Eagles ready to set out in defense of sectional championship

Thursday, October 26, 2017
Lillie Stein (35) looks over the Cloverdale defense.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

South Putnam got hot at the right team last season, winning three straight games to capture the Cascade girls’ basketball sectional title.

Coach Brian Gardner has several key players back from that championship squad, and is looking toward their experience to help carry the Eagles to another excellent season.

“We have been busy trying to get everything in,” Gardner said. “We have everybody back now from the fall sports, and we’re working hard.”

South Putnam's Caitlin Capps (right) plays defense against Tori Combs of Cloverdale.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

Three of Gardner’s top players for this season were all injured during the recent cross country season, but none of the injuries was serious and should not keep any of them sidelined for long.

Gardner noted that senior Ally Nichols had a patella tendon issue, but it “wasn’t anything that was torn” so she is pretty much back to full strength.

Lexi Vanihel had a stress reaction in her foot, while Lillie Stein was unable to finish the semistate cross country meet due to shin problems.

Lexi Vanihel brings the ball upcourt last season.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

“Lexi just got cleared to start the process of getting back out on the court,” he said. “Lillie will be able to play in the scrimmage [on Saturday], so she’s doing OK.”

Gardner noted that improving sophomore Alex Bratcher also has a shoulder injury that “may pop out from time to time” but should not keep her off the court.

Senior Maddie McHugh will miss the entire season while recovering from a second ACL tear over the summer.

Other than those issues, Gardner thinks things are going well.

“We have a good group of girls, and they have been working really hard,” he said. “Being my third year here, with the seniors who have been through it for the whole time they pretty much know what to do and are helping out the newer players.”

Stein, Nichols and Miranda Bieghler are the seniors who helped the Eagles to capture the sectional title last year.

Also returning are junior Caitlin Capps and sophomores Bratcher and Vanihel.

Sophomores Grayce Garner and Kaylee Gilliland will play both JV and varsity.

“It’s been a really good start, and the chemistry has been really good,” he said. “Being the defending sectional champions has been an interesting thing for them. Despite having the three seniors and Caitlin back as upperclassmen, we are still going to be kind of young.

“You could tell this summer that they had an air to them and a confidence level. They just understood how to play, and that has carried over.”

The Eagles will have a target on their back, but Gardner doesn’t mind.

“I look it that it’s OK,” he said. “You look at the other schools in the sectional, and it’s a tough field. Cloverdale had a chance to beat us, and we played a great game to beat Cascade [in the semifinals. I think we were going to have a target whether we won or not because we have had success the past couple of years.”

The Eagles have not won the county championship for a few years, and Gardner knows that will be a tough chore again this year.

“We haven’t gotten that done, and there are a lot of good teams,” he said. “We are now working on trying to get better every day and try to get a county title.”

Gardner said the things that are important for his team to succeed will be the little things.

“We don’t have any size, so we’re going to have to defend without fouling,” he said. “We have a lot of freshmen who have never played at the high school level, so our depth is not going to be very good early on.

“It’s going to be interesting to see that dynamic of who steps up and fills out the reserve spots,” Gardner added.

Other examples of “little things” that Gardner stresses are things as simple as noticing which opposing players use which hand, and how to make sure to defend properly.

“When you make those recognitions of things like that, it allows you to be a good player,” he said.

Gardner has been stressing other things with his team, in relation to its lack of early depth.

“We’re going to have to play good defense without fouling, and on the offensive end we have to take care of the basketball and get what we can get. If we’re going to get easy points, we have to take them.”

Gardner is looking forward to the leadership from Stein, Bieghler and Nichols, and looks for Capps to step into that role also.

Capps specialized in last-second heroics last year, winning one game with free throws at the end and hitting the game-winning basket in the sectional championship win over Cloverdale.

One of the “little things” that Gardner stresses was a sharp bounce pass from Bieghler to Capps at the top of the key, from where Capps drove to the basket and hit the winning shot.

“Those four have played a lot of varsity minutes, and being able to understand how things go is really important,” Gardner said. “For them to be able to make a ‘basketball play’ when things break down is a tribute to their experience.”

Gardner thought Hill and Bratcher both stepped up their games in the summer and played well.

“As freshmen last year, they didn’t play a lot of minutes,” he said. “I can see their confidence grow. In some ways we are older, but we are still a young team overall.”

Bieghler led the Eagles in scoring last year with 12.7 points per game, while Stein scored 10.8, Vanihel added 6.6 and Capps added 6.4 points and 4.8 rebounds.

Repeating a sectional title got even tougher in the off-season, when Southmont moved up to Class 3A and was replaced by a stronger program in Western Boone.

“Every night is going to be a battle,” Gardner said. “You have to go compete every night, but we have a lot of competitors. Our conference also prepares us well for the post-season. Our girls had a pretty good season who played fall sports, and that’s great thing.

“There’s nothing like competing to make you better.”

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