PUTNAM COUNTY CLASSIC: Cougars blast Clovers early, reach final for fifth-straight season

North Putnam's Nolan Hackleman was a handful early on, scoring 14 points in the opening quarter of Thursday night's Putnam County Classic second game against Cloverdale. The Cougars led 23-3 after eight minutes and cruised to a 63-27 win to reach the finals, where they will face Greencastle.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

North Putnam opened with a 10-0 run and added a 13-1 run in the first quarter to cruise to a resounding 63-27 victory over Cloverdale in the opening round of the Putnam County Classic Thursday night in McAnally Center.

Nolan Hackleman had 14 points in the first quarter as the Cougars set the tone for the entire game early. North scored early and often while the Clovers could not find the range as the game got away from them early.

The loss dropped the Clovers to 1-18 overall and the Cougars improved to 12-8 and will take on hosts Greencastle in the championship game on Friday.

“We came out with a lot of energy. We moved the ball and were really playing well to start the game,” North Putnam head coach Vince Brooks said.

North came out of the gate with four players scoring their first eight points, all on layups at the rim. Isaac Pickel opened the game with one followed by Matt Farrington.

Brady Barber continued the trend and Hackleman got another, the latter’s starting a run where the senior scored the next nine points, capped by a dunk and forced the Clovers to call timeout for the second time in the quarter.

The Cougars finished the period with a 23-3 lead as they held the Clovers to just 1-of-11 shooting.

“We could not hit a shot. It just got worse as you could see the players looking at the scoreboard and we just had two points,” Cloverdale head coach Karl Turk said.

Cloverdale’s Levi Johnson opened the second quarter with a three-pointer, but North Putnam’s Kaden Helderman answered and the Cougars began to make a concerted effort to get the ball inside to Pickel, who had a pair of layups while Hackleman and Barber hit shots as the Cougars stretched the lead to 34-9.

Houston Job hit a trey for the Clovers, but the Cougars scored the last five points of the first half and had a commanding 39-12 lead at halftime.

“We wanted to get the ball inside against their zone. We missed (Pickel) a couple of times and I called timeout and then we did a better job,” Brooks said.

Pickel inside did the damage to start the second half. The six-foot-six sophomore hit three early shots. including two off offensive rebounds, as the smaller Clovers had no answer for his size. Pickel finished the game with 12 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor.

Hackleman hit his second bucket of the third quarter to give the Cougars a 51-15 lead to start the running clock and the teams traded buckets as North finished the period with a 53-19 lead.

“It is tough. We have had some sickness and now we are down another player with Zach Thomas out now. Scottie (McGuire) got some time and is getting back into it,” Turk said of the Clovers, who have lost three key players for the season and now have Thomas out. McGuire had been out since mid-December but came back to give valuable minutes.

The fourth quarter saw both teams provide a ton of action for all players dressed. The running clock made the quarter go quickly and the Cougars finished the game off with a 62-27 victory.

Cloverdale was led in scoring with Jobe and Trey Schabel with seven points each. Hackleman led the Cougars with 20 and Pickel added 12.

“Nolan is just so consistent. He really played well tonight. Wow, I didn’t know he had 14 in the first half,” Brooks said of his leading scorer.

The Cougars will take on Greencastle for the title on Friday while the Clovers will open Friday night against South Putnam in the consolation game.

CLOVERDALE (27) – Jobe 2-8 1-2 7, Schabel 2-8 2-4 7, McGuire 1-5 2-2 4, Johnson 1-5 0-0 3, Kelley 1-7 1-2 3, Ramsay 0-0 0-0 0, Henderson 0-2 0-0 0, Alexander 0-0 0-0 0, Patton 1-1 0-0 3, Boyd 0-0 0-0 0, Shepherd 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 8-37 FG, 6-10 FT, 27 TP.

NORTH PUTNAM (63) – Helderman 1-7 0-0 3, Farrington 2-5 0-0 4, Barber 3-8 2-2 9, Hackleman 9-13 0-0 20, Pickel 6-6 0-0 12, Augusta 1-7 0-0 3, Asher 1-2 0-0 2, Starr 0-2 0-0 0, Brogan Woodall 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 27-61 FG, 2-2 FT, 63 TP.

3-point shooting – CHS 5-16 (Jobe 2-4, Schabel 1-1, McGuire 0-3, Johnson 1-3, Kelley 0-2, Patton 1-1, Henderson 0-2), NP 7-28 (Helderman 1-6, Starr 0-2, Farrington 0-1, Barber 1-3, Hackleman 2-5, Augusta 1-3, Windmiller 1-3, Bro. Woodall 1-5) Rebounds – CHS 25 (Schabel 3, McGuire 1, Johnson 2, Boyd 2, Kelley 6, Ramsay 2, Henderson 3), NP – 39 (Helderman 1, Farrington 5, Barber 8, Hackleman 3, Pickel 6, Augusta 1, Asher 2, Windmiller 8, Bro. Woodall 1) FG Pct. – CHS 21.6, NP 44.3. FT Pct. – CHS 60.0, NP 100.0. Turnovers – CHS 13, NP 3.