South Putnam clips Greencastle in grinder

South Putnam's Jeremiah Hibbeln broke free from the Greencastle defense long enough to secure the final basket of Friday's 38-37 win for the Eagles, adding a steal in the final seconds to fend off a last-chance effort from the Tiger Cubs.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

In a boys’ basketball game played at a deliberate, steady tempo, execution to the final second mattered Friday night between South Putnam and Greencastle.

With possessions and points at a premium, Jeremiah Hibbeln came up with two clutch plays in the final 10 seconds, scoring the winning basket and securing the win with a steal as the Eagles upended the Tiger Cubs 38-37.

“I’m really proud of our guys and the way they gutted it out,” South Putnam head coach Kyle Swafford said. “When Greencastle went on its run in the third quarter and got it to seven or eight, Jeremiah hit a really big three.

“We called timeout, composed our guys and got stop after stop.”

South Putnam (2-2, 2-1 WIC) opened the game with a 7-2 start as Austin Branam, Griffin Garner and Cameron Bozell scored early around a brief scare when Drew Hill was undercut and landed on his back.

A Sam Gooch basket and three from Codey Evans trimmed the gap to 8-7 for Greencastle (1-4, 1-3 WIC) with a late Branam free throw making it 9-7 after a quarter of play in favor of the hosts.

Early baskets from Wyatt Switzer increased the lead to 13-7 with Hibbeln and Hill keeping the gap at six with a basket each.

A 7-0 Tiger Cub run gave the visitors a brief 18-17 lead after Cole Hutcheson hit a three, followed by baskets from Anthony Adams and Gooch though Hill kept the hosts in front at halftime with a late basket at 19-18.

Greencastle started the second half with a 12-2 run as Adams scored twice before picking up his fourth foul, Hutcheson added a basket and Gooch hit two threes to give the visitors a 20-21 lead.

Hibbeln broke the run with a three to start a 9-1 counter run as Hill added four three throws and Garner scored in the post, cutting the deficit to 31-30 heading into the final quarter of play.

With every basket, the lead changed hands as Hill opened the period with a jumper which was matched by a Hutcheson basket.

Branam sank a jumper but Jacob Simmerman scored on a nice entry feed to retake the lead at 35-34.

Hibbeln drove hard to the rim as the clock ran inside three minutes but Gooch was there to answer with a floater to make it 37-36.

Both teams missed chances to take or extend the lead, leaving South Putnam with possession and 30 seconds to play.

After running the clock to 15 seconds, Hibbeln was found at the rim and scored to take the lead with nine seconds remaining.

Gooch missed a three but Evans secured an offensive rebound, only to fire a pass in the paint into the hands of Hibbeln as the clock expired.

“We had some mature possessions in the second half,” Swafford said. “We moved the ball, made Greencastle play defense and when it was time to attack, we attacked.

“It was a fun game tonight with a great crowd, great student sections and fully expect a rematch to be a similar kind of battle we had tonight.”

Hill led the hosts with 12 points while Hibbeln added 10 points. Gooch led all scorers with 13 points while Hutcheson added 11 points for the Tiger Cubs.

Scoring

Greencastle (11-24 2 FG; 4-15 3FG; 3-5 FT) — Gooch 13, Hutcheson 11, Adams 6, Evans 3, Sutherlin 2, Simmerman 2

South Putnam (12-21 2FG; 2-18 3FG; 8-13 FT) — Hill 12, Hibbeln 10, Branam 5, Garner 4, Switzer 4, Bozell 3

Statistics