Eagle girls split weeknight games; Clovers win big

MECCA — The South Putnam Eagles traveled to Riverton Parke on Tuesday night for a non-conference girls’ high school basketball game against the Class A No. 10-ranked Panthers.

After fighting through a delay due to a power outage, the Eagles had the Panthers on the ropes until the fourth quarter — when Riverton Parke outscored the Eagles 23-7 in the quarter for 57-53 victory.

The Panthers used 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter and hit 9-of-11 free throws in the period to improve their record to improve to 16-3. The Eagles dropped to 10-7 on the season.

“We didn’t hit shots in the fourth quarter. We hit shots earlier and when you have a lead against a good team like this you have to execute. We were not getting the most out of our possessions in the period. We shot too quickly and it allowed them a lot of time,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said.

The junior varsity game was stopped early, as the windy weather caused a power outage and the varsity game start was delayed slightly.

Both teams struggled offensively in the early going. The Eagles’ Miranda Bieghler led the team to an 8-7 first-quarter lead, hitting two threes in the quarter. South’s defense forced the Panthers into seven turnovers in the quarter.

The Eagles really picked it up in the second period, as Lexi Vanihel had six points in the quarter as South extended their lead to 27-19 at the half. The Eagles hit eight-of-13 from the field in the quarter and for the half only turned the ball over six times.

“We really did a lot of good things early on. We attacked the rim well and were able hit some shots,” Gardner said.

Tayler Vauters kept Riverton Parke in the game, scoring 17 of her team’s 19 first-half points. She would go on to score 36 points to lead all scorers.

The Panthers responded after the break to use a 7-0 run to cut the score to 27-26 in favor of the Eagles, but Lillie Stein and Caitlyn Capps powered the Eagles back on top. Capps had eight of her 10 points in the quarter and Stein had five to lead South. The Eagles ended the quarter with a 46-34 lead.

Riverton Parke scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter as they had other players other than Vauters step up in the scoring column. Mackenzie Schermann hit two three-pointers from the corner to start the quarter and Keirston Burdine added five points in the quarter.

The Panthers held off the Eagles as they hit their free throws in the quarter, while the Eagles struggled from the charity stripe. South hit just one-of-seven from the line in the quarter and just 3-of-12 from the field. Vauters capped off her night by going 5-of-5 from the line and icing the game late.

“We had people at the line that we would want. We won’t usually miss those free throws,” Gardner said.

Vauters led the Panthers with 36 points and Schermann added 11. Bieghler led the Eagles with 15 points. Stein chipped in 11 points and Capps added 10 for the Eagles.

“When you play against a player like Vauters, you have to just contain her. I thought we did a good job early. We need to be able to step up and take some charges when she goes to the basket,” Gardner said.

SOUTH PUTNAM (53) – Bieghler 6-11 0-0 15, Nichols 1-3 1-2 3, Stein 5-18 1-6 11, Vanihel 3-6 0-0 6, Vensko 0-1 0-0 0, Capps 3-6 3-4 10, Barker 2-4 1-1 6, Boswell 0-2 2-2 2, Bratcher 0-0 0-0 0 Totals 20-51 FG, 8-15 FT, 53 TP.

RIVERTON PARKE (57) – Clapp 0-1 3-6 3, Fellows 0-0 0-0 0, Vauters 11-23 13-16 36, Higginbotham 0-3 0-1 0, Burdine 3-10 1-1 7, Schermann 4-4 0-0 11, Sharps 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 FG 17-24 FT, 57 TP.

South Putnam 8 19 19 7 – 53

Riverton Parke 7 12 15 23 – 57

3-point shooting – SP 5-21 (Barker 1-1, Bieghler 3-6, Stein 0-8, Vanihel 0-3, Capps 1-2, Boswell 0-1), RP 4-12 (Vauters 1-6, Schermann 3-3, Clapp 0-1, Sharps 0-2) Rebounds – SP 27 (Bieghler 2, Vanihel 4, Vensko 2, Stein 8, Capps 4, Boswell 2, Barker 1), RP 36 (Clapp 1, Vauters 10, Higginbotham 3, Burdine 10, Schermann 6). FG Pct. – SP 39.2, RP 41.8. FT Pct. – SP 53.3, RP 70.8. Turnovers – SP 11, RP 21.

In other Tuesday action:

• Cloverdale 66, West Vigo 35 — At West Terre Haute, the Clovers scored 33 points in each half in recording the easy victory.

“Coming in we knew we wanted to apply a lot of pressure and speed up the game,” Cloverdale coach Matthew Langdon said. “We did a good job of that in the first quarter. West Vigo did a good job to end the second quarter and made a run, pulling within 14 at halftime.”

Langdon said his team made some halftime adjustments that helped the Clovers to pull away in the second half.

“We did some really good things in the third quarter, applying more pressure and cutting down on our turnovers,” he said. “We had a really nice third quarter. We know this is the style we want to play.”

Tori Combs led the Clovers with 27 points and 16 rebounds, while Sammie Shrum added 13 points, six rebounds, seven steals and four assists.

Cloverdale led 15-6 after one quarter, 33-19 at halftime and 53-27 after three quarters.

CLOVERDALE (66) — McCracken 0 0-0 0, Helterbrand 2 1-2 5, Shrum 5 3-6 13, Simpson 0 0-0 0, Walker 2 0-0 5, Meek 1 0-2 2, Combs 9 9-15 27, Thomas 1 3-6 5, Shoemaker 1 0-0 2, Price 2 3-3 7. Totals 23 FG, 19-32 FT, 66 TP

WEST VIGO (35) — Weir 2 0-0 4, Garrett 5 0-0 10, Couldry 0 0-0 0, Elkins 1 1-2 4, Skelton 0 0-2 0, Ennis 2 2-4 6, Mauk 1 1-2 3, Little 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 FG, 4-10 FT, 35 TP

Cloverdale 15 18 20 13 — 66

West Vigo 6 13 9 7 — 35

3-point goals — Walker, Elkins.

In Wednesday night action:

• South Putnam 83, Eminence 16 — The Eagles jumped out to a 28-3 lead after one quarter and cruised to the homecourt victory.

Lillie Stein led four players in double figures with 18 points, while Miranda Bieghler had 15, Lexi Vanihel had 13 and Caitlin Capps added 10.

The Eagles led 53-8 at halftime and 72-8 after three quarters.

EMINENCE (16) — Keeney 0 0-0 0, V.Riffel 1 2-2 4, Ranard 0 0-0 0, J.Riffel 3 0-0 9, Davis 0 0-0 0, Owens 1 0-0 3. Totals 5 FG, 2-2 FT, 16 TP

SOUTH PUTNAM (83) — Boswell 0 0-0 0, Nichols 2 2-2 6, Bieghler 7 0-1 15, Bratcher 1 2-2 4, Vanihel 6 1-3 13, Barker 3 0-0 7, Vensko 2 0-0 4, Hill 3 0-0 6, Capps 5 0-0 10, Stein 8 2-3 18. Totals 37 FG, 7-11 FT, 83 TP

Eminence 3 5 0 8 — 16

South Putnam 28 25 19 11 — 83

3-point goals — Bieghler, Barker, Owens, J.Riffel 3.