Eagles open season with rout of Clovers

Friday, November 4, 2022
Cloverdale's Emily Mann tries to stop a pass from South Putnam's Chlara Pistelli during the first Putnam County girls' basketball game of the 2022-23 season Friday night. Pistelli keyed the Eagle offense with a game-high 15 points as the hosts strolled to a 53-11 win over the Clovers.
Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

South Putnam didn’t get its first game of the 2022-23 basketball season in Tuesday like the rest of the county teams.

The Eagles had to wait for Friday night’s first Putnam County game of the season against Cloverdale to take to the court and while there were some opening issues to be expected, the expected result was also achieved with a 53-11 win over the Clovers.

“We were excited for the opportunity to play,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said. “You’re always trying to figure some things out in the first game and with a young group that doesn’t have a lot of experience playing together, we moved the ball well, continuously got open looks and knocked some of them down.”

“We only had eight turnovers in the first half and handled (South Putnam’s) press better than Riverton Parke, at least early on,” Cloverdale head coach James Wade said about improvements from the season opener. “We just have a lot to work on still.”

South Putnam opened the game with an 8-0 run as Dane Cline and Chlara Pistelli hit threes around a Kelsey Custis jumper.

Cline, Pistelli and Ariel Dooley all added additional baskets while Aubrey Yoho scored all three Cloverdale points as the hosts took a 14-3 lead into the second quarter.

A slower quarter, Cline and Custis hit threes after a Kiersten Wade free throw while Peyton Bell hit a late jumper as the Eagles led 20-6 at halftime.

“Something else I liked, especially this early in the season, was our defensive effort,” Gardner added after holding the visitors to single digits in each half. “Going into this year, one of the biggest things is to limit teams to one shot and not giving up offensive rebounds and we did a good job with that tonight.”

Similar to the first half, the hosts started with a quick 9-0 burst as Cline scored off a steal, Custis hit a three, Joscelyn Pilcher added two free throws and Pistelli scored on a putback for a 29-6 advantage.

Yoho scored off a steal while Wade added two more free throws for the Clovers, who trailed 33-10 after three quarters.

Pilcher hit a three to open the final period while Dooley added two more threes and a jumper before reserves hit the floor for both teams as South Putnam opened the season with a win.

Both teams play early week and weekend games prior to the Putnam County Tournament in two weeks’ time with the Clovers traveling to Clay City on Tuesday.

“We need to get some shots up and executing what we want to do,” Wade said about what the team would look at before facing the Eels. “We can’t worry about Clay City as we have too many things we need to work on on our end.

“We want to get back in the gym, fix things we have control over and try to get better every day.”

The Eagles head into a three-game week next week, including back-to-back trips to South Vermillion and Parke Heritage Monday and Tuesday.

“It’ll be a pair of tough trips to go to,” Gardner said about visiting the Wildcats and Wolves. “We won’t get a lot of prep time but the opportunity to get a game in tonight at home was good for us.

“Playing hard and doing the little things we need to do is important. Our scoring attack was balanced and that’s the way the year will go for us.”

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South Putnam146132053

Scoring

Cloverdale (3 2FG; 0 3 FG; 5-13 FT) — Yoho 5, Wade 3, Bell 2, Mann 1

South Putnam (13 2FG; 8 3FG; 3-4 FT) — Pistelli 15, Cline 10, Dooley 10, Custis 8, Pilcher 8, Wallace 2

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