 0-4 WIC) hosts North Vermillion today at 7:30 p.m.

Girls’ game

NORTH PUTNAM (27) — Duncan 2-7 1-4 7, Sims 0-3 0-2 0, Runnells 3-12 0-0 8, Parent 2-3 0-0 4, Henninger 0-5 0-4 0, Young 0-3 1-2 1, Osburn 0-0 2-2 2, Lyons 0-2 0-0 0, Day 0-0 0-0 0, Gibson 0-0 0-0 0, Spencer 0-0 0-1 0, Tennis 1-3 0-0 2, O’Neal 0-0 0-0 0, Sawyer 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 9-40 FG, 4-15 FT, 27 TP.

WEST VIGO (50) — Weir 2-8 0-0 4, Garrett 1-11 1-6 3, Couldry 1-4 0-0 3, Ennis 5-17 8-11 19, Little 4-6 0-0 8, Marvel 1-2 0-0 2, Elkins 2-10 0-0 5, Meehan 0-1 0-0 0, Skelton 0-1 0-0 0, Hall 1-3 0-0 2, Mauk 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 19-64 FG, 9-17 FT, 50 TP.

North Putnam 6 4 3 14 — 27

West Vigo 10 15 9 16 — 50

3-point shooting — WV 3-15 (Couldry 1-2, Elkins 1-2, Ennis 1-3, Garrett 0-5, Marvel 0-1, Hall 0-1, Little 0-1); NP 4-15 (Duncan 2-6, Runnels 2-7, Sawyer 1-1, Lyons 0-1, Tennis 0-1). Rebounds — WV 56 (Ennis 11, Weir 8, Little 7, Marvel 4, Elkins 4, Mauk 4, Meehan 3, Skelton 3, Garrett 1, Couldry 1, Team 10); NP 36 (Henninger 6, Duncan 6, Runnells 5, Spencer 3, Parent 3, Osburn 3, Sims 2, Young 1, Day 1, Gibson 1, Team 5). Turnovers — WV 22, NP 32. Total fouls — WV 14, NP 19. Fouled out — None.

Next — West Vigo (3-11, 1-3 WIC) hosts Cloverdale on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. North Putnam (1-14, 0-4 WIC) travels to Greencastle on Friday at 6 p.m.