North Putnam completes county sweep with Cloverdale win

Running into trouble in the middle of the Cloverdale defense, North Putnam's Matt Farrington looks for an outlet during the 41-28 win over the Clovers that saw the Cougars complete a sweep of the county schools for a fourth-straight season.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

CLOVERDALE – A relic matchup born of the days of the WIC crossover series, Cloverdale and North Putnam met up for a rare Thursday night Putnam County boys’ basketball game.

It took a half for both teams to find a groove offensively but the Cougars, holding a nine-point lead heading into the final quarter, were able to dictate the last eight minutes of play and left with a 41-28 win over the Clovers.

“It was an ugly win but an ugly win is better than a pretty loss because there is no such thing,” North Putnam head coach Vince Brooks said. “Sometimes, rivalry games are just ugly and that was what we had here tonight.

“We struggled to shoot tonight. But guys made plays when we needed them to and our free throw shooting at the end was OK as we’ve struggled at the line this year.”

“It was a hard-fought game and a Putnam County basketball game, so it’s what you’d expect,” Cloverdale head coach Karl Turk said. “There was a lot of emotion, Xs and Os that go into it but at the end of the day, it’s a make-or-miss game and we had a lot of shots spin out, wide open misses and layup misses that, we think, really implicated the loss.

“There were a lot of other factors that go into it but we missed shots. We make shots, the entire complexion of the game changes.”

Outside of girls’ sectional week and the Putnam County Classic, the intracounty game was the only boys’ basketball game among all four county schools in the 2022-23 schedule and both teams showed some signs of not being used to a midweek matchup.

North Putnam (8-8, 4-4 WIC) got the better of the opening few minutes as baskets from Nolan Hackleman, Brady Barber and Kaden Helderman gave the visitors a 6-2 lead.

A Noah Betz three trimmed the gap to one while Isaac Pickle scored three points in the closing stretch of the period to keep the Cougars in front 9-8 after eight minutes of play.

Cloverdale (1-13, 1-6 WIC) opened the second period with a Mcguire Lee three but that would not only be the only lead for the Clovers in the game at 10-9 but the only points in the frame for the hosts.

Barber tied the game with a free throw and Brayden Monnett took the lead for good off a steal. A three from Matt Farrington and a second-chance basket for Pickel gave North Putnam a 17-10 lead at the break.

“We struggled with turnovers,” Brooks noted as the Cougars had 16 on the night. “We gave the ball away a little too much but kudos to Cloverdale’s defense as they played hard and had some terrific strategies to attack some of our weaknesses.

“It was a tough game, so we’re happy to eek one out and walk out of here with the Bucket.”

Levi Johnson got the hosts on the board to start the second half but a quick seven-point counter from the Cougars gave the visitors a 12-point lead at 24-12, Jaylen Windmiller scoring twice before a Helderman three.

A Garrett Monnett jumper and Betz three evened the scoring in the quarter though Pickel would add two free throws after being fouled on an inbounds play with :00.4 on the clock.

The Cougars opted to slow the game down in the fourth quarter, forcing Cloverdale to come out and defend deeper to prevent time from being wasted.

The Clovers occasionally were able to force a turnover but more often than not sent the visitors to the free throw line where North Putnam was 11-of-16 in the quarter.

Play became chippy as fouls mounted for the home side but the Cougars were able to stay cool and complete a sweep of the Putnam County schools ahead of the Classic in February.

“If we make shots early in the game, even the third quarter and early in the fourth, we’re not having to trap and the free throw parade doesn’t take place,” Turk said about the state of play in the fourth quarter. “We had a couple of steals but missed layups.

“The energy was there but the desperation wasn’t until late. When you start seeing the grains of sand in the hourglass shift to the other side, the guys changed the defensive philosophy, going to more of a press and trap because time and score dicta ted we had to do that.”

Scoring

North Putnam (10-20 2FG; 2-17 3FG; 15-22 FT) — Helderman 8, Pickel 7, Monnett 7, Barber 7, Hackleman 5, Windmiller 4, Farrington 3

Cloverdale (7-21 2FG; 4-18 3FG; 2-4 FT) — Johnson 6, Betz 6, Lee 5, Monnett 5, Hilton 4, Jackson 2

Statistics