North Putnam Cougars | Archive | February, 2008

North’s Griffen Dahlstrom gets between two defenders to put in two of his team-hihg 16 points. [Click to enlarge]

He chose to first focus on J.T. Francies,
the only senior on the roster, who hit three three-pointers, two of which came
in a run that kept the Cougars afloat in the first half.

“I thought J.T. Francies played really well. He played like a senior plays
when he knows there’s no tomorrow,” Peek said. “We’re saying goodbye now to a
kid who has been in and out of our program. But he’s a great kid and he plays
his tail off every night.”

The Cougars started off very slowly and trailed 12-4 after the first quarter.

“That’s been normal for us. We struggle to score,” Peek said. “Tonight, in a
sectional game, when both teams start out a little tight, we thought we might be
able to survive that a little better than they did. It just took us too long to
get on the board and we played from behind.”

With Cascade having just 12 points, though, the Cougar defense was not doing
too bad.

“I thought early our defense was pretty good for having so many empty trips
offensively. We were able to get stops and keep the game within reach early,”
Peek said.

Griffen Dahlstrom seemed to be the Cougars’ only offense early, as he scored
the first eight Cougar points of the game.

But then Francies came off the bench and hit his first two threes to help
spur a 10-2 North run that took them from 19 down to just 11 down late in the
first half.

Peek spoke highly of what Francies was able to do in keeping the Cougars
close.

“When he gets on the floor, you know he’s going to be physical and mean and
nasty. He’s every one of those things and that’s what we love about him,” the
coach commented.

Although Cascade held for the last shot, they came up short, and led 27-16 at
the break.

In the third, though, the Cadets (6-15) hit two quick buckets and North never
really threatened again.

“You start to press a little bit and you start to feel like you’re getting
too far back,” Peek said. “But our kids compete. I felt like they competed
tonight for 32 minutes and they’ve done that all year.”

The Cadets went on to outscore North 30-17 in the second half.

Dahlstrom led North with 16 points.

“I though Griffen Dahlstrom, Kyle Alcorn and Jerrett Ban were all over the
place,” Peek said. “We had some guys do things tonight that were really good and
will build into our offseason. That’s where we gotta focus now.”

Peek and his team will now turn their attention to the offseason. In spite of
the record, there is reason for hope at North Putnam, as everyone but Francies
returns.

“It’s really a positive thing as long as we take care of everything we have
to take care of in the offseason,” Peek said. “We have to make sure that we have
guys in the gym that are working on skills.

“We talked tonight that our deficiencies aren’t in effort or intensity or
attitude–our deficiencies are in skill. We have to work on that. The beauty of
that is you can fix all of those things. But you can’t fix them during the
season. The offseason is where a basketball player is made. The winter is when
you make a team. We’ve gotta work on building players,” he concluded.

At South Putnam

IHSAA Boys’ Basketball Sectional

First Round

Cascade 12 15 14 16 — 57

North Putnam 4 12 9 8 — 33

Cascade (6-15) — Guthrie 2-11 11-12 16, Fuerher 4-9 3-3 12, Heimansohn 5-5
1-2 11, Arthur 4-11 1-3 9, Spencer 3-7 0-0 6, Nease 1-1 0-0 2, Baldwin 0-0 1-2
1, Wagonner 0-1 0-0 0, Simpson 0-1 0-0 0, Dunn 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-47 FG,
17-22 FT, 57 points.

North Putnam (1-20) — Dahlstrom 7-12 2-5 16, Francies 3-8 0-0 9, Hadley 1-1
0-0 2, Jones 1-6 0-0 2, Ban 1-8 0-0 2, Alcorn 1-10 0-0 2, Adams 0-3 0-0 0.
Totals: 14-48 FG, 2-5 FT, 33 points.

3-pt FG–Cas 2-10 (Fuerher 1-3, Guthrie 1-4), NP 3-14 (Francies 3-6).
Turnovers–Cas 17, NP 27. Total fouls–Cas 11, NP 18. Fouled out–None.

Next game — Cascade will play Tri-West in the second South Putnam Sectional
semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Danville raced-out to an early 13-2 lead in the first quarter, but North
Putnam narrowed the Warriors’ lead to 13-9, but that would be as close as the
Cougars would get during rest of the game.

Danville steadily pulled away from North Putnam from that point, handing the
Cougars a 92-38 loss.

North Putnam played with great effort, but the more experienced and taller
Warriors hit 60 percent of their field goals, 83 percent of their free throws,
handed-out 24 assists, and out-rebounded the Cougars 40-17.

That was the difference in the game.

“Danville’s a great team, and they played tonight like a team wants to play,
going into the tournament,” commented North Putnam coach Wes Peek after the
game. “They shot the ball extremely well, and they are a team that’s good enough
to go a long way in the tournament.

“This game, for us, was about gaining momentum going into our game with
Cascade Wednesday night.” he continued. “Our guys did that, and they never
stopped competing tonight.”

“These guys really enjoy the game, playing together as a group, and
competing. They don’t get down on themselves, so those are all positive things
that we want to be doing, going into Wednesday’s game. We’re really looking
forward to Wednesday night,” added Peek.

North Putnam was led in scoring by Kyle Alcorn and Jerrett Ban with eight
points each.

Griffen Dahlstrom led the Cougars in rebounds with four boards, and Ban had
game-high two blocked shots.

This was the final home game for Seniors JT Francies and Zack Hedrick.

A final note: North Putnam opened the season with high hopes, demonstrated in
an impressive effort in a 60-65 overtime loss at Southmont on November 21.

However, North Putnam’s two leading scorers, Cory Dean and Zach Hedrick, were
injured in an automobile accident on icy roads going the meet the team bus on
December 1.

Both players were able to return to the team later in the season, but were
unable to contribute like they had before the accident, but that was not
important.

What was important was that they had recovered, and they were back with the
team.

The North Putnam Cougars boys’ basketball team learned this season that there
are more important things in life than a win-loss record.

In the junior varsity game, North Putnam lost to Danville, 41-65.

Reece Heron led the Cougar’s in scoring with 14 points, followed by Travis
Franklin with 13.

Jake Lasiter and Drew Hutcheson had four points each, Cody Summerlot added
three, James Hedrick scored two, and Garret Porter closed out the Cougar scoring
with one point.

The Cougars (1-19, 0-6 WCC) play Cascade in the second game of the South
Putnam Sectional Wednesday night. The game will begin around 7:30.

At North Putnam

North Putnam 9 8 8 13 — 38

Danville 27 29 23 13 — 92

North Putnam (1-19, 0-6 WCC) — Alcorn 1-5 5-6 8, Ban 4-7 0-0 8, Francies
1-10 0-0 2, Adams 3-5 1-3 7, Dahlstrom 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 2-9 0-0 6, Hadley 0-2
0-0 0, Lasiter 0-0 1-3 1, Franklin 2-3 0-0 6, Dean 0-0 0-0 0, Hutcheson 0-0 0-0
0, Heron 0-0 0-0 0, Hedrick 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 13-45 FG, 7-13 FT, 38 TP.

Danville (16-5, 7-0 SAC) — Phipps 3-6 0-0 7, Humphrey 4-7 0-0 9, Mabbitt 1-1
0-0 2, Weaver 12-14 2-3 30, Doub 4-7 2-2 10, Morris 3-5 0-1 6, Rigdon 3-5 0-0 7,
Carroll 3-9 4-4 10, Mackey 4-6 2-2 11, Birchler 0-0 0-0 0, Chalfant 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 10-12 FG, 37-62 FT, 92 TP.

3-pt. FG – NP 5-22 (Alcorn 1-3, Ban 0-1, Francies 0-5, Jones 2-9, Franklin
2-2, Hedrick 0-2), D 8-13 (Phipps 1-4, Humphrey 1-2, Weaver 4-4, Rigdon 1-1,
Mackey 1-2). Rebounds – NP 17 (Alcorn 1, Ban 2, Francies 2, Adams 2, Dahlstrom
4, Jones 2, Hadley 1, Lasiter 1, Hutcheson 1, Heron 1), D 40 (Phipps 2, Humphrey
7, Mabbitt 2, Weaver 4, Doub 2, Morris 6, Rigdon 3, Carroll 7, Mackey 1,
Birchler 4, Chalfant 2). Blocks — NP 4 (Ban 2, Dahlstrom 1, Lasiter 1), D 2
(Carroll 2). Assists — NP 5 (Adams 1, Jones 2, Hadley 1, Lasiter 1), D 24
(Phipps 3, Humphrey 4, Mabbitt 4, Weaver 2, Doub 3, Morris 1, Rigdon 2, Carroll
2, Birchler 3). Steals — NP 2 (Ban 1, Lasiter 1), D 5 (Phipps 1, Humphrey 1,
Mabbitt 2, Rigdon 1). Total fouls — NP 10, D 17. Fouled out — none. Turnovers
– NP 14, D 7.

Next games — The Cougars (1-19, 0-6 WCC) play Cascade in the second game of
the South Putnam Sectional at approximately 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Pasch will be replacing Ray Schultz as head coach at Indianapolis Lutheran
High School.

Rumors of Pasch’s resignation had been circulating and the issue was expected
to be handled at the Thursday, Feb. 21 meeting of the school board. However,
that meeting was delayed one week due to weather.

Pasch has led the Cougars to a combined 25-2 record over the past two
seasons, including one regional and two sectional titles. In 11 seasons at the
helm, he has led the Cougars to a 65-57 record.

The game was a hard-fought contest, as all North Putnam/South Putnam
basketball games have been throughout the schools’ 38-year history.

South Putnam led North Putnam at the end of the first quarter, 11-10, and the
game was tied at 23-23, with 3:18 left in the first half, but the Eagles
steadily pulled away during the rest of the game, defeating the Cougars, 73-53.

The game was practically even statistically close in every category, except
rebounding and free throws attempted and made.

South Putnam attempted and hit 20 more free throws, and grabbed 15 more
rebounds than North Putnam, and that turned out to be the difference in the
game.

“One of the things that were really big for us today was our post play,”
commented South Putnam coach Brian Gardner after the game. “Our post players
sealed-off the defense, and our guards did a nice job of getting them the
basketball.

“Earlier this season, we had trouble doing that, but today, our guards did a
nice job of looking for the pass, and when our inside guys weren’t open, they
did a nice job of attacking the basket.

“I am really proud of how hard our kids played today,” added Gardner.

“We had opportunities early in the game to either take control and build a
lead, or keep the game within one or two points, and we allowed them to
continually get second shots with offensive rebounds and that was ultimately,
what got us behind” commented North Putnam coach Wes Peek after the game.

“They shot 38 free throws simply because they were more aggressive than we
were today and that was the difference in the game,” added Peek.

South Putnam had five players scoring double figures, Noah Boswell, the
leading scorer of the game with 21, Cameron Chestnut with 13, Conor Frame with
11, and Drew Cash and Nathan Welty with 10 each.

Michael Sebanc followed with five, Dayne Nelson had two, and Adam Masters
closed out the Eagle scoring with one point.

Chestnut and Boswell had double-doubles as they grabbed 10 rebounds each and
Sebanc had two assists.

North Putnam had two players scoring double figures, Griffen Dahlstrom with
17, and Brock Jones with 11.

JT Francies followed with eight, Jerrett Ban added six, Kyle Adams had five,
and Kyle Alcorn and Mitch Hadley closed out the Cougar scoring with three points
each.

Dahlstrom led the Cougars in rebounds with seven boards, and had game-high
statistics in three categories; blocked shots with four, assists with three, and
he and Alcorn had game-high two steals each.

The Eagles (4-14, 1-5 WCC) host Owen Valley at 7:30 p.m. Friday night.

The Cougars (1-15, 0-6 WCC) host Tri-West 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night.

At North Putnam

South Putnam 11 23 19 20 – 73

North Putnam 10 17 9 17 – 53

South Putnam (4-14, 1-5 WCC) — Nelson 0-0 2-2 2, Sebanc 1-5 3-4 5, Cash 4-6
1-2 10, Chestnut 5-11 3-4 13, Frame 3-4 5-6 11, Welty 0-5 10-10 10, Dean 0-0 0-0
0, Boswell 8-13 5-7 21, Masters 0-2 1-3 1. Totals 21-46 FG, 30-38 FT, 73 TP.

North Putnam (1-15, 0-6 WCC) — Alcorn 1-7 0-2 3, Ban 1-4 4-6 6, Jones 5-14
0-1 11, Adams 2-3 1-2 5, Dahlstrom 7-12 3-6 17, Francies 3-9 2-2 8, Hadley 1-4
0-0 3, Lasiter 0-0 0-0 0, Franklin 0-1 0-0 0, Heron 0-0 0-0 0, Hutcheson 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 20-54 FG, 10-19 FT, 53 TP.

3-pt. FG–SP 1-7 (Sebanc 0-1, Cash 1-1, Chestnut 0-2, Welty 0-3), NP 3-18
(Alcorn 1-5, Jones 1-8, Dahlstrom 0-1, Francies 0-2, Hadley 1-2). Rebounds–SP
35 (Sebanc 1, Cash 2, Chestnut 10, Frame 5, Welty 4, Boswell 10, Masters 3), NP
20 (Alcorn 1, Ban 4, Jones 3, Adams 4, Dahlstrom 7, Hadley 1). Blocks–SP 2
(Chestnut 1, Masters 1), NP 7 (Dahlstrom 4, Franklin 1, Hutcheson 2).
Assists–SP 4 (Sebanc 2, Chestnut 1, Boswell 1), NP 7 (Alcorn 2, Jones 1,
Dahlstrom 3, Hadley 1). Steals–SP 5 (Nelson 1, Frame 1, Welty 1, Boswell 1,
Masters 1), NP 6 (Alcorn 2, Ban 1, Jones 1, Dahlstrom 2). Total fouls–SP 20, NP
23. Fouled out–Ban. Turnovers–SP 16, NP 16.

Next games — The Cougars (1-15, 0-6 WCC) host Tri-West at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
night. The Eagles (4-14, 1-5 WCC) host Owen Valley at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

However, North Putnam boys’ coach Wes Peek would never let it show. Facing a
Rockville team he called “unbelievable,” Peek gave nothing but praise to his
team and its effort after a 115-62 loss Thursday night.

Peek used a word not often associated with lopsided losses: fun.

“It was a fun game for them to play and for us to coach in because they
played their tails off for 32 minutes and did everything we wanted them to do.
We were just really happy with their effort,” Peek said.

The Cougars (1-15, 0-5 WCC) knew they were facing a tough opponent in the Rox
(15-2, 5-1 WRC). Peek said the team and coaches refused to pay attention to the
score, knowing they simply had to play their game and get the most they could
out of their effort.

“Our kids have never played harder in three years than what they did tonight.
We were just so pleased with the way they kept playing,” Peek said.

“Our emphasis was, no matter what the score and no matter what the situation,
we’re going to keep attacking. They did that,” he continued. “Our kids felt
like, no matter what the score was, they were going to have fun playing
basketball and they did. It was just a lot of fun tonight despite the score.”

The Cougars are looking for the same attitude on Saturday when they host
South Putnam at 4 p.m. in a varsity-only contest.

“We’re looking to have the same kind of effort we did tonight. If we do that,
everything will take care of itself,” Peek said.

“I’d like to point out Phil Kass. He’s a senior and this is his first year
swimming. He’s one of the slowest guys on the team, but he had a great meet
today and broke 30 seconds in the 50 for the first time,” Bretscher said.

Senior Phil Kass, dubbed Greencastle’s “hardest worker” by Coach Daniel Bretscher, completed his swimming career Thursday night.

The coach was obviously as
proud of Kass as he was of his swimmers who broke three meet records on Thursday
night. The senior placed ninth in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:29.23 and 14th
in the 50 free with a 29.83.

However, having watched Kass’ determination throughout the season, his
teammates and coach have come to appreciate his work ethic.

“Phil’s possibly the hardest worker on the team and being his first year
swimming, people don’t really notice him as much as the fast guys,” Bretscher
said. “But he really has become the heart of our team and this was his final
meet ever swimming and he had a really great meet. The team really rallied
around him.”

South Putnam finished second to the Tiger Sharks, while North Putnam was
third.

Junior Nick Stevens was central to all three of the Sharks’ record-breaking
performances. His 200 free time of 1:51.24 broke his coach’s record by more than
two seconds. Bretscher wasn’t too troubled about it, though.

“It had to go sometime. At least it was one of my guys,” Bretscher said. “He
was also part of the two freestyle relays that broke the records. He’s really
thinking ahead to next week. He wants to have a really good sectional and I
think he will.”

The other two record-breakers came in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay.

In the 200 relay, the team of Luke Smith, Stevens, Miles Salman and Luke
Crimmins swam a 1:34.30 to break the old record set by a Greencastle team in
2004.

In the 400 relay, it was Austin Woodall, Stevens, Salman and Crimmins
swimming a 3:29.97 and breaking the 2005 record by nearly two seconds.

Greencastle also won the 200 medley relay. Crimmins, Ryan Payne, Jesse Elkins
and Stevens swam a 1:46.06.

Stevens and Crimmins were each four-time county champions. In addition to the
three relays, Crimmins won the 50 freestyle in 23.26.

Adam Clute won two individual events for the Tiger Sharks, taking the diving
with 212.00 points and the 100 backstroke in 1:06.44.

Diving coach Mike Bostic continues to be impressed by how Clute, who was not
diving at the year’s start, is improving.

“I think he dove real well. The way the meet turned out for him, it builds
his spirits for the sectional meet,” Bostic said. “With him being a senior and
never having a coach, it’s exciting him. It’s exciting me, but for him it’s just
a big builder.

“It doesn’t stop from there. We have one more big meet and I want him to
carry that on into that meet,” Bostic continued.

The diving coach feels even better when he thinks about how Clute will
perform when he has to do 11 dives at sectional

“The last meet that he had, he did the easy dives that are going to add to
what he did tonight. The boy’s looking pretty good for regional. He has it in
him. Now we just need to let it loose,” Bostic said. “I think the 11-dive meet
is going to pump him up.”

Other individual champions for the Tiger Cubs were Salman in the 200 IM
(2:15.41), Elkins in the 100 butterfly (59.54), Woodall in the 500 free
(5:23.14) and Payne in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.22).

“I was very pleased. Our mindset is that we’re 100 percent thinking about
next week.” Bretscher said. “For us, the county meet is our last chance to tune
up before we do it for real next week.”

All three teams are looking toward next week’s sectional at this point. For
South Putnam, the focus was on dropping times at this point.

“Several kids did really well,” Eagle coach Joe Condon said. “They dropped
significantly. Some of our kids who’ve been working didn’t have the drops they
thought they’d have, but we’re okay.

“I think with a week to go until sectional, we’re right where we need to be
with our front runners. And our younger kids had some good drops. I was
pleased,” he continued.

Although South had no county champions, they placed second in the meet by
filling lanes and giving solid performances across the board.

The Eagles were paced by second-place performances from their sprinters and
their lone diver.

Clark Becker was second in the 50 free with a 24.13. Chris Smiley was second
in the100 free, swimming a 54.65.

Thomas Butts placed second in diving with 130.45 points.

Condon has a very young team this season and says the youngsters are coming
along well

“I’ve seen them figure out how to do the work and I’m starting to see how
it’s paying off,” Condon said. “Hopefully, the future looks bright for them.”

Heading toward sectional, Condon is stressing relays to his team and
emphasizing the team aspect of it all.

“I always like to pay attention to relays at sectional because those are your
scoring events, but also that’s where the kids get to work as a team,” he said.
“We’ll work hard on relay starts and figuring out who will be on the relays.
We’ll be ready to go next Thursday.”

North Putnam’s third-place finish was highlighted by a county championship
for senior Kyle Smith, who won the 100 freestyle in 55.49.

“I was really pleased with Kyle on that. I know he was very upset with his 50
time, but he pulled it out in the 100. I was really happy with that,” Cougar
coach Wesley Richardson said.

Besides Smith’s championship, North had a pair of second place finishers. The
medley relay of Patrick Byrd, Jon Taggart, Smith and Justin Zurawski placed
second. Byrd was also runner-up in the 100 butterfly.

While Richardson knew Byrd was disappointed with his night, the coach looks
forward to sectional for the senior.

“Patrick, I don’t think was too happy with some of his performances tonight,
but come sectional I think he’s going to do 100 percent better,” Richardson
said.

“I was happy with how they performed. I’d like to see them do a little better
for sectionals, of course,” Richardson said. “I think they need to get a little
bit more rest.”

Greencastle is especially concentrating on sectional, though, as they come
into the meet in an unfamiliar position. As last year’s champion, the Tiger
Sharks, not Crawfordsville, have the targets on their backs this year.

“We’re in a brand new position this year, in that last year we won the
sectional for the first time in 22 years. So for the first time ever,
Greencastle is the team to beat,” Bretscher said.

The coach went on to say it is sometimes a worry that a team in this position
might have a tendency to mail it in. He thinks this team will remain focused,
though.

“I think winning the sectional last year has made them that much hungrier
this year. They’ve responded well to the pressure that’s been thrown at them. I
feel good heading into next week,” Bretscher said.

All three squads will be back in action at the preliminaries of the
Crawfordsville Sectional. The meet begins at 5:30 p.m. next Thursday.

At Greencastle

Boys’ Putnam County Meet

Greencastle 290.5, South Putnam 163.5, North Putnam 130

Individual Results

200 Medley Relay — 1. Greencastle (Crimmins, Payne, Elkins, Stevens)
1:46.06, 2. North Putnam (Byrd, Taggart, K. Smith, Zurawski) 1:56.61, 3.
Greencastle (Clute, J. Kass, Chiarella, Smith) 1:57.35, 4. South Putnam
(Grundlock, Gould, Russell, McKinney) 2:03.55, 5. North Putnam (Ban, Pierce,
Werner, Zuver) 2:17.88.

200 Freestyle — 1. Stevens Gr 1:51.24*, 2. Woodall Gr 1:58.74, 3. Grivas Gr
2:04.68, 4. Taggart NP 2:08.08, 5. Ban NP 2:11.82, 6. Whitman SP 2:21.50, 7.
Kelly SP 2:21.53, 8. Davis SP 2:22.56.

200 IM — 1. Salman Gr 2:15.41, 2. Chiarella Gr 2:27.35, 3. Grundlock SP
2:33.17†, 3. Watson Gr 2:33.17, 5. Russell SP 2:42.30, 6. Werner NP 2:44.37, 7.
Gould SP 2:47.81.

50 Freestyle — 1. Crimmins Gr 23.26, 2. Becker SP 24.13, 3. Smith Gr 24.22,
4. Smiley SP 24.71, 5. Guffey Gr 24.78, 6. K. Smith NP 24.81, 7. Ashcraft SP
25.52, 8. Pierce NP 26.16, 9. McKinney SP x27.51, 10. J. Kass Gr x28.07, 11.
Campbell Gr x28.36, 12. Bowen SP x29.23, 13. Alig SP x29.41, 14. P. Kass Gr
29.83, 15. Phillips Gr x30.63, 16. Wilson Gr x32.22, 17. R. Arnold SP x33.19,
18. S. Arnold SP 33.51.

Diving — 1. Clute Gr 212.00, 2. Butts SP 130.45.

100 Butterfly — 1. Elkins Gr 59.54, 2. Byrd NP 59.58, 3. Salman Gr 1:03.18,
4. Russell SP 1:10.26, 5. Huck SP 1:10.29, 6. Campbell 1:16.00, 7. Wilson Gr
x1:22.77.

100 Freestyle — 1. K. Smith NP 54.49, 2. Smiley SP 54.80, 3. Guffey Gr
55.14, 4. Payne Gr 55.27, 5. Smith Gr 56.54, 6. Ashcraft SP 59.92, 7. McKinney
SP 1:04.08, 8. Davis SP x1:05.92, 9. Bowen SP x1:08.57, 10. Zuver NP 1:12.08,
11. S. Arnold SP x1:15.28.

500 Freestyle — 1. Woodall Gr 5:23.14, 2. Grivas Gr 5:47.18, 3. Ban NP
6:08.42, 4. Whitman SP 6:29.46, 5. Kelly SP 6:34.70.

200 Freestyle Relay — 1. Greencastle (Smith, Stevens, Salman, Crimmins)
1:34.30*, 2. Greencastle (Payne, Guffey, Woodall, Grivas) 1:42.64, 3. North
Putnam (Ban, Byrd, K. Smith, Taggart) 1:43.40, 4. South Putnam (Ashcraft,
Becker, McKinney, Smiley) 1:45.63, 5. North Putnam (Pierce, C. Smith, Zuver,
Zurawski) 1:53.98, 6. South Putnam (Huck, Davies, Kelly, Whitman) 1:58.32.

100 Backstroke — 1. Clute Gr 1:06.44, 2. Elkins Gr 1:06.88, 3. Grundlock SP
1:09.43, 4. Byrd NP 1:09.68, 5. C. Smith NP 1:12.08, 6. R. Arnold SP 1:20.41, 7.
Phillips Gr 1:22.45, 8. Butts SP 1:38.48.

100 Breaststroke — 1. Payne Gr 1:08.22, 2. Chiarella Gr 1:13.64, 3. J. Kass
Gr 1:14.34, 4. Watson Gr x1:15.59, 5. Zurawski NP 1:16.68, 6. Taggart NP
1:18.20, 7. Gould SP 1:18.51, 8. Alig SP 1:19.39, 9. P. Kass Gr x1:29.23.

400 Freestyle Relay — 1. Greencastle (Woodall, Stevens, Salman, Crimmins)
3:29.97*, 2. Greencastle (Grivas, Guffey, Clute, Elkins) 4:01.82, 3. South
Putnam (Ashcraft, Whitman, Grundlock, Smiley) 4:09.42, 4. South Putnam (Russell,
Davies, Huck, Kelly) 4:17.29, 5. North Putnam (Pierce, C. Smith, Werner,
Zurawski) 4:21.75.

*–Meet record.

†–Tie.

x–Exhibition.

Next meet — Greencastle, North Putnam and South Putnam will swim in the
preliminaries of the Crawfordsville Sectional at 5:30 p.m. next Thursday.

“I’m just proud of them,” Cougar head coach Kevin Smith said.

After struggling in the first half, the Cougars came out in the third and
turned up the pressure. They implemented a full-court press that caused the
Sparkplugs to falter. Intense frontcourt pressure from Elsiana Crosby and Carlye
McGaughey caused Speedway to turn the ball over on the Cougars side of the
court, resulting in North Putnam outscoring the Sparkplugs 18-11 in the third.

Cougar forward Taylor Alles goes up for two of her four points in Tuesday’s matchup with Speedway. The Cougars lost the game 63-42.

The Cougars charge was not through
yet.

After trailing 21 at the half, North Putnam cut the lead to nine with 4:12
when Shilah Kumaran ripped the net from the three-point line.

“I told them that I thought if we could cut it to single digits we could make
them nervous and I think we did that but it’s just hard to sustain a run that
long,” Smith commented. “They were physical with us and we let them. The second
half we decided to be physical with them as well. We hit some shots, scrapped,
dove, tipped balls and came up with some deflections and cut it to nine.”

But Speedway proved too much for the Cougars to overcome and built its lead
up with timely baskets from Whitley Emerson and Shaley Anglea.

Shawna Johnston scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the second half,
including six-of-six from the charity stripe. McGaughey connected on two
three-points en route to eight points in the half.

The Cougars limped through the first quarter, not scoring until 46 seconds
remaining when Dakota Malayer connected from downtown. North went 1-for-8 from
the field to open the contest.

The Cougars started to show they could hit some buckets in the second quarter
but their inability to slow Speedway trumped their shooting. Johnston recorded
all of the Cougars seven points in the second.

North Putnam outrebounded the Sparkplugs 24-24, which included 11 offensive
rebounds.

“I’m really proud of my girls for the way they came out,” Smith said. “It
could have been really easy to tank it a halftime and say the season’s over but
they battled. I’m really proud of them and I love this team. I’m really looking
forward to coaching this group next year.”

The Cougars end the season at 7-14.

At Cascade

IHSAA Class 2A Sectional

Round 1

Speedway 16 16 11 20 — 63

North Putnam 4 7 18 13 — 42

Speedway — Emerson 18, Miller 14, Tierney 12, Anglea 11, Walton 4, Jones 2,
Hubbard 2. Totals: 23-40 FG 14-22 FT 64 TP.

North Putnam — Johnston 19, McGaughey 8, Alles 4, Kumaran 3, Malayer 3, L.
Crosby 2, Frye 2, Robinson 1. Totals: 14-45 FG 10-14 FT 42 TP.

Rebounds — Speedway 24, North Putnam 27.

Total fouls — Speedway 9, North Putnam 19.

Turnovers — Speedway 14, North Putnam 23.

B.J. Brewer

By CAINE GARDNER

Sports Writer

MOORESVILLE — 13 seconds.

That is all that stood in the way of North Putnam wrestler B.J. Brewer and a
slot in the IHSAA Wrestling Semi-State tournament. Injury and a grueling rematch
against sectional opponent Trevor Morgan halted Brewer’s charge.

It was a rough day altogether for Putnam County wrestlers, as nine of 10
qualifiers fell in the first round.

Brewer found himself competing for third place after picking up a first round
victory over Merrick Heitkamp, then was defeated by eventually regional champ
Briar Runyan in his second match.

In the consolation round, Brewer and Morgan went at each other like two caged
animals. At one point Brewer slammed hard against the scorers table and then
moments later hit the deck hard out of bounds. During the battle, Brewer
suffered an injury to his chin that required the match to be stopped twice
through its duration.

“It was great — an outstanding match,” North Putnam head coach Kenny Kerns
said.

Outstanding would be an understatement.

Brewer held a 7-6 advantage as the clock ticked away but with 13 second left
Morgan leaped into the air after which he shot Brewer and managed to reverse him
to gain two points to win the match.

When asked after the match about the ‘jump’, Kerns thought it played no part
in the contests outcome.

“No it didn’t bother B.J.,” he said. “He’s so focused the guy could have done
cartwheels and it wouldn’t have bothered him.”

Brewer talked after the match about his advancement in the tournament and
acknowledged the injury but said it was a non-factor.

“It definitely feels good because I know how big these other schools are,”
Brewer said. “It’s obviously a big challenge and I’m proud I could do my best.

“I thought it went well. At sectional I lost but I rebounded from that in
practice. I realized that his weakness was shooting on him, so I started
shooting on him and really took that to him. I was ahead but he had enough
energy to pull one last trick out and I couldn’t get around it,” brewer
commented.

North Putnam’s Jim Davis and Josh Keyt both fell in the first round.

Greencastle wrestlers Brian Winslow, Jacob Wright and Kyle Buchanan all fell
to their first round match-up but head coach Matt McComish was nothing but
positive thing to say about his team after the match.

“I know they’re disappointed and I am as well, but we have to learn from it
and keep working,” McComish said. “They’re all coming back next year; we have
everybody from our team coming back so I’m looking forward to next season.

“As a team, we came a long way and we still have a lot of things we need to
improve on but looking at us from the beginning of the year until now, we’ve
come a lot farther that I thought we would. We’ve done a good job,” McComish
said.

With the season at it ends, McComish and his GHS team moves its focus to next
season. He commented on how he hopes off-season workouts for other sports and
sticking to their conditioning program will benefit the team for next season.

South Putnam head coach Todd Crosby was also looking ahead to next season as
his trio of Antonio Hernandez, Seth Green and Chris Hurst bowed out early of
Saturday’s competition. In the competition, two wrestlers fell in their first
round match-ups while one failed to make weight.

Although his wrestlers came up short, Crosby was proud of them making it to
regional and the effort they put forth during their matches.

“It felt good,” Crosby said. “I was pretty impressed, you have a junior and a
sophomore, so they should be able to get back here next year. I feel bad for
Seth (Green) it was his last match. He looked pretty good; he had a No. 1 seed
kid and wrestled well against him.

“I was happy also that we had a lot of guys come out to cheer them on and
support them, so I’m looking forward to next year,” Crosby said.

Echoing the sentiment of his colleagues, Crosby hopes to have his team
hitting the mat and getting more exposure to more experienced wrestling
programs.

Cloverdale wrestler Lee Secrest rounded out the Putnam County representative
at regional. Secrest fell to Shelby Mappes in the first round of competition.
Mappes qualified for semi-state by finishing in second place.

“This kid (Mappes) is pretty tough,” CHS head coach Brian Siddons said. “It’s
always disappointing to lose but he stayed in there the whole match, fought off
his back a few times out of tough positions.

“Hopefully we’ll be here next year and have a better showing. They’re going
to do a lot of wrestling club stuff so they are going to have a lot of
opportunities for summer wrestling. Hopefully we’ll see a big improvement
there,” Siddons concluded.

At Mooresville

Individual results

(County wrestlers only)

First round

103 — Raley (Indian Creek) def. Winslow (GHS)

130 — Hernandez (weight)

135 — Vanhorn (Franklin) def. Green (SP)

152 — Brewer (NP) def. Heitkamp (Danville)

160 — Mappes (Center Grove) def. Secrest (CHS)

189 — Vires (Center Grove) def. Jacob Wright (GHS)

189 — Waters (Greenwood) def. Davis (NP)

215 — Mathews (Franklin) def. Buchanan (GHS)

215 — Vandeman (Whiteland) def. Keyt

285 — Lane (Franklin) def. Hurst (SP)

Second round

152 — Runyan (Martinsville) def. Brewer (NP)

Consolation round

152 — Morgan (Plainfield) def. Brewer (NP)