North Putnam flummoxed by stout, sharp-shooting North Montgomery

North Putnam's Brady Barber splits a pair of North Montgomery defenders on a drive during the second half of Tuesday night's regular season finale. Barber led the Cougars with 11 points but the hosts found the Charger defense difficult to navigate in a 44-37 loss.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

BAINBRIDGE – Who needs an offensive rebound if you just don’t miss a shot?

It’s a theory that North Montgomery put to the test Tuesday night at North Putnam, one that successfully was carried out in the second half as the Chargers were 9-of-12 from the field, including 7-of-8 from three, turning around a nine-point halftime deficit into a 44-37 win over the Cougars.

“North Montgomery played really well,” North Putnam head coach Vince Brooks said. “Their defense was exceptional and we struggled to hit shots.

“We’ll have to look at the film again but it looked like we got a lot of shots that we liked; we just didn’t hit them. It’ll be interesting to go back and watch to see what we did or didn’t do well but all the credit to North Montgomery.”

Senior night at North Putnam started off evenly as the quintet of Brady Barber, Nolan Hackleman, Matt Farrington, Jaylen Windmiller and Brogan Woodall started out even with North Montgomery as Barber and Farrington scored to match baskets from Kelby Harwood and Noah Hopkins.

The Cougars created separation after a Barber free throw was followed by a three from Kaden Helderman while Hackleman added two free throws to make it 10-4.

The Chargers saw a three near the halfway line waved off for a foul but still had enough time for Harwood to hit a long two at the horn to make it 10-6 after a quarter of play.

Woodall started the second quarter with a three and Barber added a second to make it 16-7.

Farrington hit a jumper to stretch the lead to 11 and the lead reached its peak following a putback by Isaac Pickel, a block on the other end from the sophomore and a three from Nolan Augusta to make it 23-10.

North Putnam did not score in the remaining 3:33 of the half, allowing North Montgomery to cut a bit of the lead off with baskets from Harwood and Jarrod Kirsch making it 23-14 at halftime.

Jack Warren opened the second half with a three for North Montgomery but a Pickel putback and a three from Hackleman restored the double-digit lead at 28-17.

The Chargers sliced the lead to three with three minutes left in the third quarter after Ross Dyson hit a floater and Hopkins and Jarrod Kirsch hit threes to make it 28-25 and force a Cougar timeout.

Windmiller hit two free throws but was answered by another Hopkins three and a Harwood free throw to make it a one-point game.

Barber hit a free throw but missed the second and, off the miss, the visitors were able to avoid a backcourt turnover, turning into a free layup for Kirsch that tied the game at 31-31 heading into the final period.

A three-point play from Barber gave the lead back to North Putnam but Cameron Enlow, scoreless through the first three quarters, canned three triples in a row, adding a free throw to complete a personal 10-1 run.

Pickel scored a final putback but the Cougars couldn’t force any late turnovers and Harwood hit three late free throws to break the Cougars’ nine-game win streak ahead of sectional play.

“This is a great opportunity for us to make sure we’re hungry,” Brooks said about the loss heading into sectional play next week. “I really believe in these kids, their work ethic and their mindset.

“We’ll use this as fuel and make sure we’re dialed in even moreso if that’s possible.”

Scoring

North Montgomery (8-16 2FG; 7-16 3FG; 7-12 FT) — Harwood 10, Enlow 10, Hopkins 8, Hirsch 8, Warren 3, Dyson 2, Arnold 2, Meadows 1

North Putnam (7-20 2FG; 5-23 3FG; 8-12 FT) — Barber 11, Pickel 6, Hackleman 5, Farrington 4, Helderman 3, Woodall 3, Augusta 3, Windmiller 2

Statistics