South Putnam can't slow down Cascade offense in loss

CLAYTON — The South Putnam Eagles struggled to shut down the Cascade Cadets on Tuesday night. The host Cadets shot almost 60 percent (26-of-45) from the floor, methodically stretching out the lead to take a 65-40 win in high school boys’ basketball. The Cadets would never trail in the game.

The Cadets outscored the Eagles in each quarter as South could never make a run at the Cadets. The Eagles could not consistently get any stops on the defensive end and unforced errors and missed shots limited them on the offensive end.

The loss dropped the Eagles to 4-10 on the season and Cascade upped its mark to 6-6.

“Our effort was not what we wanted. We have to find a way to get more effort, leadership and consistency. That is on me to get them ready,” South Putnam head coach Josh Estridge said.

The Eagles started the game in a hole as the Cadets jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but the Eagles would never let them get away in the first period.

Cascade took a 13-8 lead, but Drew Hill nailed a trey to cut it 13-11 and then, after falling behind again, Cameron Bozell hit a three to cut the lead to 16-14.

The Cadets would then hit two three-pointers of their own to close the quarter with a 22-14 lead.

“Offensively, I thought we did some good things. We kind of simplified the offense and we could tell that it worked,” Estridge said.

Cascade slowly began to pull away in the second quarter. The Cadets efficiently got shots in the period as Toby Savini scored 10 points in the quarter to match his 10 in the first period for a 20-point half.

The Cadets shot 16-of-26 from the floor and repeatedly got open looks. South got treys from Hill, Bozell and Wyatt Mullin in the quarter, but the Cadets would open a 40-25 lead going into the locker room.

“Defense is all about grit and effort and passion. You can be the worst basketball player on our roster and still be a good defensive player with effort and understanding the scouting report. We did not get that consistently tonight and (Cascade) did what it wanted to do,” Estridge said.

South could not make a run in the second half as it continually took one step forward and two steps back.

After cutting the lead to 44-30 on a Bozell three-pointer, the Eagles would allow the Cadets to outscore them 10-6 to close the period.

Cascade scored buckets in the last two seconds of each of the first three quarters, the third periord finishing with a Tyler Hege rebound basket as the Eagles trailed 54-36.

The fourth quarter saw the Eagles fall further behind as the offense only picked up a Blake Witt layup and two Khalil Jefferson free throws. Cascade extended the final margin to 65-40.

Savini led all scorers with 20 points, while Brady Trebley and Connor Sanders added 11 each for the Cadets. Hill and Bozell led the Eagles with 10 points each.

“I thought Cam and Wyatt did a good job on Savini in the second half. He had 20 points in the first and did not score in the second. Drew (Cline) and Khalil gave us some energy off the bench. They want team success. We just have to go back and get better,” Estridge said.

The Eagles will travel to Union Dugger on Saturday night for their next contest.

SOUTH PUTNAM (40) – Mullin 2-9 2-3 7, Witt 2-2 0-0 4, Hill 3-6 2-2 10, Bozell 3-7 2-3 10, Harris 1-4 0-0 2, Garner 1-8 0-0 2, Cline 1-1 0-0 3, Jefferson 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 13-39 FG, 8-10 FT, 40 TP.

CASCADE (65) – Weakley 1-2 1-1 3, Savini 8-16 0-0 20, Parsons 1-6 0-0 2, Trebley 4-4 3-4 11, Co. Sanders 4-7 2-4 11, Ca. Sanders 3-5 0-0 8, Hege 5-5 0-0 10, Hobson 0-0 0-0 0, Roach 0-0 0-0 0, Shackelford 0-0 0-0 0, Wass 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-45 FG, 6-9 FT, 65 TP.

3-point shooting –SP 6-16 (Mullin 1-5, Hill 2-2, Bozell 2-5, Garner 0-3, Cline 1-1), CHS 7-14 (Savini 4-6, Parsons 0-4, Co. Sanders 1-1, Ca. Sander 2-3) Rebounds –SP 21 (Mullin 3, Witt 2, Hill 2, Bozell 4, Harris 2, Garner 3, Jefferson 3), CHS – 27 (Weakley 2, Savini 9, Parsons 2, Trebley 3, Co. Sanders 4, Ca. Sanders 2, Hege 4) FG Pct. – SP 33.3, CHS 57.8. FT Pct. – SP 80.0, CHS 66.7. Turnovers – SP 16, CHS 12.