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Cougars come alive to win third-place game
It was a tale of two halves Friday when South Putnam and North Putnam met in the consolation game of the Putnam County Classic.
North Putnam rallied from a first-half deficit to pull away from the Eagles for a 66-51 win at Greenastle’s McAnally Center.
The Cougars piled up 44 second-half points on an amazing 14-of-18 shooting. North shot 56 percent from the field for the entire game as it avenged an early season loss to the Eagles.
“We were really efficient in the second half with the ball,” North Putnam head coach Collin McCartt said. “We were able to get Elliot (Gross) some looks down low. Preston (Porter) got some looks, Corbin (Judy) got a couple and we were able to knock them down.”
The Eagles controlled the tempo early as the teams played evenly in the first period. South’s Allen Plunkett scored eight of the Eagle points in the period, while Steven Schnepp knocked down two free throws at the end of the quarter to give South a 12-11 lead to start the second quarter.
“We moved the ball better than we did last night,” South Putnam head coach Greg Dean said. “We got some good shots, we attacked the rim and did some good things early in the half.”
South controlled the second quarter by outscoring the Cougars 17-11 in the period. The Eagle defense forced four turnovers while only committing one.
North struggled to find an offensive rhythm, while South got scoring contributions from five different players in the quarter. The physical game began to play out and South hit 6-of-8 from the line and finished the half ahead 29-22.
“We really couldn’t get a rhythm in the first half,” McCartt said. “We didn’t hit some shots that we should and just couldn’t get into a flow.”
The Cougars shot just 8-of-21 in the first half as their offense struggled, but their defense kept the game close.
Dean pointed out that the Eagles didn’t capitalize on their opportunities in the first half.
“I thought we missed some shots at the rim and some shots we normally make,” Dean said.
Although down by seven heading to the break, McCartt said he felt his team had played pretty well.
“I thought we defended pretty well in the first half, but we just couldn’t get enough going. We just needed to keep them off the offensive boards,” McCartt said.
North took control early in the second half. Porter nailed a trey to start the run. Andrew Pickel scored a bucket and gave the Eagles fits with his long arms and pressure defense.
The surge sparked the Cougars to a dominating 22-6 quarter and turned the seven-point deficit into a nine-point advantage at the end of the third quarter.
“I thought Andrew Pickel came in and really played well. He got a couple of buckets and he is so long that he causes problems for teams when we press,” McCartt said.
South managed just three field goals in the quarter, while North’s Porter hit three from downtown and Gross picked up three buckets around the rim to boost the Cougars to a 44-34 lead heading into the final stanza.
North put the game away early in the fourth quarter. Judy hit two more three-pointers early in the quarter as the Cougars stretched their lead to 62-43 before the Eagles rallied to cut the final margin to 66-51. The efficient Cougars hit 6-of-7 from the field and hit their free throws en route to the final 66-51 victory.
The Cougars improved to 8-12 on the season.
“It was a tale of two halves. When you give up 44 points in a half and allow that many wide-open looks you will have trouble,” Dean said. “They have some really good shooters and we didn’t defend well in the second half.”
Gross led the Cougars with 17 points, while Porter had 16 and Judy 15 points.
Plunkett led the Eagles and all scorers with 30 points as the only double-figure scorer for the Eagles who fell to 5-13 on the season.
Both teams are back in action on Tuesday night. The Cougars travel to North Montgomery, while the Eagles will take the short trip down to Eminence.
NORTH PUTNAM (66) – Smith 1-3 3-5 5, Porter 5-8 3-4 16, Duff 1-5 5-6 7, Judy 5-10 3-4 15, Gross 8-10 1-3 17, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Pickel 2-3 2-2 6, Webster 0-0 0-0 0, Rude 0-0 0-0 0, Kendall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-39 FG, 17-24 FT, 66 TP.
SOUTH PUTNAM (51) – Schnepp 2-5 2-2 6, Fanning 0-3 2-2 2, Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Plunkett 7-18 14-15 30, Zeffel 2-4 2-2 6, Arnold 2-2 0-0 4, Lesko 0-0 1-2 1, Scott 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 14-37 FG, 21-23 FT, 51 TP.
North Putnam 11 11 22 22 – 66
South Putnam 12 17 6 16 – 51
3-point shooting – NP 5-12 (Smith 0-2, Porter 3-6, Duff 0-4, Judy 2-2), SP 2-11 (Fanning 0-3, Plunkett 2-8). Rebounds – NP 28 (Smith 2, Porter 5, Duff 2, Judy 3, Gross 5, Mitchell 1, Pickel 4) SP 20 (Schnepp 3, Watson 1, Plunkett 10, Zeffel 2, Arnold 1, Lesko 2, Scott 0) FG Pct. – NP 56.4, SP 37.8. FT Pct. – NP 70.1, SP 91.3. Turnovers – NP 12, SP 11.