Cougars claim first county title since 1998-99

North Putnam defeated Cloverdale 80-64 Saturday to claim its first Putnam County Classic crown since 1998-99.

Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

CLOVERDALE – Lyons and Cougars and students, Oh my.

Ellis Lyons scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the first half as the North Putnam Cougar basketball team again put on a display of balance and three-point shooting and the Cougar student cheering section made this COVID-19 season feel normal as the Cougars beat Cloverdale 80-64 to win the Putnam County Classic and retain the bucket on Al Tucker court in Cloverdale on Saturday.

The win was the first time the school had brought the county title home with it in 22 years, last winning the Classic before the turn of the century in the 1998-99 season.

“To be able to capitalize on our play and get a county championship is pretty special,” North Putnam head coach Vince Brooks said.

North hit better than 50 percent (14-of-26) from the three-point line, including burying five of them in an explosive first quarter. That shooting propelled the Cougars to be able to cut down the nets and improve their record on the year to 14-6, along with a sweep the county teams this year, going 5-0 against their Putnam County counterparts. North knocked down 24-of-48 three-pointers in two games at Cloverdale Saturday. In addition, the Cougars have been a handful when they travel within the Putnam County limits.

“We are really proud of the fact that we have a winning record against the county in the last two years,” Brooks said as his team improved to 14-6 on the year, while the Clovers fell to 8-10.

Lyons got the Cougars off to a fast start by scoring the first eight Cougar points. The junior guard nailed a pair of three-pointers and two free throws in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the game. North shot 7-of-13 from the floor and hit those five early treys, shots they would need because the Clover offense was in high gear also.

Cloverdale got the ball inside to Chase Ashcraft for six inside points as the home team kept the game close and trailed the Cougars 21-18 at the first stop in the action.

“I told him (Lyons) I was proud of him and happy he got a chance to get some accolades. He played really well, but he was the same player who channeled his energy into defense in the first game and was just as important to us. He got looks in this game by the way they were defending us and he took advantage of that,” Brooks said.

The shots from downtown continued to fall in the second quarter as Lyons and Aaron Huffman each hit a pair of treys and Zack Huff nailed one from behind the arc as well. That shooting balance was evident all night as the Cougars picked up three-pointers from all six players who played in the tournament on the day.

North had to keep up that shooting because the Clovers would not go away. Cloverdale kept the game within reach as Nolan Kelley picked up five of his 10 points in the quarter. North stretched the lead to 46-35 with a 9-2 run to close the quarter and take that lead to the locker room.

“They (North Putnam) are really hard to guard. They spread you out and they can all take you off the bounce and they can really shoot it. They exposed us in some of the things we don’t do well defensively and we will have to work on that,” Cloverdale head coach Patrick Rady said.

Aaron Pickel led the charge out of the gate in the second half. The junior scored seven of his 23 points in the quarter, including five early in the quarter as the Cougars appeared to put the Clovers away.

North used an 11-0 run early in the quarter to take a 57-37 lead and would continue to maintain that large lead, with Lyons nailing his fifth three-pointer of the game late in the period, giving the Cougars a 62-43 lead heading into the fourth period and seemingly comfortably ahead.

The Cougar ball movement was impressive as they often went to the post to Mason Brooks, who repeatedly found open teammates on the perimeter for good looks and those teammates knocked them down.

“He (Brooks) has stayed patient and as a team we are so much better than earlier in the year in moving and understanding no matter where we are, we are still involved in the offense. We move better on the backside,” Brooks said.

North needed that big lead because the Clovers were not ready to concede the championship on their home floor. Cloverdale used a 12-4 run early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 70-60 with still 2:30 left to play in the game. Cloverdale’s Kyle Thomas got hot and carried the team during the run as the junior scored 12 of his team-high 22 points in the final stanza, but the Cougars held the Clovers back as they transferred their hot shooting from beyond the arc to the free throw line.

North shot only six times from the field in the final stanza as it forced the Clovers to put them on the foul line and it converted 12-of-13 from the line, not allowing the Clovers to cut the lead to less than double digits.

“I thought we did a lot of good things offensively tonight. Our effort and intensity were really good late in the third quarter and the fourth, but they are a really good team. They beat the Wabash Valley champions (Greencastle) twice and they just beat Covenant Christian,” Rady said.

North picked up a big lift on the night as its student cheering section showed up in force and made the game feel more back to ‘normal” with their raucous cheering and chanting. That seemed to inspire the Cougars at times according to Brooks.

“We’ve had very few student sections this year, so they had a lot of stored up energy and were really incredible tonight,” Brooks said.

The Clovers’ Thomas had 22 points, Ashcraft garnered 17 and Nolan Kelley added 10 to lead Cloverdale on the night.

“Chase left it all on the floor tonight, he was active and made a lot of plays,” Rady said.

Lyons led the Cougars with 25 and Pickel had 23. The balanced Cougars also had Brooks get 14 points along with 11 rebounds and Huff chipped in with 10 on a perfect 4-4 from the floor.

“We know we have kids who can score. We have confidence in all our kids to score,” Brooks said.

CLOVERDALE (64) – Kelley 4-16 2-3 12, Z. Thomas 2-3 0-0 6, Ashcraft 8-11 0-1 17, Sims 3-6 0-0 6, K. Thomas 7-21 7-7 22, Firkins 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 24-57 FG, 9-11 FT, 64 TP.

NORTH PUTNAM (61) – Huff 4-4 0-0 10, Lyons 7-11 6-6 25, Pickel 6-11 8-8 23, Spencer 0-1 0-0 0, Brooks 5-14 2-3 14, Huffman 2-2 2-2 8. Totals 24-43 FG, 18-19 FT, 80 TP.

3-point shooting – CHS 6-26 (Kelley 2-10, Z. Thomas 2-3, Ashcraft 1-2, Sims 0-3, K. Thomas 1-8) NP 14-26 (Huff 2-2, Lyons 5-8, Pickel 3-5, Spencer 0-1, Brooks 2-8, Huffman 2-2). Rebounds – CHS 28 (Kelley 6, Z. Thomas 2, Ashcraft 3, Sims 3, K. Thomas 8) NP – 27 (Huff 3, Pickel 6, Brooks 11, Huffman 2). FG Pct. – CHS 42.1, NP 55.8. FT Pct. – CHS 81.8, NP 94.7. Turnovers – CHS 8, NP 11.