Eagles end six-game slide with win over Eels

EMINENCE – Winning in any sport is tough on the road.

The South Putnam Lady Eagles traveled to Eminence on Friday night and beat the odds by defeating the Eels 43-40 in very tough non-conference basketball game. The Eagles had good starts to the first and third quarters and then held off the Eels late in the contest for the victory.

The win improves the Eagles to 8-13 and broke a six-game losing streak. On the other side, the loss ended an eight-game winning streak for Eminence and dropped its record to 14-6 on the season.

“At this point in my career, I’ll take any win on the road. When you come here it is a tough game,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said.

The Eagles started the game with a pair of three pointers, one each by Danae Cline and Joscelyn Pilcher. That would spark the Eagles to a lead as Kelsey Custis would finish the quarter with a buzzer-beating layup giving South a 14-7 lead at the end of the period. Madison Gardner changed the Eminence defense by converting a couple of key buckets early in the period.

“We have worked with her (Gardner) on catching the ball and being strong with it. She did that in the first quarter,” Gardner said.

Eminence would rally in the second quarter behind Danica Myers. The Eels would take their only lead of the game at 18-17 on a Myers’ old-fashioned three-point play, but Cline would knock down a three-pointer late in the quarter to give the Eagles a 20-18 lead at the break.

“We hit a little bit of a lull in the second quarter. In the past when other teams made their runs, we would lose a lead and get down eight or 10 points. Tonight, I thought we did a really good job of limiting that,” Gardner said.

Eminence would open the second half tying the score on Natalie Hubbard’s jumper, but South would reel off 10-straight points behind Pilcher and Chlara Pistelli.

The Eels would continue to keep fighting as they cut the double-digit lead to three points twice, but Cline would hit a late jump shot to give the Eagles a five-point advantage, 34-29, heading into the final period of play.

“In the second half, we did a much better job of getting to the rim. That opens up things for our shooters,” Gardner said.

The two teams played a tight contest in the fourth quarter. The Eagles never relinquished the lead but could not put the Eels away either.

Pistelli and the Eagle defense carried the load in the final period. Pistelli would get seven of her team-high 19 points in the quarter. The Eels did cut the lead to 42-40 with under 30 seconds to play, but Pistelli hit a free throw and the Eels could not come up with any more points and the final margin was set at 43-40 in the Eagles’ favor.

“We aren’t used to playing with a lead. We did a really good job tonight of handling that situation,” Gardner said.

Myers led the Eels with 20 points and Hubbard had 14 for Eminence. Pistelli had her 19 points and Cline added 10 for the Eagles.

“I thought Chlara was really good tonight. She got to the rim and was strong,” Gardner said.

The Eagles will take the win and try and start a winning streak on Saturday as they stay on the road against the Speedway Sparkplugs.

SOUTH PUTNAM (35) – Pilcher 3-10 0-0 8, Cline 3-8 2-2 10, Custis 1-3 0-0 2, Pistelli 7-13 2-3 19, Gardner 2-3 0-0 4, Emmerich 0-2 0-0 0, Dooley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-40 FG, 4-5 FT, 43 TP.

EMINENCE (40) – Saucerman 3-6 0-1 6, Hubbard 6-15 1-3 14, Myers 7-12 4-5 20, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Dittemore 0-7 0-2 0, Dickinson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-41 FG, 5-11 FT, 40 TP.

3-point shooting – SP 7-20 (Pilcher 2-8, Cline 2-3, Custis 0-1, Pistelli 3-6, Emmerich 0-2), EHS 3-15 (Hubbard 1-5, Myers 2-4, Dittemore 0-6). Rebounds – SP 21 (Pilcher 3, Cline 4, Custis 2, Pistelli 5, Gardner 2, Emmerich 2, Dooley 1) EHS – 29 (Saucerman 6, Hubbard 6, Myers 6, Taylor 1, Dittemore 3) FG Pct. – SP 40.0, EHS 39.0. FT Pct. – SP 80.0, EHS 45.5. Turnovers – SP 20, EHS 17.