Mustangs pull out comeback win; Clovers top West Vigo

The Edgewood Mustangs used a strong fourth quarter to gain the upper hand and seventh place in the WIC with a 51-43 victory over the host South Putnam Eagles in the Western Indiana Conference crossover round on Friday night.

South fell to 12-9 on the season while the Mustangs improved to 14-9.

South led 38-35 going into the final period, but the Mustangs used a 10-3 run to open the quarter to garner the win. South was limited to just five points on 1-of-13 from the field in the final stanza. The Mustangs’ physical defense wore the Eagles down, according to head coach Brian Gardner.

“I told the girls that this is most physical defensive team we play. I thought that physicality bothered us in the fourth quarter,” Gardner said. “They were able to drive and get some shots and we were not able to hit ours during a stretch of the fourth quarter.”

South started the game hot from the field. The Eagles hit 7-of-10 from the floor and jumped out to an 11-4 lead before Edgewood closed the gap in the quarter. Miranda Bieghler and Lexi Vanihel led the way with four points each on the offensive end.

“We got a good start. We were moving the ball and getting good shots,” Gardner said.

Both teams struggled offensively in the second quarter. South was able to extend its lead to 27-20, but the two teams hit just 6-of-24 shots in the quarter. The two teams began to pile up the fouls in the second quarter with the physical play. Twelve fouls were whistled in the second stanza.

“They (Edgewood) are not a team that you are going to pull away from,” Gardner said. “The make you play hard. They are tough.”

The two teams battled evenly after the halftime break. The even play was evident on the stat sheet after three quarters with South leading 38-35. South had scored 15 field goals to 14 for Edgewood, South had made six free throws and the Mustangs five. Both teams shot about 40 percent from the field, but the fourth quarter belonged to the Mustangs.

Vanihel spurred the Eagle defense, with three of her five steals in the quarter leading to easy buckets.

“Lulu (Vanihel) just keeps getting better and improving.” Gardner said. “She is like all freshmen that have their ups and downs, but she fights through the mistakes and keeps getting better.”

The two teams were tied at 40-40 with 5:02 to play and over the next four minutes the Mustangs bumped the score to 46-40. During that stretch the Eagles couldn’t buy a basket. They had opportunities but they couldn’t convert, while Edgewood managed to hit a couple of free throws and get a couple of easy shots.

“They made plays in the fourth quarter. We probably had five or six possessions where we had an opportunity and didn’t get the shot to go in,” Gardner said. “They managed to make a few and we didn’t execute like we can.”

South will have a few days rest and then will close the regular season at home against county rival Cloverdale on Thursday night. The two teams have split a pair of games this year.

Melea Shockney led all scorers with 18 points for Edgewood, while Serenah Morris added 15. Bieghler led the Eagles with 13 and Vanihel added 11.

“I am proud of the way the girls played. They have been playing more intense over the last few weeks. I thought the intensity was still there and we played hard,” Gardner said.

EDGEWOOD (51) – Phillips 2-9 3-4 8, Morris 7-12 1-3 15, P. Acuff 1-4 0-1 2, Shockney 5-12 6-7 18, T. Acuff 2-5 2-6 6, Meyer 1-2 0-0 2, Spear 0-0 0-0 0, Zemlyak 0-0 0-0 0, Pace 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-44 FG, 12-21 FT, 51 TP.

SOUTH PUTNAM (43) – Bieghler 5-10 3-4 13, Vanihel 4-7 2-2 11, Capps 2-9 0-0 5, Stein 3-9 1-2 7, Nichols 0-3 0-2 0, Vensko 1-3 0-0 2, Boswell 0-0 0-0 0, Barker 1-7 3-4 5. Totals 16-48 FG, 9-14 FT, 43 TP.

Edgewood 14 6 15 16 – 51

South Putnam 15 12 11 5 – 43

3-point shooting – EHS 3-10 (Phillips 1-5, P. Acuff 0-1, Shockney 2-4), SP 2-10 (Bieghler 0-1, Barker 0-3, Stein 0-3, Vanihel 1-1, Capps 1-2). Rebounds – EHS 33 (Phillips 4, Morris 6, P. Acuff 6, Shockney 6, T. Acuff 4, Meyer 2), SP 31 (Bieghler 1, Vanihel 8, Capps 5, Stein 2, Nichols 5, Barker 3) FG Pct. – EHS 40.9 SP 33.3. FT Pct. – EHS 57.1, SP 64.3. Turnovers – EHS 17, SP 13.

Next game — South Putnam (12-9) hosts Cloverdale on Thursday in its regular-season finale. Edgewood improved to 14-9.

In other girls’ action on Friday:

• Cloverdale 61, West Vigo 44 — At West Terre Haute, Cloverdale jumped out to a 37-24 halftime lead and defeated the Vikings to claim ninth place in the Western Indiana Conference.

Tori Combs led the Clovers with 18 points,19 rebounds and eight steals, while Hailey Thomas added 17 points, three steals and three assists and Sammie Shrum had nine points and nine rebounds. Abby Walker hit four 3-pointers for 12 points.

“We knew this would be a good game, going back to West Vigo for the second time in 10 days,” Clover coach Matthew Langdon said. “West Vigo had a good game plan, but we did a good job and responded well.”

Langdon was not happy that his team returned to its turnover problems.

“We gave them a few too many easy looks,” he said.”They made it a close game in the third quarter. We are hoping we can go into the sectional playing our best basketball. We are going to need that on Thursday at South Putnam.”

CLOVERDALE (61) — McCracken 0 0-0 0, Helterbrand 1 0-0 2, Shrum 4 0-2 9, Walker 4 0-0 12, Meek 0 0-0 0, Combs 7 4-6 18, Thomas 5 4-8 17, Price 1 1-2 3. Totals 19 FG, 9-16 FT, 66 TP

WEST VIGO (44) — Weir 3 5-8 11, Garrett 2 6-10 10, Marvel 0 0-0 0, Couldry 0 0-0 0, Elkins 1 0-0 2, Meehan 0 0-1 0, Ennis 5 3-4 14, Little 3 1-4 7. Totals 14 FG, 15-27 FT, 44 TP

Cloverdale 18 19 4 20 — 61

West Vigo 10 14 13 7 — 44

3-point goals — Shrum, Walker 4, Thomas 3, Ennis.

Next game — Cloverdale (13-8) closes out the regular season on Thursday by playing at South Putnam. West Vigo fell to 3-14.

• Brown County 48, North Putnam 29 — At Roachdale, the Cougars fell behind 22-8 at halftime and performed better in the second half, but could not pull out the win.

Brown County claimed 11th place in the Western Indiana Conference with the victory.

BROWN COUNTY (48) — Smith 1 0-0 2, Hoskins 0 1-2 1, Morgan 6 0-3 12, Hollander 5 5-8 15, Stogadill 1 0-0 3, Wilkerson 0 2-2 2, Edds 6 1-3 13. Totals 19 FG, 9-18 FT, 48 TP

NORTH PUTNAM (29) — Duncan 2 0-1 5, Sims 2 0-2 6, Runnells 1 1-2 4, Young 0 0-2 0, Osburn 3 1-4 7, Lyons 0 0-2 0, Simmerman 0 0-0 0, Gibson 1 1-2 3, Parent 0 0-0 0, Henninger 0 0-0 0, Tennis 0 0-0 0, Sawyer 0 0-1 0, Spencer 2 0-1 2. Totals 11 FG, 3-16 FT, 29 TP

Brown County 11 11 10 16 — 48

North Putnam 3 5 10 11 — 29

3-point goals — Duncan, Runnells, Sims 2, Stogadill.

Next game — North Putnam (1-18) hosts North Montgomery on Monday in a game postponed from earlier this month. Brown County improved to 6-12.

In boys’ action on Friday:

• Greencastle 54, South Vermillion 50 — At Clinton, Colin York scored 20 points to lead the Tiger Cubs to their third victory in the last four games.

The Tiger Cubs poured in 25 first-quarter points to take command early. J.T. Matthews added 17 points and Nick Costin had nine for Greencastle.

“We came out and played with a lot of energy and intensity from the tip,” Greencastle coach Bryce Rector said. “We got contributions from Colin, Nick and J.T., which was really key to the great start.”

Rector noted the Wildcats made some halftime adjustments that slowed the Tiger Cubs down over the final two periods.

“Our kids responded well to some adversity,” he noted. “We missed some free throws down the stretch that need to be made in late game situations, but managing to still come out with a win shows we are maturing as a team. Overall, we are happy with the progress we are making as a team.”

GREENCASTLE (54) — York 7 5-8 20, Clar 0 2-4 2, A.Costin 0 0-0 0, N.Costin 3 3-4 9, Matthews 7 3-7 17, Hutcheson 0 0-0 0, Bollman 2 2-2 6. Totals 19 FG, 15-25 FG, 54 TP

SOUTH VERMILLION (50) — Terry 2 0-0 4, Wiltermood 3 6-8 13, Waldrop 1 0-0 2, Kendrick 2 3-4 7, Johnson 1 2-2 5, Kalber 1 0-0 2, McLeish 5 2-3 13, Hedden 0 0-0 0, Lewis 1 2-2 4. Totals 16 FG, 15-19 FT, 50 TP

Greencastle 25 10 7 12 — 54

South Vermillion 11 12 9 18 — 50

3-point goals — Wiltermood, Johnson, McLeish, York.

Next game — Greencastle improved to 3-8 with the win and hosts Western Boone tonight. South Vermillion fell to 2-11.