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North Putnam falls short to Parke Heritage again in sectional final
CLOVERDALE – A couple of rebounds or a couple of missed shots can spell a difference when two good high school basketball teams are vying for a sectional title in Indiana.
Saturday night at Cloverdale it was just a few small plays that allowed Class 2A No. 4 Parke Heritage to win its second-straight title in Sectional No. 43 over the North Putnam Cougars, 48-42.
The Wolves were able to pound the offensive glass early in the contest, while the Cougars could not get a few shots to fall late in the game and the result was the loss that ended the season for North Putnam at 17-8 and just six points short of their first title since 2002.
Teams of contrasting styles, Parke Heritage slowed the game down and methodically used its physicality to wear down an opponent, while the three-point shooting Cougars used their sharpshooting to put opponents away.
The Wolves in the end were able to make the game their contest and pick up the victory to advance to play Triton Central next week in the Greenfield-Central regional.
“They are a very good, very talented and very physical team. Our offense kind of let us down tonight, but they (Parke Heritage) had a lot to do with that,” North Putnam head coach Vince Brooks said.
North Putnam’s defense was effective early on against the Wolves, but the problem in the first quarter was that Parke Heritage’s Connor Davis seemed to gather every missed shot and convert into a rebound basket as the Wolves jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead that led to a 15-9 first quarter lead.
Davis had 10 points in the opening period with eight of those points coming on offensive rebound put backs. Parke Heritage outrebounded North 10-3 in the period. The long ball kept the Cougars from letting the game get out of hand as they knocked in three shots from deep, but still trailed by six at the end of the first quarter.
“I am just really proud of our guys. We got off to a rough start, but true to who we are, we battled back and got right back into it,” Brooks said.
Parke Heritage looked to put the game out of reach early in the second quarter. The Wolves stretched the lead to double figures at 21-11 on a Christian Johnson three-pointer, but North found its game.
The Cougars went on a 9-0 run as Mason Brooks, Aaron Pickel and Ellis Lyons all canned three pointers. Aaron Huffman snuck in and gave the Wolves a taste of their own medicine with a rebound basket and North had its first lead at 22-21 late in the quarter.
The two teams traded buckets and then Huffman added a three-pointer as North led 29-23 late in the quarter. After a Johnson layup, they still led 29-25 as the teams went to the locker room. The Cougars knocked down four three-pointers in the quarter and had seven in the first half.
The Cougars solved some of the rebounding issues in the quarter as they gained the upper hand on the boards in the second period by winning that battle 9-5.
“It (offensive rebounds) is always a risk when you play zone defense. We had to switch back to a man-to-man defense and we did a better job of that (rebounding) from that point on,” Brooks said. “We put Mason on Davis and just kept him there.”
Parke Heritage came out of the half and was determined to slow the game down and use its strength to turn the game into a slugfest.
After a Zack Huff three-pointer gave the Cougars a 32-28 lead with 6:25 left to play in the third quarter, the Cougars would not score again in the period. The Wolves closed the third quarter with an 8-0 run and regained the lead 36-32 heading into the final stanza. The Wolves could not put the Cougars away. North kept battling and a Brooks jumper cut the lead to 38-36 early in the quarter.
Unfortunately, that was a close as North would get.
Christian Johnson picked up a pair of free throws and a Davis layup gave the Wolves a five-point lead with two minutes left to play.
“We definitely had some shots that nearly went down, but we also had some shots that showed we were tired, but that is part of the grueling thing that you have to go through to win a sectional,” Brooks said.
North had to start fouling and the Wolves missed a couple free throws that gave the Cougars life, but eventually Johnson started knocking down those free tosses as the sophomore star nailed six-straight in the fourth quarter.
Pickel knocked down a three-pointer and gave the Cougars their last chance down 44-40 with :50 left, but North just could not get shots to go down when it needed to and Parke Heritage ended the Cougar dream with the 48-42 win.
“I suppose the reality of it is the back-to-back games of that type of intensity hurt us. Going only six deep hurts. They (players) gave everything they had. I am really proud of our focus and they played their hearts out,” an emotional Brooks said.
The successful Cougar season came to a close, but eight losses does not show the full extent of the quality of their season. Four of those losses came to ranked teams, while they defeated three other state-ranked teams and finished fourth in the Western Indiana Conference behind three teams who won sectional titles in Class 3A.
Parke Heritage’s Christian Johnson led all scorers with 21 points, while Davis added 19. Pickel led the Cougars with 13, while Brooks had 12 in his final game as a Cougar.
“I feel so sorry for our kids, particularly our seniors that they have to finish without a sectional championship, but they have done an incredible job of building a foundation for the last two years to propel North Putnam basketball forward. I love them and am so proud of them,” Brooks said.
Parke Heritage will take on Triton Central next Saturday in the regional at Greenfield-Central.
| Parke Heritage | 15 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 48 |
| North Putnam | 9 | 20 | 3 | 10 | 42 |
PARKE HERITAGE (48) – Wood 1-5 0-1 2, Ferguson 1-12 1-3 4, N. Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, C. Johnson 6-12 6-8 21, Davis 9-11 1-2 19, Cheatham 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 FG, 8-14 FT, 48 TP.
NORTH PUTNAM (42) – Huff 1-3 0-0 3, Lyons 2-3 0-0 6, Pickel 5-15 0-0 13, Spencer 0-1 0-0 0, Brooks 5-16 1-4 12, Huffman 3-6 0-0 8. Totals 24-42 FG, 22-28 FT, 78 TP.
3-point shooting – PH 9-4-16 (Wood 0-2, Ferguson 1-7, N. Johnson 0-1, C. Johnson 3-5, Cheatham 0-1) NP 9-26 (Huff 1-2, Lyons 2-3, Pickel 3-10, Spencer 0-1, Brooks 1-6, Huffman 2-4). Rebounds – PH 32 (Wood 4, Ferguson 4, N. Johnson 4, C. Johnson 9, Davis 9) NP – 24 (Huff 3, Lyons 2, Pickel 7, Spencer 3, Brooks 5, Huffman 3). FG Pct. – PH 41.9, NP 36.4. FT Pct. – PH 57.1, NP 25.0. Turnovers – PH 5, NP 8.