PREP ROUNDUP: Cougars fall, Clovers win in WIC playoffs; Cub boys win

ELLETTSVILLE — After losing a late lead Friday night at Edgewood, the North Putnam girls’ basketball team came away disappointed but with something to build upon.

Leading the Mustangs by three points with about 2:30 to play, the Cougars wound up falling to Edgewood 39-33 in a Western Indiana Conference ninth-place game.

“The good thing about our locker room after the game was that we were disappointed that we didn’t close the deal at the end of the game,” Cougar coach Jarrod Duff said. “They weren’t satisfied with just making it a close game. They felt the same way that I did. They were disappointed, but encouraged with how we played.”

The Cougars started strong, with a pair of Payton Lyons three-pointers fueling an 11-5 score after one quarter.

However, Lyons’ third trey of the game garnered the Cougars’ only points of the second quarter, and they found themselves in a 14-14 tie at the break.

Duff credited Edgewood’s press with forcing his team into mistakes.

“Their full court man-to-man pressure bothered us,” Duff said. “We made some mistakes against it, but I was really proud of how the girls didn’t fold, and played the next play over and over again.”

Edgewood built a 25-21 lead after three quarters, but North Putnam wasn’t ready to go away yet.

Hannah Sims led the fourth-quarter charge, scoring all seven of her points in the final period — five of them at the free-throw line.

The late three-point lead wasn’t enough, though, as a late Mustang rally closed the six-point win.

“I was extremely proud of the toughness we showed as a team,” Duff said. “We got contributions from so many girls tonight.”

Lyons and Mia Runnells led the Cougars with nine points each. Sims was just behind with seven.

Edgewood freshman Taylor Minnick came off the bench to lead all scorers with 10 points.

The Cougars move to 6-13 on the season, while Edgewood climbs to 10-12.

With the end of the season approaching, Duff likes the growth he is seeing from his team.

“We are closer to being able to win a game like this,” he said. “The girls just have to keep believing in and trusting the process.”

The Cougars host Southmont on Monday.

NORTH PUTNAM (33) — Runnells 9, Lyons 9, Sims 7, Osburn 3, Tennis 3, Gibson 2, Day 0. Totals 9 FG, 9-17 FT, 33 TP

EDGEWOOD (39) — Minnick 10, Acuff 7, Shockney 7, Phillips 6, Anderson 4, Meyer 2, Robertson 2, Spear 1. Totals 13 FG, 10-14 FT, 39 TP

North Putnam 11 3 7 12 — 33

Edgewood 5 9 11 14 — 39

3-point goals — North Putnam 6 (Lyons 3, Runnells 2, Tennis 1), Edgewood 3 (Phillips 2, Shockney 1).

In other basketball:

• Cloverdale 54, Sullivan 42 — In the WIC seventh-place game, the Clovers bounced back from a double-overtime loss on Thursday to rack up 21 first-period points and cruise to the win.

With the victory, Cloverdale tied a school record for single season victories in improving to 16-4.

The Clovers got five first-period treys in jumping out to the big lead, two from Sammie Shrum, two from Abby Walker and one from Hailey Thomas.

Cloverdale led 21-8 at the first stop, and extended that lead to 33-14 at halftime.

Sullivan won the second half by a 28-21 margin, but the Clovers were well in control by that point.

Shrum and Walker led the Clovers with 12 points each, while Thomas added 11.

“We felt going in that Sullivan was a very dangerous team,” Clover coach Matthew Langdon said. “They have played some good opponents this year and stayed close to them. They have been competitive all year long..

“Our girls came in with a really good focus and started strongly,” Langdon added. “We had a good lead throughout most of the first half, but in the second half we settled too much.”

Langdon thought his team needed to drive to the basket more when its long-range shots weren’t falling.

“At the end the game got closer than we liked,” he said. “But we did what we needed to do to pull out another win. We would have liked to have finished higher, but our side of the conference was really tough.”

The Clovers will have another tough week next week in its final preparations for the sectionals, traveling to Wabash River Conference tourney finalist Rockville on Tuesday and meeting South Putnam on Thursday.

SULLIVAN (42) — Holeman 4 0-2 9, Brown 0 0-0 0, Povlin 5 0-0 10, Akers 3 3-3 9, Ravellette 4 4-7 12, Ming 1 0-0 2, Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 FG, 7-12 FT, 42 TP

CLOVERDALE (54) — McCracken 3 0-0 7, Shrum 5 0-0 12, Wade 0 0-0 0, Walker 4 0-0 12, Combs 2 0-0 4, Thomas 3 2-2 11, Thoemaker 1 0-0 2, Price 1 4-4 6, Shedron 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 FG, 6-6 FT, 54 TP

Sullivan 8 6 13 15 — 42

Cloverdale 21 12 10 11 — 54

3-point goals — Holeman, McCracken, Shrum 2, Walker 4, Thomas 3.

In boys’ action:

• Greencastle 46, South Vermillion 40 — The Tiger Cubs used a strong 17-9 advantage in the fourth quarter to pull off a comeback and improve to 8-4 on the season.

Greencastle led 13-11 after one quarter and 23-22 at halftime, but a South Vermillion surge in the third period put the Wildcats up 31-29 at the final stop.

Colin York led Greencastle with 24 points, while Gavin Bollman and Brody Whitaker added eight each.

Bryce McLeish paced South Vermillion with 15 points.

SOUTH VERMILLION (40) — McLeish 5-11 2-3 15, Kalber 3-7 0-1 7, Johnson 1-3 2-2 4, Terry 1-2 1-2 3, Gilman 1-3 0-0 3, Vanlannen 1-4 0-0 3, Panagouleas 1-3 0-0 3, Wiltermood 0-3 0-0 0. Handley 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 14-36 FG, 6-8 FT, 40 TP

GREENCASTLE (46) — C.York 9-18 4-6 24, Bollman 4-12 0-2 8, Whitaker 3-11 2-8 8, Hutcheson 2-3 2-2 6, A.York 0-0 0-0 0, Wood 0-0 0-0 0, Parmley 0-3 0-1 0. Totals 18-48 FG, 8-19 FT, 46 TP

South Vermillion 11 11 9 9 — 40

Greencastle 13 10 6 17 — 46

3-point shooting — Greencastle 2-11 (C.York 2-4, Bollman 0 -2, Whitaker 0-3, Parmley 0-2), South Vermillion 7-19 (McLeish 3-8, Kalber 1-1, Johjnson 0-1, Gilman 1-2, Vanlannen 1-2, Panagoleous 1-2, Wiltermood 0-3).