MONDAY ROUNDUP: Turnovers plague South in loss to Patriots

SPENCER – In order to win a high school basketball game, a team needs to have the balance of aggressiveness, speed, intensity, and patience. The South Putnam Lady Eagle basketball team had a problem balancing those requirements in Monday night’s 50-36 loss to the Owen Valley Patriots.

“We were kind of on our heels tonight,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said as his team fell to 5-6 on the season.

The Eagles led the athletic Patriots at the half, but Owen Valley outscored South 12-4 in the third quarter and was deadly from the free throw line in the fourth. The Eagles turned the ball over 26 times on the night and couldn’t stop Huntington College-bound Dazia Drake, who poured in 23 points for the Patriots. Owen Valley improved its record to 8-3 on the season.

The Eagles managed to keep pace with the Patriots in the first half. The Eagles kept the pace of the game in their favor and forced Owen Valley into a horrendous shooting half. The Patriots hit just 8-of-30 from the field, but South’s inability to hang onto the ball didn’t allow the Eagles to take advantage of Owen Valley’s shooting woes. The Eagles committed 12 turnovers, with eight in the first quarter alone.

“They (Owen Valley) missed some point-blank shots early in the game. I think our physicality caused some of that,” Gardner said.

South scored the final four points of the first quarter on two Lexi Vanihel free throws and a Caitlin Capps jumper to trail just 12-11 at the first-quarter break.

The two teams went back in forth in the second period. Owen Valley’s Abigail Herrington nailed a late three-pointer with :23 left in the half, but South’s Chloe Custis answered with a trey of her own with :02 left in the half to give the Eagles the lead at 22-19.

The Patriots jumpstarted the second half with a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. Owen Valley scored those first seven points on their first three possessions of the half forcing the Eagles to call a timeout, but Owen Valley had a 26-22 lead, which it would never relinquish.

“I told the girls at halftime that the first two, three minutes of the second half was going to be important in matching their intensity. We kind of came out flat in the third quarter,” Gardner said.

Owen Valley would limit the Eagles to just 1-of-7 shooting in the quarter and had extended their lead to 31-26 at the end of the period. The turnover bug hit again in the third quarter. The Eagles would turn the ball over seven more times in the quarter, and 14 times in the second half. Those 26 total turnovers won’t win many games, according to Gardner.

“Less than 15 turnovers, I’d like to say 10, but less if you can keep turnovers under 15 you are doing well. Fifteen to twenty, I don’t know, and more than 20 you can’t really beat a good team.”

South was able to keep the game close behind Brionna Egold’s seven fourth-quarter points, but the Patriots converted 11-of-16 free throws in the period to keep the Eagles from gaining any ground.

“In the second half, we weren’t as physical. We let them cut where they wanted to and get where they wanted to. They shot 23 free throws to our 11. That tells me they were attacking the rim and we weren’t,” Gardner said.

Drake led all scorers with 23 points and Herrington chipped in with 15 for the Patriots. The Eagles only placed one scorer in double figures, as Alex Bratcher had 10 points to lead South.

The Eagles will try and snap their two-game losing streak as they head to West Vigo on Friday night for a conference matchup with the Vikings. The Eagles are looking for their first WIC victory.

SOUTH PUTNAM (36) – Custis 2-9 0-0 5, Bratcher 4-10 1-1 10, Vanihel 2-6, 3-4 7, Bumgardner 0-3 1-2 1, Capps 2-4 1-2 5, Egold 3-3 1-2 8, Mahoney-Sutherland 0-1 0-0 0, Crewes 0-0 0-0 0, Steffy 0-0 0-0 0, Vittetow 0-0 0-0 0, McHugh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-36 FG, 7-11 FT, 36 TP.

OWEN VALLEY (50) – D.Drake 8-19 6-9 23, Herrington 3-7 8-10 15, L. Richardson 3-9 0-0 7, Comte 0-4 1-2 1, K. Richardson 2-7 0-2 4, K. Drake 0-2 0-0 0, Wesley 0-0 0-0 0, Wood 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-48 FG, 15-23 FT, 50 TP.

3-point shooting – SP 3-12 (Custis 1-5, Bratcher 1-5, Vanihel 0-1, Egold 1-1), OV 2-9 (Drake 1-8, Herrington 1-3, L. Richardson 1-3, K. Drake 0-1) Rebounds – SP 35 (Custis 6, Bratcher 3, Vanihel 4, Bumgardner 5, Capps 6, Mahoney-Sutherland 3, Egold 6) OV – 27 (Drake 4, Herrington 3, L. Richardson 3, Comte 3, K. Richardson 8) FG Pct. – SP 36.1, OV 33.3. FT Pct. – SP 63.6, OV 65.2. Turnovers – SP 26, OV 12.

In other basketball:

• North Putnam 49, Indianapolis International 26 — The Cougars dominated the game from start to finish to improve to 5-6 for the season.

North led 18-6 after one quarter, 38-8 at halftime and 47-15 after three quarters.

Brie Miller led the Cougars with 10 points, while Dana Tennis added nine.

The Cougars played 14 players liberally throughout the contest.

North will host Northview on Friday in a girls/boys doubleheader.

INDPLS INTERNATIONAL (26) — Reddington 1 1-2 3, Meier 0 1-2 1, Hempstead 0-0 1, Moyer 0 0-0 0, Gaich 2 4-6 9, Nickel 1 0-0 2, Cisija 1 3-6 5. Totals 8 FG, 9-16 FT, 26 TP

NORTH PUTNAM (49) — Day 2 0-0 4, Young 2 0-0 4, Lyons 1 0-0 2, Gierke 2 0-2 4, Pace 0 0-0 0, Tennis 3 0-0 9, Willis 3 1-2 7, Sims 1 0-0 2, Miler 4 2-2 10, Osburn 0 0-0 0, Christy 1 0-0 3, Gibson 0 0-0 0, Riggen 1 0-2 2, Gross 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 FG, 3-6 FT, 49 TP

3-point goals — Tennis 3, Christy, Gaich.

• Eagles sweep Panthers — South Putnam’s eighth-grade boys’ teams hosted Riverton Parke Monday evening and won both games.

In the A game, South led 14-7 after one period, 25-11 at halftime and 32-19 after three quarters before winning 42-26.

Coach Scott Fosdick noted the Eagles had 10 offensives rebounds by halftime.

The third quarter had some miscues by both teams, Fosdick said, but the Eagles had a 10-2 run in the final period to put the game away.

Jeremiah Hibbeln led the way for the Eagles with 15 points, Griffin Garner added six points, while Jarred Bunch, Brock Heavin and Dalton Young had four points apiece.

The B team won a lopsided game by the score of 55-5. Uriah Kortz scored 20 points, while Dalton Young threw in 12 points, Kaden Childress had nine and Ethan Harcourt had eight points.

“Peyton Crickmore and Jimmy Smotherman controlled the tempo of the game very well,” coach Fosdick said.

The Eagles next game is Thursday at Cloverdale.