By Bubba Harnist
Staff Writer
GREENCASTLE
â??? South Putnam coach Kyle Brewer knew this was a big game. The Eagles were
playing a rival whom they beaten earlier this year by one point. They were
playing in the postseason, which meant they had to win or go home. And they
were hosting the Class 2A Sectional 45 on their home floor.
If South
Putnam felt any pressure, it sure didnâ??t show. The Eagles used a stifling
defense (forcing 23 turnovers) to get a lead on North Putnam, then held off a
furious rally from the Cougars at the end of the third quarter Feb. 28 en route
to the 66-54 win.
â??Itâ??s a
huge deal,â? Brewer said of the rematch with the Eaglesâ?? county and West Central
Conference rival. â??Anytime we play each other, whether it be sectional,
conference, county, we know anything can happen.â?
South
Putnam (10-11) came out firing, starting the game on an 8-0 run with six of those
points coming from senior Matt Hicks. After a North Putnam basket by senior Lee
Fordice got the Cougars on the board, the Eagles went back to work.
This time,
it was senior Greg Chestnut taking over, scoring five straight points to give
the Eagles a 13-2 lead just four minutes into the game. North Putnam (8-13) battled
the rest of the period, cutting the deficit to eight after one quarter at 19-11.
Chestnut
(seven) and Hicks (eight) contributed 15 of South Putnamâ??s points. The Cougars,
meanwhile, struggled in taking care of the basketball, committing five
first-quarter turnovers to just one for the Eagles.
Brewer
thought his teamâ??s defense was the key to the game.
â??The key
for us early on was our defense and getting turnovers,â? he said. â??I thought we
played great defense for the first two and a half quarters.â?
The Cougars
cut the deficit to six with a basket from senior Riley McGaughey to start the
second quarter. After a bucket from junior Ben Anderson and a 3-pointer from
Hicks pushed the South Putnam lead to 11 at 24-13, the Cougars got the deficit down
to 10 two times but no closer the rest of the half.
When the
horn sounded at the halfway point, the Eagles led 34-22. The difference in the game
to that point?
Turnovers
(South Putnam still had one while North Putnam was up to 10) and one Matt
Hicks. Hicks led the Eagles at the half with 16 points, while North Putnamâ??s
leading scorer was junior Jake Mullis with seven.
The second
half started disastrously for North Putnam. Five turnovers in the first 3:00 of
the quarter didnâ??t help. Neither did a 9-0 South Putnam run to start the
quarter that stretched the Eaglesâ?? lead to 21 points, 43-22.
Things indeed
looked gloomy for North Putnam. Still, behind first-year coach Wes Peek (a
close, personal friend of the writer!); the Cougars mounted a comeback that
left them with all they wanted, which was a chance to win the game.
The run
started with a basket from McGaughey to put the deficit under 20. From there,
the Cougars could do no wrong, much like South Putnam at the start of the
quarter. After forcing an Eagles turnover, the Cougars got a basket from Mullis
to cut the lead to 17.
The margin
continued to get smaller and smaller until North Putnam had cut the lead all
the way down to six points on a basket from junior Brayden Dahlstrom with six
seconds left in the third period. That bucket extended the Cougarsâ?? run to
15-0, and we stood at 43-37 heading into the fourth.
Almost.
The only problem at this juncture for North Putnam was that Dahlstromâ??s two left
a little too much time on the clock for the Eagles. South Putnam got a
3-pointer from Chestnut as the buzzer sounded to push the lead back to nine at
46-37 and gain some momentum following the monumental Cougar comeback.
Brewer acknowledged
the significance of the shot from Chestnut.
â??We know
there is always going to be a run, and North Putnam had theirs in the third
quarter,â? he said. â??Our answer for that was the huge shot from Chestnut at the
end of the quarter.
â??I thought
the kids did a great job during the run of keeping their composure and
maintaining their concentration.â?
The fourth
quarter saw the Eagles push their lead back to double digits with two straight
buckets. After jacking the lead back to 15 at one point, however, South Putnam endured
another Cougar rally that cut the deficit to eight with 2:43 remaining.
With the
score 58-50, though, the Cougars missed a golden opportunity to get closer,
committing an offensive foul on one possession and not converting a
three-on-one fast break on the next. Yet the Cougars managed to get it to down
to six, 58-52, after a basket from Mullis.
Suddenly,
things were getting real interesting again. But South Putnam responded to the
challenge with a dagger to the Cougarsâ?? heart, a three-point play from Chestnut
with 1:09 left, to push the lead back to nine at 61-52.
From
there, North Putnam would get no closer. The Eagles hit their free throws down
the stretch and eventually escaped with the 12-point win.
Leading
the way for North Putnam was Mullis with 19 points, while McGaughey added 14.
South
Putnam, which moves on to the first sectional semifinal Friday night, was paced
by Chestnutâ??s game-high 26 points as well as 20 from Hicks.
Brewer was
especially pleased with the play of Chestnut.
â??I think
our team is better when Greg hits outside shots,â? Brewer said. â??Itâ??s huge for
us for him to hit those shots because it helps open the inside game.â?
On Friday,
the Eagles will take on Cascade (10-10), a team that has beaten them twice already
this season. Brewer knows his team will have its hands full with the Cadets.
â??They are
a real good basketball team,â? he said. â??Itâ??s hard to beat a team twice in one
season, so three times is even tougher.
â??We will
look at some game film tonight and devise the best possible plan. Itâ??s early in
the process, but we will show up and put forth our best effort.â?
Game 2
will feature the winner of Wednesdayâ??s Monrovia
(3-18)-No. 11 Cloverdale (16-4) game vs. the survivor of South Vermillion
(8-14) and second-ranked Tri-West Hendricks (18-2).
So
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