Tanoos comes to West Vigo's rescue in overtime win over North Putnam

WEST TERRE HAUTE - Down seven points at the half, the North Putnam boys’ basketball team rallied to send the game into overtime.

The West Vigo Vikings then hit 7-of-8 foul shots in the extra session to spoil the comeback 67-61 at the “Green Dome” Friday night.

The Vikings came out quickly, jumping to a 6-1 lead as North was not finding the range early. Down by as many as six early on, the Cougars used the three pointer to jump right back into it.

Nolan Hackleman, Kaden Helderman and Brayden Monnett each drained one, with the last giving the Cougars a slim 14-12 advantage at the first break.

The strong play of Vikings guard Zeke Tanoos boosted the hosts back in front early in the second. With just a couple minutes left in the half, Helderman would put the Cougars back in front with another one of his six three balls on the night.

West Vigo finished the half in a flurry as Talan Boehler hit a pair of trifectas and Jensen Turner hit another one to give the Vikings a 30-23 lead going into intermission.

With an energetic crowd from both sides, the game would ratchet up a notch in the second half. The Vikings would lead by as many as nine in the third as Tanoos continued to be a problem for the Cougars.

Things looked a little dim when Hackleman picked up his third foul part way in the quarter, but he then scored seven-straight points to keep the game within reach. West Vigo would keep the lead at an arm's length to close out the third, leading 45-41.

Things started getting tense about midway in the fourth. Two more threes from Helderman gave the Cougars the lead back with just over five minutes remaining.

A basket from Brady Barber about a minute later had them up three and things were looking good. The teams then kept answering each other at the offensive end.

A pair of foul shots from Ryan Smith had the Viking up three with just over a minute left. With just 20 seconds left on the clock, Brayden Monnett knocked down a huge three that would send the game to overtime.

The Cougars got the lead one last time after a putback from Isaac Pickel.

A three from Boehler gave the advantage right back to the home side. The Cougars then could not get one to fall and Tanoos time took over, nailing 7-of-8 foul shots down the stretch to close the game out for the Vikings.

“There were times tonight that I thought we executed really well and then there were times we didn’t. We just had some costly miscues at the wrong times. As a whole we played really well,” Cougar coach Vince Brooks said/

Three Cougars finished in double figures. Helderman finished with 18 points, Hackleman finished with 16 and Monnett added 14. A balanced rebounding effort was headed up by Helderman and Hackleman each had six, as the Cougars out rebounded the Vikings 28-20.

“I thought we did a tremendous job, especially on offensive boards,” added coach Brooks.

The loss drops North to 4-8 on the season but has seen definite improvement since earlier in the season.

The Cougars next will face Fountain Central Saturday at home before a county match up with Greencastle next Friday.

Team Stats

Individual Stats

Scoring - (NP) Helderman 18, Hackleman 16, Monnett 14, Pickel 7, Barber 6; (WV) Tanoos 27, Boehler 15, Turner 11, Fosdick 7, Smith 5, Evans 1

Rebounding - (NP) Helderman 6, Hackleman 6, Pickel 5, Windmiller 4, Monnett 4, Barber 3, Farrington 3; (WV) Tanoos 8, Fosdick 6, Turner 3, Evans 2, Boehler 1