Eagles miss out in barnburner against Patriots

Thirty-five years ago, the three-point shot was introduced into college and high school basketball. Analytics have been introduced into the equation that emphasizes the three-point shot, but no one could have anticipated what went on at South Putnam High School on Friday night.

Owen Valley defeated the South Putnam Eagles 85-74 in a Western Indiana Conference basketball game, but the reality is the two teams put up 116 field goal attempts and more than half of them (62) were from behind the three-point arc.

Owen Valley canned 16 treys as they were able to outlast the Eagles in a shootout and improve their record to 7-10 overall and 5-4 in conference play. The Eagles dropped to 4-16 and 1-8 in WIC action despite scoring their season-high 74 points.

“I thought we had our best offensive game of the year. We moved the ball well, took good shots and attacked the basket,” South Putnam coach Matt Pickerill said.

The three-point shot made the difference in the first quarter as the Patriots hit three-pointers while the Eagles answered with two-point baskets. Owen Valley’s first five baskets were from downtown and it hit a total of six from behind the arc in the quarter with 18 of its 20 first quarter points coming on threes.

South knocked down five field goals and Eli Smith scored eight of his game-high 30 points in the quarter to keep the Eagles close as the Patriots led 20-12 at the first break in the action.

The first quarter was just a warm-up for the Patriots in long-range shooting. Owen Valley continued its hot shooting as freshman Rhet Heckman nailed five treys, most of them from the left corner of the court as Owen Valley continued to scorch the nets, knocking down seven threes and hitting 10-of-16 shots from the floor.

The Eagles countered though. Drew Hill scored 13 points including three made shots from deep. Josh Hammond kept the Patriots within range with a near half-court shot to end the half to cut the Patriot lead to 49-38 heading into the locker room.

“I didn’t think we played bad defense most of the time. We did a good job, they (Owen Valley) just made shots,” Pickerill said.

The Eagles were able to slow the long-range game of the Patriots down in the third quarter but could not close the gap. Owen Valley could only get 6-of-16 shots to fall in the third period. South’s relentless attack at the basket kept them close as the Eagles Austen Branam picked up six points in the period as the small point guard attacked the basket and kept the Eagles in the game.

“I thought we attacked well and maybe played our best game of the year, even though we didn’t get the win,” Pickerill said.

South could not close the gap, but they did not allow the Patriots to extend the lead either as both teams scored 16 points in the quarter and Owen Valley led 65-54 heading into the final period.

The Eagles used an 11-4 run to open the final quarter and closed the gap to 69-67 with just 3:27 left but would get no closer. South’s Eli Smith and Griffin Garner fueled the Eagle comeback, but a sequence of missed free throws and turnovers prevented the Eagles from taking control of the game. The two-point deficit would be as close as South Putnam would be for the rest of the game.

“We were really playing well. A couple of missed free throws and a couple of poor possessions hurt us, but overall, I thought we really did a good job,” Pickerill said.

The Eagles had to begin fouling the Patriots and Owen Valley knocked in 9-of-10 from the stripe in the final quarter to keep South at bay and close the game with the 85-74 victory.

Cayden Paquette led the Patriots with 25 points. Heckman added 20. Zach Hamilton gave the Patriots a third double-digit scorer with 17 points and Caden Gonser chipped in with 10.

Smith led all scorers with 30 points and Hill added 15. Garner came off the bench and knocked in 10 points.

“Eli was really tough to guard. He went inside and he hit some jumpers that he hasn’t been able to get recently. Griffin did a great job of going to the basket and not settling for jump shots,” Pickerill said.

The Eagles will try and carry their offensive momentum into another game on Saturday night as they travel to North Vermillion.

OWEN VALLEY (85) – Wood 4-7 0-0 9, Hamilton 6-14 0-0 17, Gonser 3-4 1-1 10, Paquette 6-14 12-14 25, Goss 1-3 0-0 2, Heckman 7-14 0-0 20, Herbert 1-1 0-0 2, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 FG, 13-15 FT, 85 TP.

SOUTH PUTNAM (74) – Hill 5-12 2-3 15, Branam 4-5 0-0 8, Hammond 3-6 0-0 7, Smith 13-22 2-3 30, Beadles 0-0 0-0 0, Cash 1-2 0-0 0, Garner 5-11 0-1 10, Witt 1-1 0-2 2, Mullin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-59 FG, 4-9 FT, 74 TP.

3-point shooting – OV 16-39 (Wood 1-4, Hamilton 5-13, Gonser 3-4, Paquette 1-5, Heckman 6-13) SP 6-23 (Hill 3-8, Hammond 1-4, Smith 2-7, Cash 0-1, Garner 0-3). Rebounds – OV 32 (Wood 9, Hamilton 1, Gonser 1, Paquette 9, Goss 4, Heckman 3) SP – 28 (Hill 2, Hammond 5, Smith 9, Beadles 1, Garner 6, Witt 2) FG Pct. – OV 49.1, SP 54,2. FT Pct. – OV 86.7, SP 44.4. Turnovers – OV 16, SP 14.