By BRAD BAUGHMAN
For The Democrat
The Brown County High School boys and girls varsity basketball teams split their home conference games with North Putnam High School this weekend on Jan. 21.
The Eagle boys, playing in the early slot at 6 p.m., fell to the Cougars 72-44, while the girls dominated the Cougars from start to finish in the nightcap at the Larry C. Banks Memorial Gymnasium and emerged with a convincing 58-35 victory.
In the opener, the Cougars raced out to an 8-0 lead before freshman forward Westin Fulford swished a ten-foot baseline jumper to get the Eagles on the board with just over four minutes remaining in the quarter.
The Eagle offense produced eight more points while their defense stymied the Cougars who only managed a single additional point, and the teams ended the first stanza tied at nine.
A couple of quick buckets by Brown County to start the second period forced the Cougars to abandon their full-court pressure. North Putnam also made some adjustments offensively, and the Cougars outscored the Eagles 16-10 in the quarter to take a 25-19 halftime lead.
Still, Brown County head coach Ronnie Lewis thought his team played a credible first half.
“We started out ok. The first half we are only down by six, and that is a major improvement for us,” Ronnie said.
The Cougar offense caught fire in the third quarter, and the Eagles found themselves on the wrong side of a 16-2 run that occurred in just over three minutes.
“We got hit with a large run, and it was sort of downhill from there,” he said.
Many of North Putnam’s 28 third quarter points came from long range. When the hot shooting Cougars finally cooled off a bit, they found themselves comfortably ahead 53-27 heading into the final quarter.
Junior guard Matthew Horn scored 13 points for the Eagles while Eli Wrightsman tossed in 12. Wrightsman came off the bench to score a game-high 21 in the Eagles’ Friday night loss to Monrovia, 72-57.
“It’s nice to have him back,” said Ronnie of his freshman guard who had missed some games due to injury.
Ronnie was also encouraged by the weekend play of sophomore center Jesse Hubbard.
Hubbard tallied 10 points in the Monrovia game, but it’s Hubbard’s defense that has Ronnie smiling.
“Jesse has become our defensive stopper. We have put him on the best perimeter players in two games recently. He has also covered the other teams’ best post players.”
Ronnie admits that the losses are difficult to take, but he is not discouraged.
“Honestly, I just want to keep seeing them showing heart,” he said.
Next up for the boys is a Friday, Jan. 27 home contest with the Sullivan High School Golden Arrows.
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While the boys got most of their scoring from their guards in the North Putnam contest, the Eagle girls relied heavily on their forwards for offense.
Starting senior post players Abigail Watson and Savannah Oden scored 17 and 15 respectively to lead the Eagle attack, and coach Kamady Lewis was quite pleased.
“We knew we were going to be taller than North Putnam, so we were really hoping to utilize our bigs,” Kamady said.
Kamady said that the Eagles have wanted more post-production but that the team has struggled to make solid post-feeds.
Watson, who also grabbed 16 rebounds for a double-double, scored 12 of her 17 in the first half. Oden scorched the Cougars for 11 third-quarter points, and junior forward Cady Kemp came off the bench to register 10 points.
The Brown County guards had a tough shooting night, especially from beyond the arc. The only three-point attempt the Eagles connected on came late in the contest when senior Alli Majors drained one from the right wing.
Kamady said that she and her players have talked often about the importance of the team peaking at the right time. With one regular season game left, a home contest with Southwestern Shelby High School on Tuesday, Jan. 24, she said she would like to see “another good, solid team win.”
If the Eagles were to defeat the Spartans in that regular-season finale, they would take a solid 12-9 record into IHSAA sectional play.
Brown County drew South Vermillion High School in the first game of the sectional. The Eagles will meet the Wildcats at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at Owen Valley High School.
Kamady, who will be coaching in her first sectional, has a very straightforward and attainable goal: “I want to win a sectional game, bare minimum,” she said.
