Greencastle, South Putnam to contest middle school county finals Wednesday

Greencastle and South Putnam will contest both games of the Putnam County Middle School Tournament final at Cloverdale on Wednesday.

The Tiger Cubs defeated Cloverdale at home in both the seventh and eighth grade games while the Eagles went on the road and defeated North Putnam in both games.

Cloverdale at Greencastle

Seventh Grade

Liam Grimes and Gavin Tyson combined for 32 points as the Greencastle seventh grade boys’ basketball team defeated the Cloverdale Clovers 52-26 in the opening round of the Putnam County tournament.

Greencastle blew open the game in the second half getting out in transition and dominating the glass with multiple second-chance baskets. It was a 9-0 run down the stretch of the third quarter that put the Cubs up 39-21.

They would keep the momentum rolling with another 9-0 run to start the final quarter on the way to a 52-26 win.

Eight different Cubs got into the scoring column. Liam Grimes led the charge with 20 points. Gavin Tyson scored 12, Nash Dobbs eight, Griffin Goodpaster five, Mac Heavin, Lucas Jewel and Cameron Brown each added two, while Taurin Clark had one point.

Cloverdale was led by Trey McCammon, who scored 14. Evan Mann chipped in seven, Jayden Armstrong-Diggs scored four and Liam Kelly added one.

Eighth Grade

Griffin Beasley drained 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to help Greencastle hold off the Cloverdale Clovers in the opening round of the eighth grade Putnam County basketball tournament.

The game was nip and tuck throughout as neither side could take control of the game. The Tiger Cubs led at the half by just two at 16-14, paced by Andrew Morgan’s six first-quarter points.

After six ties and a couple of lead changes, Cloverdale took its first lead since the opening of the game. Jace Gardner scored with a second left in the third to give the Clovers a 25-24 advantage after three periods.

The defenses stiffened up in the final quarter as scoring was at a premium for the first four minutes. Dillon Hughes hit a three-pointer with just over two minutes remaining to put Greencastle back in front, a lead they would not relinquish. Gardner hit 1-of-2 free throws with 46 seconds on the clock to bring the Clovers back within one.

Griffin Beasley would seal the game on the foul line, nailing 5-of-6 from the charity stripe as Greencastle went on for the 32-29 victory.

Beasley was the leading scorer with 12 points. Dillon Hughes added eight, Andrew Morgan had six, Fischer Barcus chipped in four and Colton Sprinkle added a basket for Greencastle.

Trey Schabel headed up the Clover attack with eight points. Jace Gardner with seven, Marcus Boyd six, Kenwood Ramsey with five and Joseph Patton and three for Cloverdale.

South Putnam at North Putnam

Seventh Grade

The seventh grade South Putnam Eagles visited North Putnam for the opening game of the Putnam County Middle school basketball tournament. They made themselves at home as the defeated the Cougars 45-11 to advance to Wednesday night’s championship game at Cloverdale.

South’s Graham Clark hit a three-pointer in the first minute of the game to set the tone. The Cougars were able to tie the game at 3-3 on a Sam Wendt bucket and a Kellen Windmiller free throw. The Eagles then clamped down defensively and the Cougars couldn’t get anything going as South led 10-4 at the end of the quarter.

The Eagles blitzed North to open the second quarter. South scored the first 16 points as Clark and Kason Ames hit three-pointers and Jackson Mancillas slashed to the bucket as the Eagles closed the half with a 28-6 lead.

Clark started the second half with another three-pointer and the Eagles continued to extend their lead as North’s only bucket of the third period was a trey by Weston Houser as South Putnam had a commanding lead of 40-9 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles closed the game in fourth quarter for the 45-11 win.

Clark had 17 points, Mancillas had 10 for the Eagles, while Houser led the Cougars with 5 points on the night.

SOUTH PUTNAM (45) –Harris 1-1 0-0 2, Cleary 0-3 2-4 2, Ames 3-7 2-4 9, Clark 6-10 1-2 17, Mancillas 4-12 1-2 10, Mullin 1-4 1-4 3, Dorsett 0-5 0-0 0, Martin 1-5 0-0 2, Couch 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 16-48 FG, 7-18 FT, 45 TP.

NORTH PUTNAM (11) – Houser 2-5 0-0 5, Windmiller 0-2 1-2 1, Wendt 1-1 0-0 2, Payne 0-3 0-0 0, Osborn 0-1 0-0 0, Campbell 0-1 0-0 0, McCloud 0-1 1-4 1, Males 0-0 0-0 0, Deskins 0-0 0-0 0, Cooper 0-1 0-0 0, Tuttle 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 4-17 FG, 2-6 FT, 11 TP.

3-point shooting – SP 6-17 (Ames 1-3, Clark 4-8, Mancillas 1-3, Dorsett 0-2, Martin 0-2=1), NP 1-4 (Houser 1-2, Tuttle 0-1, Payne 0-1) Rebounds – SP 32 (Harris 1, Couch 2, Cleary 3, Ames 10, Clark 2, Mancillas 5, Mullin 4, Dorsett 2, Martin 2) NP – 21 (Houser 3, Windmiller 3, Wendt 1, Payne 3, Osborn 2, Campbell 2, McCloud 2, Deskins 5) FG Pct. – SP 33.3, NP 25.0. FT Pct. – SP 38.9, NP 33.3. Turnovers – SP 11, NP 30.

Eighth Grade

The South Putnam Eagle eighth grade basketball team used a quick start to dominate the North Putnam Cougars and complete a sweep of North in the first round of the Putnam County Middle School basketball tournament. The Eagles won the contest 49-13.

Blake Witt scored on two quick layups to start the game and Drew Cline nailed a three while Witt added another layup for a 9-0 lead before the Cougars were able to score the last three points of the quarter. A free throw by Owen Query and a jumper by Camden Greene got North on the board.

The Eagles pressured the Cougars all over the floor and Ty Benton took advantage to score nine points in the quarter as the Eagles turned a 9-3 lead into a 26-7 advantage at the intermission.

North’s Owen Thurman scored the first points of the second half but the Eagles scored the next 15. Witt continued to get to the rim with layups for another six points. South would lead 41-9 at the end three periods of play.

The pace slowed as the Eagles backed off the pressure and the game finished with a 49-13 South victory.

Witt led all scorers with 17 points, Benton added 13 for the Eagles. Query led the Cougars with seven points.

SOUTH PUTNAM (49) –Cline 2-3 0-0 5, Witt 8-13 0-1 17, Benton 4-9 4-4 13, Owen 3-4 0-0 6, Hanley 1-2 2-6 4, Phillips 1-5 0-0 3, Hutcheson 0-1 1-3 1, Richardson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-38 FG, 7-14 FT, 49 TP.

NORTH PUTNAM (13) – Thurman 1-5 0-0 2, Ali 1-5 0-4 2, Query 1-7 5-8 7, Greene 1-4 0-0 2, Conner 0-1 0-2 0, Garver 0-2 0-0 0, McConnell 0-1 0-0 0, Sutherlin 0-2 0-0 0, Grajewski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 4-27 FG, 5-14 FT, 13 TP.

3-point shooting – SP 4-13 (Cline 1-1, Witt 1-3, Benton 1-4, Phillips 1-4, Richardson 0-1), NP 0-10 (Thurman 0-2, Ali 0-1, Query 0-4, Greene 0-1, Conner 0-1) Rebounds – SP 31 (Cline 8, Witt 4, Benton 3, Owen 3, Hanley 7, Phillips 1, Hutcheson 2) NP – 24 (Thurman 5, Ali 3, Query 4, Greene 1, Conner 8, Garver 1) FG Pct. – SP 50.0, NP 14.8. FT Pct. – SP 50.0, NP 35.7. Turnovers – SP 13, NP 29.