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Cold shooting hampers North Putnam in Indian Creek loss
BAINBRIDGE – A poor shooting night for North Putnam combined with the variety of Indian Creek players that put both offensive and defensive pressure on a team doomed the Cougars to a 61-43 loss to the Braves at North Putnam on Saturday night.
The Braves used an early run to get a double-digit lead and then used a late run in the third and fourth quarter to take down the Cougars in a Western Indiana Conference boys’ basketball game. North shot just 32 percent (14-of-44) from the floor on the night.
North Putnam fell to 2-4 on the season and 2-3 in the WIC, while Indian Creek remained undefeated in the conference at 5-0 and 6-1 for the season. The Braves came into the game ranked No. 17 in Class 3A.
The relentless defensive pressure caused the Cougars to turn the ball over 15 times on the night.
“(Indian Creek) is really good; they’re really deep. They do some unique things to pressure you defensively. They are ultra-aggressive in the way they play that zone,” North Putnam head coach Vince Brooks said. “You have to be ready to attack that in kind of a strategic way.
“I actually thought we did a pretty good job of that. There is always this balance where you want your kids to play with some structured freedom and then times where you want them to be methodical.
“We struggled to find that balance,” Brooks added. “For the most part, I was pretty happy with what we did tonight against a really good team,”
The Cougars used three-point shooting in the first half to try and keep pace early on. Triples by Matt Farrington, Nolan Hackleman and Nolan Augusta kept pressure on the Braves.
Indian Creek’s Adam Crouch countered with eight points in the quarter and Landon Martin closed the quarter with a 7-0 run of his own against the Cougars to give the Braves a 19-9 lead at the end of the first period.
“There were numerous times we got the shot we wanted, but it didn’t go down. You have got to be OK with that. We said here is the game plan and we executed but it just didn’t work out,” Brooks said of his team shooting 3-of-11 in the first quarter.
The Cougars matched the Braves in the second quarter as they outscored Indian Creek 15-14 in the period.
The Braves extended the lead to 24-11 before a pair of three-pointers by Augusta cut the lead to 26-19.
After the Braves extended the lead to 30-20, North Putnam was able to get to the free throw line as Isaac Pickel, Farrington and Kaden Helderman all picked up points at the line as the Cougars went to halftime trailing 33-24.
“Nolan has worked really hard. He was in the gym shooting and putting up a lot of shots in the off-season. I thought he played well. We all played pretty well, (Indian Creek) are just really good and really deep,” Brooks said.
North Putnam used another Augusta triple and a rebound bucket by Pickel to cut the lead to 35-29 early in the third quarter.
Indian Creek ratcheted up the pressure and went on a 13-2 run to take a commanding 48-31 lead before a layup by Jeremy Windmiller late in the quarter stopped the run, but not before the Braves had a 48-33 lead heading into the final stanza.
“They just keep coming at you. They get you to turn the ball over, they have shooters and are great in transition. I thought we did pretty well against that. They are also a great offensive rebounding team, but I thought we did a good job of boxing out on them,” Brooks said.
The Braves scored the first four points of the final quarter to take a 53-33 lead and both teams battled evenly throughout the fourth period. Pickel picked up an old-fashioned three-point play but Indian Creek answered with a quick 7-0 run and was able to stave off the Cougars and pick up the 61-43 victory.
Crouch led the Braves with a game-high 20 points. Landon Martin scored 16 in support. Augusta led the Cougars with 12 points in his first varsity game of the season as Windmiller and Pickel provided support with nine points each.
“We need to get better on the little things. We were open around the rim at times and we need to get the ball there, but (Indian Creek) is so relentless defensively. I have seen growth though, so I am pleased with where we are at,” Brooks said.
The Cougars will come back and play future conference opponent, Cascade on Tuesday night before the holiday break.
| Indian Creek | 19 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 61 |
| North Putnam | 9 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 43 |
INDIAN CREEK (61) – Volz 1-4 0-0 2, Crouch 8-18 0-0 20, L. Martin 6-13 3-4 16, Modlin 1-2 1-2 4, Sichting 4-7 0-0 9, Connell 2-2 0-0 4, Emberton 3-4 0-2 6, K. Martin 0-1 0-0 0, Lowhorn 0-0 0-0 0, Robertson 0-0 0-0 0, Freeman 0-0 0-0 0, Cooley 0-0 0-0 0, Staats 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 FG, 4-8 FT, 61 TP.
NORTH PUTNAM (43) – Farrington 1-3 1-2 4, Pickel 3-6 3-3 9, Hackleman 2-11 3-4 8, Augusta 4-9 0-0 12, Windmiller 4-6 0-0 9, Helderman 0-7 1-2 1, Barber 0-2 0-0 0, Bro. Woodall 0-0 0-0 0, Kramer 0-0 0-0 0, Bra. Woodall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-44 FG, 8-11 FT, 43 TP.
3-point shooting – IC 7-23 (Volz 0-2, Crouch 4-10, L. Martin 1-4, Modlin 1-2, Sichting 1-4, Martin 0-1), NP 7-29 (Farrington 1-2, Pickel 0-1, Hackleman 1-6, Augusta 4-9, Windmiller 1-2, Helderman 0-7, Barber 0-2) Rebounds – IC 30 (Volz 8, Crouch 6, L. Martin 4, Modlin 2, Sichting 3, K. Martin 1), NP – 28 (Farrington 2, Pickel 5, Hackleman 9, Augusta 1, Windmiller 5, Barber 3) FG Pct. – IC 49.0, NP 31.8. FT Pct. – IC 50.0, NP 72.7. Turnovers – IC 5, NP 15.