South Putnam loses Hill, midweek matchup with Mounties

NEW MARKET —Both Southmont and South Putnam boys basketball are rounding third and heading into the home stretch of their seasons and both want to finish things strong as the two squared off at Southmont on Tuesday night.

The first half was a battle between the two evenly matched teams with the visiting Eagles leading 14-10 after a quarter, but the Mounties outscored South Put 12-5 in the second to take a 22-19 lead into half.

In the second half it was all Mounties and Southmont, for the first time since Jan. 20, got in the win column with a 56-38 win.

A big reason for why the Mounties were able to pull away was their defense which once again was stout in the third. They held the Eagles to just seven points, got out and ran in transition to the tune of a 19-7 third quarter to lead 41-26 after three.

South Putnam senior and leading scorer Drew Hill did not play in the second half due to a concussion. Hill had 15 points heading into the locker room and still managed to lead all scorers in the game.

Southmont (7-11) saw eight different players find the scoring column in the win led by Vince Reimondo’s 14 and Evan Watson’s 11.

First-Year South Putnam coach Josh Estridge noted the obvious loss of Hill and how that changed the game.

“When (Southmont) saw that Drew wasn’t playing in the second half, they got more confident,” Estridge said. “Southmont picked up the pressure on us and forced some turnovers which allowed them to get easy points in transition.

“Our guys in that third quarter didn’t play with that same confidence. Drew does a lot for us along with being our senior leader. We finally started to adjust late in the fourth quarter, but the game was already out of reach by that point.”

Along with Reimondo’s 14 and Watson’s 11, Hayden Hess scored nine in the Southmont win with Kyler McCandless adding eight. Austin Foley scored six, both Jacob Fox and Lucas Oppy three with Aaron McMasters scoring two. The Mounties shot 25-35 (51.1%) in the win from the floor and 4-15 (26.6%) from three and 6-16 (37.5%) from the foul line. Southmont grabbed 32 rebounds and turned it over 12 times, but just four times in the second half.

South Putnam (7-12) had Wyatt Mullin chip in seven points to go along with Hill’s 15. Khalil Jefferson scored four, Ty Benton and Cameron Bozell each scored three while Blake Witt, Drew Cline, and Parker Harris all ended with two.

The Eagles shot 16-44 (36.4%) in the loss and just 3-17 (17.6%) from deep and 3-8 (37.5%) from the free-throw line. South Putnam grabbed 27 rebounds and turned the ball over 16 times including 10 in the second half.

With both teams having just three games left in the regular season, the Eagles will have to look upon some other players to step up if Hill is out for a few games.

“Some guys are going to have to play some new roles that they’re not used to playing,” Estridge said. “This team and these guys are certainly capable of doing that.”

South Putnam will be back at home Friday to host Owen Valley.

South Putnam (7-12) Wyatt Mullin 3-12 0-1 7, Blake Witt 1-1 0-0 2, Drew Hill 6-13 3-4 15, Drew Cline 1-3 0-1 2, Cameron Bozell 1-7 0-0 3, Parker Harris 1-2 0-0 2, Isaac Garner 0-1 0-0 0, Khalil Jefferson 2-3 0-0 4, Ty Benton 1-2 0-2 3; Totals 16-44 3-8 38

Southmont (7-11): Evan Watson 4-6 2-6 11, Vince Reimondo 5-12 2-2 14, Austin Foley 3-5 0-2 6, Jacob Fox 1-2 0-0 3, Kyler McCandless 4-5 0-0 8, Lucas Oppy 1-1 1-4 3, Hayden Hess 4-7 1-2 9, Cale Chadd 0-1 0-0 0, Aaron McMasters 1-3 0-0 2, Dawson Mason 0-3 0-0 0, Heath Tolliver 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 23-45 6-16 56

3-Point Shooting: South Putnam 3-17 (Mullin 1-6, Bozell 1-6, Benton 1-1, Hill 0-2, Harris 0-1, Garner 0-1); Southmont 4-15 (Reimondo 2-5, Fox 1-2, Watson 1-2, Hess 0-2, Chadd 0-1, Mason 0-3)

Rebounds: South Putnam 27 (Jefferson 6, Cline 4, Bozell 4, Mullin 3); Southmont 32 (McMasters 8, Oppy 6, Hess 4, Foley 4)

Turnovers: South Putnam 16; Southmont 12