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Cougars shake off sluggish start to down Trojans
BAINBRIDGE – North Putnam entered Thursday’s meeting with Covington hitting the quarter way point of the 2022-23 girls’ basketball season.
The Trojans, meanwhile, were playing their season opener, which the Cougars tried to take advantage of early on, overplaying their own hand, before stepping back and using a solid second half to take home a 48-31 win.
“We knew this was (Covington’s) first game and with no film on them, we weren’t sure what they were going to do,” North Putnam head coach Craig Franklin said. “We wanted to be aggressive, push the pace and tire them out.
“That affected us as we played a little too fast and saw turnovers. It did help us as they did get tired in the second quarter.”
The Cougars (4-1) forced multiple turnovers in the opening quarter but in trying to pressure Covington (0-1) often sped themselves up too much, resulting in several turnovers right back to the Trojans.
Lexi Daigle scored all eight points for the hosts in the opening period with Rose Haste picking up three fouls in the quarter and sitting most of the rest of the first half as the teams entered the second quarter tied at 8-8.
Once North Putnam began to slow itself down, the lead soon ballooned to 10 after a three-point plays from Samie Hoops and Kyndal Brewer, a steal and score from Addi Osburn and a second-chance basket from Daigle.
A late three from Peyton Brown brought the lead down to 20-13 at halftime while a 9-2 run early in the second half, keyed by Sydni Crain and Lilly Hacquet, allowed Covington to close the gap to three twice and 23-20 and 25-22.
Daigle answered each time with runners in the lane before late threes from Haste and Melanie Davies pushed the lead back out to 10 at 34-24 entering the fourth quarter.
A Daigle three-point play, along with a Haste floater and three, put the game out of reach with the lead reaching as large as 21 before the final horn.
“Rose does so many good things for us and has really developed into a good shooter for us,” Franklin said about the sophomore. “She is a big part of what we do offensively and that was a big adjustment for us in the first half.
“At halftime, we told her to play like she always plays and if she picks up a fourth foul, we’d adjust from there. I feel like you’re playing down a girl if someone is trying to play without picking up a foul and she played great for us in the second half.”
With the first two weeks completed, North Putnam, along with the other county schools, turn their attention to the Putnam County Tournament being held at Cloverdale next weekend.
The Cougars face Greencastle in the first round with Franklin aware of the challenges the Tiger Cubs will offer next week.
“We’re going to spend some time this week watching Greencastle,” Franklin said. “Gloria Brewer is a phenomenal basketball player, scorer and makes her teammates better.
“Her teammates are feeding off of her and they’re going to be an extremely tough matchup. They’re a fun team to watch; as their rival, it’s not fun to say, but they get up and down the floor well, so we’re going to come up with something we think that will work and put our best foot forward.”
| Covington | 8 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 31 |
| North Putnam | 8 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 48 |
Scoring
Covington (12 2FG; 2 3FG; 1-7 FT) — Hacquet 9, Crain 9, Pettit 8, Brown 3, Kirkpatrick 2
North Putnam (15 2FG; 3 3FG; 9-18 FT) — L. Daigle 18, Haste 10, Brewer 9, Osburn 4, Davies 3, Hoops 3, Mason 1