South Putnam stumbles at Edgewood

ELLETSVILLE – Sometimes it is just not your night.

That was the case with South Putnam on Saturday night at Edgewood High School in a boys’ high school basketball game. The Eagles struggled all night long in a 59-35 loss to the Mustangs in a Western Indiana Conference game.

The Eagles could not get anything going offensively. South hit just 18 percent (8-of-43) from the field and turned the ball over 10 times in the first half as they allowed the Mustangs to get a big lead early that they never relinquished.

The Eagle loss dropped them to 4-5 on the season and 4-3 in the WIC. Edgewood improved to 4-9 and 3-3 in the conference.

“We were physically and emotionally spent after a great effort (Friday) night. We were a man down tonight without Jeremiah (Hibbeln). They left it on the floor last night and we weren’t as resilient as I hoped we’d be,” South Putnam head coach Kyle Swafford said after his Eagles lost on in a tight contest with the WIC-leading Sullivan Golden Arrows.

South struggled out of the gate. The Eagles hit just 1-of-8 field goals and turned the ball over on their first three possessions of the night and did not get their first points until Cameron Bozell hit a three-pointer almost halfway into the first quarter. The Eagles would turn the ball over seven times and trail 12-3 at the end of the first period.

“We were just flat from the get-go and could not get anything going,” Swafford said.

Edgewood extended its lead to 22-5 in the first three minutes of the second quarter before the Eagles got a little energy. That energy came in the form of Wyatt Switzer. The sophomore came off the bench and picked up a couple of steals and rebounds and knocked down a shot to spark a run for the Eagles.

South was able to use that energy and a pair of Bozell threes, including a half-ending buzzer beater, to cut the lead to 26-17 at the intermission.

“Wyatt was all over the place. When he gets out there, he is like a pinball. He just bounces everywhere. He created some momentum and Cam was able to hit a couple of shots and buzzer beater,” Swafford said.

The Eagles could not keep that momentum going in the third quarter. The Mustangs scored the first 20 points of the period as Mialin White got to the basket for some scores and free throws as the Mustangs extended the nine-point halftime lead to 42-23 after three quarters.

The Eagles hit just 1-of-12 shots from the field and the game was out of control at that point.

“We needed to take that momentum and we didn’t. We came out flat again after the half,” Swafford said.

The teams just played out the contest in the final quarter with the Mustangs extending their lead to the final 59-35 margin. South was beaten in about every statistical category. Edgewood pounded the boards to a 45-30 advantage and the Eagles turned the ball over 18 times in addition to their shooting woes which included hitting just 6-of-15 free throws in the final quarter.

White led the Mustangs with 16 points, Kam Ranard had 13 and Xzander Hammonds chipped in with 10 points. Bozell was the only Eagle in double figures with 11 points.

“Chalk it up as a bad night. We are going to put this one behind us. We don’t have time for a pity party. We’ve got a really good opponent at home next,” Swafford said as the Eagles will host Northview next Friday in another WIC contest.

SOUTH PUTNAM (35) –Hill 0-9 3-4 3, Bozell 3-8 2-2 11, Branam 1-7 3-5 5, Garner 0-3 0-0 0, Dorsett 0-3 2-6 2, Switzer 1-5 0-2 2, Mullin 1-5 2-3 5, Jones 2-3 2-4 7. Totals 8-43 FG, 14-26 FT, 35 TP.

EDGEWOOD (59) – Ranard 6-8 0-0 13, Norris 3-4 0-0 6, Boggs 2-8 0-0 4, White 3-5 10-14 16, Hammonds 5-15 0-0 10, McCullough 0-2 0-0 0, Huttenlocker 1-4 0-0 3, Young 1-4 0-0 2, McGovern 0-1 0-0 0, Gough 0-1 0-0 0, Waugh 1-1 0-1 2, Cross 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 22-54 FG, 10-15 FT, 59 TP.

3-point shooting – SP 5-23 (Hill 0-6, Bozell 3-6, Branam 0-1, Garner 0-1, Switzer 0-3, Mullin 1-4, Jones 1-2), EHS 3-20 (Ranard 1-2, McGovern 0-1, Gough 0-1, Boggs 0-4, Cross 1-1, Hammonds 0-8, Huttenlocker 1-3,). Rebounds – SP 30 (Hill 3, Bozell 3, Branam 1, Garner 2, Dorsett 6, Switzer 7, Mullin 3, Jones 2) EHS – 45 (Ranard 11, McGovern 1, Norris 5, Gough 1, Boggs 4, White 8, Hammonds 3, McCullough 5, Huttenlocker 1) FG Pct. – SP 18.6, EHS 40.7. FT Pct. – SP 53.8, EHS 66.7. Turnovers – SP 18, EHS 14.