Eagles swing away from deep to down Patriots

The South Putnam Eagles struggled to hit a shot from 15 feet for one point but move it back three-to-five feet and South made excellent use of the three-point shot for a 57-42 victory over the Owen Valley Patriots on Saturday night in WIC girls’ basketball play.

The host Eagles made just 44 percent (10-of-23) from the charity stripe but heated up behind the arc and nailed 11-of-21 of the supposedly much tougher shots.

The Eagles made use of the three-point line, but Owen Valley only attempted one shot from deep and that proved to be the difference.

The win improved the Eagles to 11-8 and 4-5 in Western Indiana Conference play. Owen Valley dropped to 6-16 and 3-6 in WIC action.

“If you had told me we would shoot 10-of-23 from the foul line and win the game 57-42, I wouldn’t have believed it. The good news is that we could shoot it from 18 feet, just not 15 feet,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said.

The Patriots started out hot by taking a quick 8-4 lead as Mallory Owen scored six early points for Owen Valley in the first four minutes, while the Eagles turned the ball over four times early in the quarter.

The Eagles found their offense as Danae Cline hit a triple, followed by Lyla Rissler with one.

Another trey by Chlara Pistelli sandwiched around Madison Gardner free throws gave the Eagles a 15-8 lead. Mia Wells closed the quarter with a layup and a 17-10 lead at the first break.

The Eagle defense took command in the second quarter. South limited Owen Valley to just 2-of-9 shooting from the field and forced seven turnovers.

Even with Drew Gardner hitting a pair of threes and Rissler another, the Eagles only extended their lead to 32-18 as they could not convert from the line.

South hit only 2-of-12 from the charity stripe in the period, but the tone was set. The aggressive Eagles got in the paint and to the line putting the Patriots in foul trouble.

“We wanted to be aggressive and we got to the rim. When you do that, the defense has to collapse and we can get some kickouts. That is what happened tonight. I think the foul shooting was more of mental fatigue coming off a physical game last night against Northview. We have to do a better job of mentally being ready as we go into the tournament,” Gardner said.

South put the game away in the third quarter as it continued its barrage from outside.

Pistelli hit the first one of the quarter and then Drew Gardner found the range as the freshman wing nailed three of them over the last four minutes of the period.

The sharpshooter had nine of her game-high 18 points in the quarter as the Eagles led 48-32 heading into the final stanza.

“Drew does a good job of finding her spots. She has a quick release and that really helps her,” Gardner said.

The Eagles would boost their lead to 55-33 as Wells knocked down a pair of free throws with just over five minutes left and the game slowed down after that as the Eagles were able to get out of the Eagles Nest with the 57-42 win.

“We ask her (Wells) to come off the bench and give us energy. She was really good tonight and did what we asked of her. She got to the rim and made a couple of early baskets,” Gardner said.

Owen Valley’s Owens led the visitors with 13 points and Taylor York had 11. Drew Gardner led all scorers with 18, while Pistelli added 12 points for the Eagles.

South will travel to Monrovia on Wednesday for their next contest.

OWEN VALLEY (42) – Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Owen 5-7 3-6 13, York 4-8 3-5 11, Bixler 2-9 0-0 4, Greene 0-5 1-2 1, King 1-5 1-2 3, Monroe 2-6 2-5 6, Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Hogan 0-0 0-0 0, Amick 1-1 0-0 2, Burkett 0-0 0-0 0, Knieriem 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-44 FG, 10-20 FT, 42 TP.

SOUTH PUTNAM (57) – Cline 1-4 2-2 5, D. Gardner 6-11 1-4 18, Pistelli 4-11 2-3 12, Rissler 3-8 0-2 9, M. Gardner 2-4 2-2 6, Emmerich 0-2 0-4 0, Wells 2-3 3-6 7, Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Holderfield 0-0 0-0 0, Kempf 0-0 0-0 0, Mullin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 FG, 10-23 FT, 57 TP.

3-point shooting – OV 0-1 (York 0-1), SP 11-21 (Cline 1-1, D. Gardner 5-9, Pistelli 2-4, Rissler 3-5, Emmerich 0-2) Rebounds – OV 31 (Hall 1, Owen 2, York 3, Bixler 1, Greene 10, King 1, Monroe 6), SP 37 (Cline 2, D. Gardner 9, Pistelli 6, Rissler 2, M. Gardner 6, Emmerich 4, Wells 2) FG Pct. – OV 36.4, SP 41.9. FT Pct. – OV 50.0, SP 43.5. Turnovers – OV 21, SP 22.