Turnovers costly for Cougars in loss to Eagles

BAINBRIDGE — The physicality and pressure of the Brown County Eagles kept the North Putnam Cougars from being able to pick up a win on their homecourt on Saturday night.

The Cougars turned the ball over 27 times, with 20 coming in the second and third quarters, in a Western Indiana Conference girls’ basketball game.

Brown County was able to withstand a late Cougar run to hang on for the 47-40 victory. The loss dropped North to 8-12 on the season and 3-6 in the WIC. The Eagles improved to 10-10 and 7-3 in conference play.

“We didn’t handle their pressure very well. It was mainly in the halfcourt and we made some blind passes that we shouldn’t and did some things that are not typical of our team,” North Putnam head coach Curtis Lawrence said.

The two teams battled to an even first quarter. Lexi Daigle gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead early and then a Jasmine Duvall three-pointer late in the half gave North its last lead of the game at 9-8 as the Eagles hit a free throw to knot the score at 9-9 after one period of play.

The Eagles’ Ava Stogsdill picked up a pair of steals and buckets to open the second quarter and the pressure got to the Cougars as Brown County slowly opened a double-digit lead as Anna Tipton hit a three-pointer for a 24-13 with just over a minute to play.

North rallied with a Jenna Day free throw and a Sammie Hoops trey to close the half and set the margin at 24-17 heading into the locker room.

“I never have to worry about our girls playing hard. We played hard and did a lot of good things. They are physical and sometimes we are not a physical team,” Lawrence said.

The Cougars continued to stay in the game in the third quarter. Brown County scored two quick buckets to open the second half, but a Lexi Daigle three-pointer stopped the run and then the Cougars went to Daigle in the post and she began to find Jasmine Duvall on the perimeter with an inside-out game.

Duvall nailed a pair of treys and a jumper for eight points in the last 1:29 of the quarter to cut the deficit to 35-31 heading into the final period.

“Jasmine played really well tonight. She is on an upward trend. I hope she can continue that as we move to the tournament,” Lawrence said.

Brown County was able to extend the lead to 46-34 late in the fourth quarter, but back-to-back threes by Lexi Daigle and Jacy Huffman cut the lead to 46-40 with 1:33 left to play, but the Cougars could not get over the hump and the Eagles hit a late free throw to set the final score at 47-40.

“Lexi does a little bit of everything for us. She passed well, stepped out and hit a couple of threes. Jacy knocked down a big three-pointer for us,” Lawrence said.

The Eagles were led in scoring by Lexi Austin with a game-high 19 points and Ava Stogsdill added 17. Lexi Daigle had 13 and Duvall chipped in with 11 for the Cougars.

“We are working hard and this game will help us as the tournament is coming up. We need to continue to improve, but we are going in the right direction,” Lawrence said.

The Cougars will host Covenant Christian on Tuesday Jan. 23 for their final home game.

BROWN COUNTY (47) – Av. Stogsdill 7-18 3-7 17, Kemp 0-0 0-2 0, Austin 7-16 3-4 19, Huff 1-7 0-0 3, An. Stogsdill 1-3 0-0 2 Tipton 2-6 0-2 6, Poling 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-50 FG, 6-15 FT, 47 TP.

NORTH PUTNAM (40) – Davies 2-7 3-5 7, Haste 0-3 1-2 1, Osburn 0-2 1-2 1, H. Daigle 0-1 0-0 0, L. Daigle 4-10 3-6 13, Hoops 1-2 0-0 3, Duvall 4-8 0-0 11, Day 0-1 1-2 1, Carroll 0-0 0-0 0, Huffman 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 12-36 FG, 9-17 FT, 40 TP.

3-point shooting –BC 5-20 (Av. Stogsdill 0-1, Austin 2-8, Huff 1-4, An. Stogsdill 0-1, Tipton 2-6), NP 7-20 (Huffman 1-1, Haste 0-3, H. Daigle 0-1, L. Daigle 2-6, Hoops 1-2, Duvall 3-6, Day 0-1) Rebounds –BC 30 (Av. Stogsdill 6, Kemp 4, Austin 4, Huff 6, An. Stogsdill 3), NP – 23 (Davies 3, Haste 10, Carroll 1, Osburn 2, H. Daigle 2, L. Daigle 3, Hoops 1, Duvall 1, Day 1) FG Pct. – BC 30.0, NP 33.3. FT Pct. – BC 40.0, NP 52.9. Turnovers – BC 17, NP 27.