South Putnam tops Southmont in clash of champions Monday night

South Putnam junior Lilly Emmerich provided several key plays in the fourth quarters against Southmont Monday night, hitting a crucial three with the Eagles leading by three late in the contest along with several rebounds and a block to help the hosts to a 49-41 win over the Mounties.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

The South Putnam and Southmont girls’ basketball game had a more regal affair than your average Monday night meeting.

Both teams came in having captured county titles over the weekend, the Eagles laying claim to the Putnam County Girls’ Basketball Tournament while the Mounties won the Sugar Creek Classic title.

The de facto night of champions clash lived up to the billing as the hosts led most of the night but had to fend off a spirited Southmont comeback that saw the game tied with three minutes to play before South Putnam scored nine of the last 10 points in a 49-41 win.

“It was a great win, coming off a Friday-Saturday, an emotional win in the latter game and (Southmont) being a really good team,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said. “They do some actions we didn’t see last week.

“Our defense really played well and offensively, we haven’t seen a lot of zone, so having the ability to see zone action, we played well against it all the way across the board. There were moments where things didn’t go the way we wanted them to but we fought through it on a third game in four nights.”

Both teams came out with plenty of energy on the defensive end and forced turnovers at a steady clip with the first points coming from a Danae Cline steal and score.

DeLorean Mason answered with a three and two free throws as Southmont held a 5-2 lead with three minutes remaining in the quarter.

Mia Wells hit two free throws before Drew Gardner hit her first three of the night to give the Eagles the lead at 7-5.

Wells and Layal Gomez traded off baskets before Madison Gardner hit a late shot as the hosts led 11-8 at the end of the period.

Baskets from Chlara Pistelli and Madison Gardner were answered by Makinzie Wood, Chloe Jenkins and Mason as the three-point gap remained until Drew Gardner hit two more threes to give South Putnam a 23-14 lead at halftime.

“We shot the ball well tonight,” Gardner said as the team connected on several midrange shots and was 7-of-16 from three. “Drew played exceptional tonight for us and that’s big.

“Someone has to step up in those situations and she did tonight by hitting shots. We played well all the way around and did some really good things.”

The nine-point gap vanished within three minutes of the start of the second half as Mason scored three times, bookending a 9-0 run that tied the game at 23-23 2:50 into the third quarter.

After a minute of tense play, South Putnam regained the lead after a pair of jumpers from Lyla Rissler and Cline while Drew Gardner hit her fourth three of the night to make it 30-23.

The Mounties kept it tight with free throws from Claire Kessler and Jenkins, the latter adding a jumper, but the Eagles answered with a Wells three and Drew Gardner floater to take a 35-29 lead into the final period of play.

“Coming out of halftime, we knew (Southmont) would change some things in their zone and we had to adjust to that,” Gardner said about absorbing the early run and coming out of the third quarter with a lead. “We did a better job in the middle, attacking some actions out of it with the dribble-drive when we needed to.

“One of the great things about this game was that we had no time to prepare for it. Neither did they, but the ability to go against something on the fly was really good for our girls.”

Blow and counterblow landed as Mason started the fourth quarter with a three, Madison Gardner scored at the rim and Jenkins added two free throws and a putback basket to trim the gap to 37-36.

Emily Link scored twice on drives to the rim around a Pistelli jumper as the game was tied at 40-40 before the key moment in the contest.

Drew Gardner hit her fifth and final three of the night with 2:50 to play before Cheyenne Shaw missed a layup on the other end and Lilly Emmerich followed with a three to make it 46-40.

Emmerich added a free throw and a key block on Mason, having been knocked to the floor moments earlier, with Gardner crediting the junior with providing a late energy burst to take the Eagles across the line.

“Lilly played really well and was a big spark for us tonight,” Gardner said. “She was all over the floor, hit a big three and when little things happened, she was there for us.

“It was good because over the weekend, she didn’t have a great weekend in her eyes. Tonight, she really played well and was that spark off the bench for us, carrying us through to the end.”

Southmont couldn’t take advantage of a pair of trips to the free throw line late and Cline added polish with two connections at the stripe as the hosts moved to 5-2 on the season while the Mounties fell to 4-3.

Scoring

Southmont (12-35 2FG; 2-5 3FG; 11-18 FT — Mason 17, Jenkins 12, Link 4, Wood 3, Kessler 2, Gomez 2, Gray 1

South Putnam (11-29 2FG; 7-16 3FGl 6-8 FT) — D. Gardner 17, Pistelli 9, Wells 7, M. Gardner 6, Cline 4, Emmerich 4, Rissler 2

Rebounds — Southmont 34; South Putnam 19

Turnovers — Southmont 25; South Putnam 21