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Eagles shock Cascade’s world with epic upset
CLAYTON — The Cascade Cadets had everything in their favor heading into the IHSAA Girls’ Basketball tournament. They were ranked 7th in Class 2A, they had the bye in the draw, and they were a prohibitive favorite to win the championship, but…
In the storied history of Indiana High School basketball there are many stories of the underdog prevailing against the favorite and Friday night that underdog was the South Putnam Eagles.
The tough-minded Eagles upset the Cadets 63-52 to advance to the sectional championship game.
“I thought we played hard Tuesday night, but tonight the girls played so, so hard and smart,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said. “I am so proud of how we played.”
The Eagles didn’t just upset the Cadets, they controlled the game from beginning to end. The Cadets’ only lead of the night was at 1-0. South outrebounded the bigger Cadets 32-28, turned the ball over less and hit 19-of-24 free throws, including eight-of-11 in the fourth quarter to earn a spot in the championship game.
The Eagles will take on county rival Cloverdale on Saturday night, creating a fourth match-up between the two schools this year. Cloverdale has won two of the first three contests.
“This is a big, big win for our girls and our program,” Gardner said. “This was a win against a very, very good basketball team. We had to play the best game of the year, and we did. We did all the little things.”
After spotting the Cadets the 1-0 lead, South went on a 10-2 run to seize control of the game and end the quarter with a 16-5 advantage.
Aubrey Barker led the Eagles with six points in the period off the bench while Miranda Bieghler and Caitlyn Capps had five points each, but the Eagles’ defense was the decisive factor early. South harassed Cascade into shooting just 2-of-11 in the quarter and forced four turnovers.
“We knew we had to force them off the three-point line and keep them out of the paint. We wanted them to take difficult twos and we really did a good job,” Gardner said.
That defense would prove to be even more valuable in the second quarter. The Eagles went cold from the field early in the period and didn’t get their first points of the second quarter until more than four minutes had gone by.
This might have been disastrous, but the Eagles kept Cadets from overtaking them as they only allowed Cascade four points in the same stretch. South managed to keep the Cadets at bay and match baskets until halftime, taking a 23-17 lead to the locker room.
The Eagles kept themselves in the game on the offensive boards. The smaller Eagles outrebounded the Cadets 18-13 in the half and won the turnover battle 11-8. That was key according to Gardner.
“We knew if we were going to win this type of game, we had to get most of the 50-50 balls and really get after it. We did that. We were aggressive and really did a great job on the boards,” Gardner said.
Cascade began to put pressure on South in the third quarter and the Cadets crept back into the game behind Makayla Collier and Hannah Rasnake. The high-powered Cadet offense tied the game at 29-29, but the Eagles responded.
A three-point play by Barker and two free throws by Bieghler jumped the lead back up to five at 34-29. The Eagles then kept up the pressure and closed out the third period with a 42-33 lead. Barker led the team with seven points in the quarter, while Bieghler added another six.
“We talked about each team having runs. They are going to happen in a tournament game,” Gardner said. “We talked about you can’t get too high or too low at any point during those runs. We did not get too high or low.”
Cascade couldn’t put together a run against the Eagles in the fourth quarter. Every Cadet basket was answered by the Eagles. Rasnake hit NBA-length three-pointer for Cascade and 15 seconds later Bieghler answered with a trey of her own. After Rasnake hit two more threes, the Eagles got a layup from Bieghler and jumper by Jessica Vensko to answer.
The closest Cascade would get in the period was 55-48 with 1:57 left. Lillie Stein took over the game in the final two minutes by hitting eight-of-11 free throws down the stretch and preventing the Cadets from celebrating on their home floor.
“We really executed down the stretch. I thought we made the plays we needed to and just did all the little things you need to do in order to win,” Gardner said. “In order to win games like this you can’t turn the ball over and you hit your free throws and we did that.”
The high-powered Cadets were held almost nine points below their season average.
Rasnake led them with 20 points, but 13 of them were in the fourth quarter as they scrambled to catch up. Bayleigh Walker chipped in 10 points.
The balanced Eagles improved to 14-10 on the season, led by Bieghler’s 16 points. Stein and Barker added 15 points, while Capps finished with 11.
“We were balanced tonight. Everyone bought in and did their job,” Gardner said. “They just played so hard and so smart. I am excited for the girls and for [tonight.]”
CASCADE (52) – Collier 3-10 2-3 8, O. Bryant 2-5 2-2 6, Rasnake 7-11 2-2 20, E. Bryant 3-5 1-3 7, Walker 4-12 2-4 10, Hostettler 0-0 0-0 0, Gross 0-0 0-0 0, S. Bryant 0-0 1-2 1, Cleveland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-43 FG, 10-16 FT, 52 TP.
SOUTH PUTNAM (63) – Bieghler 5-10 4-4 16, Nichols 0-1 0-0 0, Vanihel 0-3 0-0 0, Capps 5-8 0-1 11, Stein 1-10 13-17 15, Barker 6-13 2-2 15, Vensko 3-3 0-0 6, Boswell 0-0 0-0 0, Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Bratcher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 FG, 19-24 FT, 63 TP.
Cascade 5 12 16 19 – 52
South Putnam 16 7 19 21 – 63
3-point shooting – CHS 4-15 (Collier 0-5, O. Bryant 0-2, Rasnake 4-7, E. Bryant 0-1), SP 4-15 (Bieghler 2-3, Barker 1-5, Stein 0-3, Vanihel 0-2, Capps 1-2). Rebounds – CHS 28 (Collier 3, O. Bryant 1, Rasnake 1, E. Bryant 10, Walker 8, Hostettler 2, S. Bryant 2), SP 32 (Bieghler 2, Nichols 2, Vanihel 1, Capps 6, Stein 9, Barker 5, Vensko 2, Boswell 2) FG Pct. – CHS 44.2 SP 41.7. FT Pct. – CHS 62.5, SP 79.2. Turnovers – CHS 16, SP 11.