South Putnam girls win Monrovia tournament; Bieghler scores 1,000th point

South Putnam won the Bulldog Holiday Classic at Monrovia on Saturday, defeating University and Monrovia to win the title.

Photo by Gary Hazlett

MONROVIA -- The South Putnam Lady Eagles’ basketball team faced some tough competition and came away with two wins and the championship of the Bulldog Holiday classic at Monrovia on Wednesday.

The Eagles improved their record to 10-4 with a 64-53 semifinal victory over the University Trailblazers, then used a strong defensive showing in the championship to defeat the host Bulldogs 47-37.

“This was really great for us. It is tough to come in and play two ballgames over the break and win,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said. “This was a classic 'lay around after an early game, then get ready to play' situation. We were a little sluggish early.”

The Eagles struggled shooting the ball in the championship game but methodically stretched their lead against the Bulldogs and used a strong second half to come out victorious. The Eagles didn’t particularly shoot the ball well in the night contest, but they made things work in their offense. South hit just 40 (17-42) percent from the field, but got a lot of great looks.

“We missed a lot of layups. We could have made this a 20-point game if we had hit them. We were really running our stuff well tonight,” Gardner said.

The Bulldogs controlled the pace early jumping out to an 11-5 lead, but the Eagles closed the gap at the end of the first quarter behind two old-fashioned three-point plays by Lillie Stein. The Eagles trailed 12-10 at the end of the first period.

The Eagles got a lift off the bench in the second quarter. Freshman Chloe Custis scored five of her seven points in the period as the Eagles took control and led 24-22 at the intermission. South closed the quarter on a 10-3 run and might have been more, but Custis had a trey waved off as she was a fraction of a second away from hitting a buzzer-beater.

“Chloe (Custis) coming off the bench as a freshman was big. She hit a big 3 and hit some free throws. She was in the right spot and did a lot of little things,” Gardner said.

South took control defensively in the third quarter. The Eagles held the Bulldogs to just four points in the period and forced Monrovia into shooting just 2-of-12 from the floor. Miranda Bieghler scored five of her nine points to pace the Eagles, but it was defensively where the Eagles boosted their lead to 37-26 after three quarters.

“In the third and fourth quarters we really defended. I told the girls at halftime, we were up by two and we still hadn’t played South Putnam basketball,” Gardner said.

The Eagles maintained their lead in the final stanza. South was patient offensively and ran some time off the clock while still defending the Bulldogs. South only turned the ball over three times in the period as Monrovia scrambled and pressed to get back into the ballgame. It was all for naught, as South finished off the game with the final margin of 47-37 and the championship.

“In three of our losses, we have had some unforced errors down the stretch. We really worked on that the last few days. We took care of the ball and was strong with it tonight,” Gardner said.

Stein led the way for South with 13 points and Lexi Vanihel added 10 points, with six of those coming in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles used a different tactic to get to the championship game. South pounded the bigger University Trailblazers on the boards to gain a 64-53 victory in the noon game. The Eagles picked up 40 caroms to 29 rebounds for University. Those rebounds led to the Eagles taking 17 more shots than University.

“We were really aggressive going to the boards. You’ve got to give yourselves chances for second opportunities. We attacked the glass really well, and then we went and got the ball,” Gardner said.

South used a 16-6 run to start the second half and put itself into position to advance. The Eagles forced six Trailblazer turnovers in the third quarter as they extended their lead to 41-29 before University closed the gap late in the period. The Eagles headed into the final stanza with a 41-35 lead.

“That (University) is a very good basketball team. They have a very good inside/outside threat,” Gardner said.

The Eagles finally got untracked offensively in the fourth period. South scored 23 points and hit 10-of-14 field goals and cruised to the 65-53 victory.

Stein led the way for the Eagles with 22 points and Caitlin Capps added 14 points for the Eagles. Bieghler scored 15 points for South as she went over the 1000-point mark for her career.

“It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t just me. My teammates, coach Gardner and even my freshman year, coach [Tim] Garver got me here,” Bieghler said.

“It was an added bonus that Miranda got her 1000th point today. It’s a great accomplishment for a great girl,” Gardner said.

The Eagles will travel on Tuesday down to Shakamak for a non-conference game with the Lakers.

Championship game

SOUTH PUTNAM (47) – Bieghler 3-6 2-3 9, Bratcher 1-4 0-0 2, Vanihel 5-8 0-0 10, Stein 5-14 2-2 13, Capps 2-9 2-2 6, Custis 1-1 4-4 7, Hill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-42 FG, 10-11 FT, 47 TP.

MONROVIA (37) – Payne 4-11 3-4 12, Grimes 0-2 0-0 0, Swafford 6-17 0-0 14, Sears 2-6 0-0 4, Whalen 2-2 1-2 5, Smith 1-4 0-0 2, Wilkerson 0-3 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-45 FG, 4-6 FT, 37 TP.

3-point shooting – SP 3-11 (Bieghler 1-3, Bratcher 0-2, Stein 1-4, Capps 0-1, Custis 1-1), MHS 3-14 (Payne 1-4, Grimes 0-2, Swafford 2-6, Wilkerson 0-2) Rebounds – SP 24 (Bieghler 1, Bratcher 3, Vanihel 4, Stein 6, Capps 6, Custis 2) MHS – 29 (Payne 2, Grimes 3, Swafford 4, Sears 8, Whalen 3, Smith 2, Wilkerson 3) FG Pct. – SP 40.5, MHS 33.3. FT Pct. – SP 90.9, MHS 66.7. Turnovers – SP 14, MHS 19.

Semifinals

SOUTH PUTNAM (64) – Bieghler 6-17 3-4 15, Bratcher 0-0 0-0 0, Vanihel 3-4 0-0 6, Stein 9-17 3-4 22, Capps 5-15 4-4 14, Custis 1-1 0-0 2, Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Gilliland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-63 FG, 10-12 FT, 64 TP.

UNIVERSITY (53) – Syrek 9-15 4-6 22, Andrus 3-6 0-0 7, Li. Snyder 1-4 1-2 3, Lu. Snyder 2-4 0-1 4, Nickless 7-16 0-1 17, Tomlinson 0-1 0-0 0, Fair 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-46 FG, 5-10 FT, 53 TP.

3-point shooting – SP 2-17 (Bieghler 0-7, Stein 1-7, Vanihel 0-2, Custis 1-1), UHS 4-18 (Andrus 1-3, Nickless 3-12, Li. Snyder 0-2, Tomlinson 0-1) Rebounds – SP 40 (Bieghler 5, Bratcher 5, Capps 8, Stein 10, Vanihel 4, Custis 5, Hill 1, Gilliland 1) UHS – 29 (Syrek 16, Andrus 1, Li. Snyder 1, Lu. Snyder 5, Nickless 3, Tomlinson 1) FG Pct. – SP 41.3, UHS 47.8. FT Pct. – SP 83.3, UHS 50.0. Turnovers – SP 10, UHS 15.