Eagles open with win over Clay City

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

The South Putnam boys’ basketball team opened its season Tuesday night against the visiting Clay City Eels.

The Eagles didn’t put up a lot of style points, but that was not what was important. What was important was the Eagles are now 1-0 on the young season with a 53-40 victory.

“Our kids played really, really hard. It wasn’t always pretty. We did some things that were silly, but we earned the win by playing hard,” South coach Greg Dean said.

The Eagles didn’t put up any eye-popping numbers, but were able to use a 9-1 run in the third quarter to open up a lead that they maintained throughout the remainder of the game. South shot just 33 percent from the field for the game, but they hit 24-of- 28 from the free throw line and eventually wore down the Eels.

South’s Austin Arnold opened the scoring with a three-point play for a 3-0 lead, but the Eels ran off nine straight points and never relinquished the lead in the first half.

Dalton Scott kept the game close in the first quarter by scoring five of his nine points to keep the Eagles within striking distance. Wes Lesko was able to convert a layup at the end of the quarter and keep South within two points at 12-10. The Eagles kept themselves in the game by outrebounding the Eels 11-7 in the period.

South looked to be in trouble as starters Allen Plunkett and Steven Schnepp both picked up two fouls in the period and wouldn’t see the floor again until the second half.

“Everybody contributed tonight. We got into some early foul trouble and we have to get better at that,” Dean said.

Clay City used its own run in the second quarter to put some distance between the teams late in the first half. The Eels had a 9-0 run to take a 26-20 lead with under a minute to play.

South scored five points in the last three seconds of the half as Lane Watson hit a three-pointer with :03 on the clock, then Ty VanSickle converted a jump shot off a turnover on the inbound pass to cut the Clay City lead to 26-25 at the half.

“Lane really steadied us tonight. He gave us some good minutes,” Dean said.

The second half opened up slow with neither team scoring much in the first four minutes, but the Eagles switched to a zone trap and turned the game around.

Clay City held a 28-27 lead with 4:51 to play in the quarter, but turned the ball over seven times in the quarter, including three straight possessions and the Eagles capitalized by taking a 36-28 lead over a three-minute span. Plunkett scored all seven of his points in the quarter before picking up his fourth foul.

The defensive pressure was the key, according to Dean.

“I thought our defense was so much better in the second half,” he said. “We went to the trap in the second half and it went from a two-point game to an eight or 10-point game. I thought the kids did a good job in it.”

The Eagles led the entire fourth quarter. Clay City was never able to get closer than seven points during the period.

The Eagles used their significant size advantage and pounded the ball inside as Lesko scored six of his nine points in the period using his 6-foot- 6 frame and get to the free throw line. The lone senior on the squad had the nine points and also pulled down eight rebounds for the game.

“He (Lesko) had some success and when we see that, we have to ride that momentum. I thought he played well,” Dean said.

The Eagles wouldn’t let the Eels back in the game as they consistently hit free throws in the quarter.

Thomas Fanning led the way converting 7-of-8 from the line in the quarter as he led the Eagles with scoring on the night with 11 points, all from the charity stripe. The Eagles as a team hit 11-of- 13 from the line in the quarter.

“When we figured out to get the ball inside, we got better. We found we could get to the line using our size. Our ratio of two-point shots to three-point shots in the first half was backwards. We shot too many threes,” Dean said.

The Eagles travel to Turkey Run next Tuesday.

“The fact that we got a win and have a lot of things to work on is a good thing. We will take a little break, but that turkey will taste better with a win than if we had lost the game,” Dean said.

CLAY CITY (40) – Rogers 0-4 8-9 8, Crosby 2-6 0-0 4, Owens 2-6 0-1 5, Steward 1-5 0-0 3, Yocom 2-4 0-0 4, Hunter 0-0 0-0 0, Laffary 3-6 3-7 11, Pipes 1-4 2-2 5. Totals 11-35 FG, 13-19 FT, 40 TP.

SOUTH PUTNAM (53) – Fanning 0-5 11-12 11, Arnold 3-7 1-1 8, Scott 3-14 2-2 9, Plunkett 2-4 3-3 7, Schnepp 1-3 0-0 2, Watson 1-2 2-3 5, Gregory 0-1 0-0 0, Lesko 2-2 5-7 9, VanSickle 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 13-39 FG, 24-28 FT, 53 TP.

Clay City 12 14 6 8 – 40

South Putnam 10 15 13 15 – 53

3-point shooting – CC 5-22 (Rogers 0-3, Crosby 0-3, Owens 1-4, Steward 1-4, Laffary 2-4, Pipes 1-4), SP 3- 12 (Fanning 0-2, Arnold 1-4, Scott 1-4, Watson 1-2). Rebounds – CC 25 (Rogers 3, Crosby 4, Owens 3, Steward 4, Yocom 1, Laffery 2, Pipes 2) SP 30 (Fanning 4, Arnold 5, Scott 4, Plunkett 2, Schnepp 4)..

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