Hoosier Hysteria Returns to Indiana

A year after the world, not just the basketball world, stopped in its tracks, the IHSAA Boys’ Basketball State Tournament gears up for action this week with all four Putnam County teams aiming for a sectional title to add to their trophy cases.

Three games will involve county teams in the opening rounds at Frankfort and Cloverdale with the Clovers getting the ball up first Tuesday against Parker Heritage, followed by South Putnam and North Putnam squaring off at Al Tucker Court Wednesday while Greencastle battles North Montgomery at Case Arena.

Tuesday, March 2

IHSAA Class 2A Sectional No. 43

Cloverdale v Parke Heritage

7 p.m.

The Clovers kept the regular season meeting with the Wolves close until midway through the third period, where the visitors used an 11-5 run to close the third quarter as a gap creator and closed things out in the fourth quarter.

“Points in the paint,” Cloverdale head coach Patrick Rady said on how Parke Heritage did its damage in the first game. “They out scored us 30-14 in the paint.”

The Wolves are not afraid to use their size and strength to their advantage and did so in the meeting against the Clovers earlier this year, leaving several players in foul trouble as the night went on.

Rady said the team knew what was coming now and had to be mentally prepared to deal with the physical nature of postseason basketball.

“You have to be able to play through contact,” Rady noted. “You can’t expect every time you are bumped to get a foul called.

“We need to be able to play through contact and on to the next play. On defense, it is important that we are in position before contact.

“This requires us to use our feet not our hands on defense,” Rady added.

Defense has often been the bellwether for whether Cloverdale has been in games or not this season, holding teams to .77 points-per-possession in wins and allowing 1.22 points-per-possession in losses.

Rady pointed out that Parke Heritage fit the mold of a loss on defense, hitting a 1.26 ppp mark and said the team had to do better limiting the Wolves’ number of chances to score.

“How do we get (Parke Heritage) below 1.00 ppp?” Rady said. “We have to keep them out of the paint, whether it’s on the drive, post feeds or offensive rebounds.

“We have to limit their transition points as they’re very good in that department, and we need to be more efficient on offense. We need to take the shot we want to get, not the ones they want us to take.”

Wednesday, March 3

IHSAA Class 3A Sectional No. 23

North Montgomery v Greencastle

8 p.m.

It was only a month ago that the Tiger Cubs went up to see the Chargers, a game in which the visitors trailed after a quarter of play before defensively slamming the door shut in the second half to claim a comfortable win, if not an easy one.

“Probably the biggest thing to take away from a month ago is that we are going to have to play well to win,” Greencastle head coach Bryce Rector said. “The first time we played North Montgomery, we found ourselves in a tight game in the first half, but were able to use a big second half to extend the lead out.

“They run some really nice stuff offensively and really defend hard, so you’re going to have to play well again if you want to advance on to Friday night.”

The Tiger Cubs split their last four games heading into the tournament with losses against North Putnam and A No. 9 Bloomfield offset by wins over South Putnam and Owen Valley.

A 2-2 run was an improvement over last season as Greencastle lost its last three regular season games before being knocked out of postseason play in the opening round of sectional action.

Rector was upbeat about how the team was performing as the squad heads into postseason play.

“We’ve had a successful season with a group of experienced players,” Rector said. “We’re excited at an opportunity to advance in the state tournament with each game we get to play.”

The postseason will begin the final run for the quartet of seniors that have led the team over the past few seasons in Brody Whitaker, Benton Parmley, Nick Sutherlin and Cade Plew.

While each game might be the last one the group plays together, it was a ride that Rector said everyone was enjoying being a part of.

“Obviously, anytime you get into postseason play, you always have the added pressure of it being a lose-and-go-home scenario,” Rector noted. “That’s part of what makes the start tournament so much fun.

“But, I don’t think that provides necessarily any extra or added motivation or focus. We try to come in each day ready to practice or play and that doesn’t change from game one to the sectional.”

IHSAA Class 2A Sectional No. 43

South Putnam v North Putnam

8 p.m.

Of the three rematches taking place in postseason play, the one between the Eagles and Cougars was the furthest in the past as North Putnam defeated South Putnam at home 79-43 on Dec. 18.

Since then, the Eagles have been in-and-out of quarantine while the Cougars have built a winning season for the first time since the 2003-04 season and best record since the 2001-02 season, a year win which the school won its last boys’ basketball sectional title.

Neither team played at full strength that night as North Putnam had seven players available while South Putnam was also without starters that evening, meaning both teams will see each other a full strength Wednesday evening.

“We were last together leaving the locker room after the Putnam County Classic,” South Putnam head coach Travis Turpen noted. “We’ve watched film for the last couple of weeks, the guys have done conditioning and shooting on their own and we appreciate the ping pong balls placing us on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

“That said, we have a tough matchup as North Putnam is a very good team but it is what it is.”

“Since that game, the Eagles have played a difficult schedule and have competed very well with very good teams,” North Putnam head coach Vince Brooks said. “In their last five games, they have been more consistent in their offensive production with (Eli) Smith, (Drew) Hill, and (Dru) Teipen all shooting the ball well.”

North Putnam has been playing very well in recent weeks, winning eight of its last 10 games and even in the losses, including the regular season finale against 2A No. 6 Linton, Brooks said the team learned something it had to be able to handle now that postseason play was beginning.

“The Linton game was very good for us,” Brooks pointed out. “We played a solid first half defensively, holding a loaded Miner team to just 23 points.

“Things slipped away late because of our ineffectiveness on offense once Linton started to demonstrate patience with a six-point lead in the fourth quarter. We learned valuable lessons on how to sustain effective aggressiveness that we will be able to carry over to our games this week.

For Turpen and the Eagles, Wednesday was a chance to go out and catch a glimpse of where the team was headed once they get a full offseason under their belts.

“As silly as it seems, we told the guys, looking at the positives, our bodies and minds should be fresh,” Turpen said. “The last game we played against Greencastle was one of our best games of the season, one in which we had a chance to win in the fourth quarter.

“Looking at the film, we really need to go into Wednesday relaxed, ready to play, enjoy ourselves and see what happens.”