Cadets send Eagles on holiday with a loss

South Putnam's Chlara Pistelli led the Eagles with 11 points in a 63-29 loss at Cascade Wednesday to close the book on the 2023 portion of the girls' basketball season.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

CLAYTON – The final game for South Putnam on the 2023 side of the girls’ basketball equation was a sour note for the Eagles to end on.

Playing at Cascade, the visitors were down seven after a quarter and 24 points by halftime as the Cadets finished their last game of the calendar year with a 63-29 win.

“Some nights, a team has everything going for them and the other team doesn’t,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said. “That was the case tonight.”

Cascade jumped out to a 7-2 lead before a three from Lyla Rissler and basket from Chlara Pistelli off a steal tied the game at 7-7.

Danae Cline added a jumper to trim a six-point lead down to four at 13-9 but by the time Cline hit a free throw in the second quarter, the lead had exploded to 21 points.

Kaylee Austin hit a three before the first quarter ended to make it 16-9 at the first break before Creedance Chittenden unloaded on the Eagles, scoring nine points during the Cadets’ 17-0 run, adding one more basket at the end of the period to make it 36-12 at halftime.

Cline and Pistelli scored early in the second half for South Putnam but another big run was on the horizon as Cascade went on a 14-2 break with Liv Campbell hitting a pair of threes while Macey Pugh, Lilly Hall and Chittenden all scored to make it 52-18.

The Eagles held off the running clock for some time as Lilly Emmerich and Pistelli hit threes at the end of the third quarter, the latter hoisting up a halfcourt heave to beat the buzzer, but Austin would hit a three midway though the final period that finally brought up the 35-point gap.

Chittenden led all scorers with 22 points while Pistelli led the visitors with 11 points.

South Putnam returns to action when the calendar switches to 2024, a break Gardner said was needed for the players.

“For us, we get the chance to have a break, to have a few days off,” Gardner said with the next game on the schedule a trip to Sullivan on Jan. 5. “We’ll reset and get our bodies right.

“For a lot of these girls, they haven’t had a break since June. Having the ability to have some time off with be good for them.”

Scoring

South Putnam (7-21 2FG; 3=14 3FG; 6-9 FT) — Pistelli 11, Emmerich 5, Cline 5, Rissler 3, M. Gardner 2, D. Gardner 2, Wells 1

Cascade (19-33 2FG; 7-20 3FG; 4-10 FT) — Chittenden 22, Pugh 10, Campbell 9, Hall 9, K. Austin 6, C. Austin 5, Smith 2

Statistics