Eagles start county slate with win over Clovers

South Putnam's Joscelyn Pilcher beats one defender while challenging a second on a drive during Friday night's opening Putnam County girls' basketball game of the 2023-24 season. The Eagles led by 22 at halftime though the Clovers played the visitors even in the second half despite the 52-30 loss.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

CLOVERDALE – The opening Putnam County girls’ basketball game of the season between South Putnam and Cloverdale played out in the first half where the teams are currently at the start of the 2023-24 season.

The Eagles led at halftime by 22 points but the Clovers didn’t allow the game to get out of hand, matching the visitors in the second half despite falling 52-30 Friday night.

“We played well in the first half,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said. “We did a good job with our intensity level and, on defense, we did a good job of closing out.

“Shooting-wise, most of our shots were good or really good looks. Sometimes, early in the season, kids are a little quick with the shot and they are shots that will be good as the season goes along.

“We were more relaxed tonight than Tuesday but we also had a little less energy in the second half and that’s something you have to look at as the season goes along,” Gardner added.

“I didn’t like the effort we put out in the first half,” Cloverdale head coach James Wade said. “We had a talk about that at halftime as we didn’t really start playing hard until we were down 20-2. We’re not a good enough team to dig a hole like that.

“We took way too many threes in the first half as we settled for shots against (South Putnam’s) zone. We penetrated more in the second half, we only took five threes, worked the ball more in the middle and played them even in the second half.

“If our girls can see that when we execute, stay patient and take more of the shots we’re supposed to take, things will go a lot better for us,” Wade added.

Cloverdale started the game with a Syrie Ford jumper, though it would be the only points the hosts would score in the quarter.

South Putnam used a balanced scoring attack to create separation as Madison Gardner scored twice in the post around a Danae Cline three, followed by a basket and two free throws from Chlara Pistelli that made it 11-2.

Drew Gardner added a jumper while Joscelyn Pilcher hit two free throws and added a basket at the rim as the Eagles led 17-2 after a quarter of play.

Cline led off the second period with a three to make it 20-2 before Emily Mann broke a near quarter-long scoreless streak with a jumper.

Madison Gardner hit a free throw and dropped in a putback, Drew Gardner scored on the run and Pilcher got to the rim again to make it 27-4.

Sarah Nichols scored twice on the inside for the Clovers around a trade of threes between Ford and Drew Gardner to make it 30-11 but the visitors pushed the lead back out to 22 with a Lyla Rissler three-point play before halftime.

“We improved a lot in some different areas from Tuesday,” Gardner said about the defensive side of the ball. “Cloverdale threw some things at us that we hadn’t seen in live action but we did a good job of talking.

“We also limited them to just one shot on offense a lot and that was a big key for us. We had a lot of misses tonight but we also got a lot of extra rebounds and extra shots off of those.”

“I’m not a coach that doesn’t like the three but it needs to be off a paint touch, a skip pass or something like that,” Wade said, pointing out the team had 13 three-point attempts and 10 two-point attempts in the first half. “Shooting off one pass is an issue; we did that in the first half while we had only five in the second half but they were better shots.”

Amilia Haga got the second half rolling with a block the senior guard converted into a three-point play while Rissler and Mann traded off threes.

South Putnam scored eight-straight points through Madison and Drew Gardner, Cline and Pilcher but couldn’t keep Cloverdale from answering as Haga scored twice to keep the score from getting out of hand, though the Eagles led 47-21 after three quarters of play.

Madison Gardner scored to open the quarter but Haga Hit a three, followed by two Mann baskets.

Fouls started to pile up for both teams, leading to several late free throw opportunities that both teams didn’t make the most of, though the visitors were comfortably ahead and moved to 2-0 while the Clovers fell to 0-2.

“When you get tired, you still have to move with your feet and not reach,” Gardner said about the late fouls. “We’ve got to do a better job of getting in basketball shape, which will come. We’ve got opportunities against Parke Heritage and Edgewood next week and we’ll see where we’re at.”

“We talked after the game that we can’t complain about getting fouled if we’re chucking threes. In the second half, we got into the bonus in both quarters as we executed the offense” Wade said about forcing the fouls. “If you’re doing the things you’re supposed to be doing, you have more success and that’s something we’ll continue to work on.”

No player reached double figures but four different players scored nine points in Mann, Haga and both Gardners.

The Eagles had balance in their scoring, however, as Cline and Pilcher had eight points each, Pistelli added seven points and Rissler chipped in six points.

Scoring

South Putnam (16-42 2FG; 4-16 3FG; 8-18 FT) — M. Gardner 9, D. Gardner 9, Cline 8, Pilcher 8, Pistelli 7, Rissler 6, Emmerich 2, Pastore 2, Wells 1

Cloverdale (8-22 2FG; 3-18 3FG; 5-18 FT) — Mann 9, A. Haga 9, Nichols 4, G. Haga 1, Patton 1

Statistics