ROACHDALE – A huge second half brought North Montgomery from down nine to a 44-37 win over North Putnam Tuesday night.
Trailing 23-14 at the half, the Chargers were struggling to find any offense, and they found it in the second half.
They also limited the Cougars to only 14 second-half points, and ended North Putnam’s nine-game win streak.
It was all about the three pointers for the Chargers in the second half.
After going 0-for 7 in the first, North came out to start the second with a set play. A handful of passes turned into a three, and they then hit the next three treys.
A fourth quarter of three in a row made it a 7-of-8 second half from long range, and the Chargers posted the win to move to 10-12 on the season.
Cameron Enlow hit all three of those fourth-quarter treys, including the one at 3:31 that gave his team the lead.
The junior sharpshooter finished 3-of-4 from deep and his 10 overall points was tied for team-best.
The other sniper in the second half was Noah Hopkins. The senior hit both of his three’s in the third quarter went on an 11-5 run to cut into the lead.
“Hopkins had guys all over him and Enlow just hit shot after shot in the fourth,” Chargers coach Chad Arnold said, “These guys are both so important for our team. Cameron is just so coachable and Hopkins works so hard. Our offense in the second half did such a good job of making the extra pass in the offense. We had really good ball rotation, we shared the ball well with the extra passes. We also rebounded really well in the second half. We competed really hard and well. North Putnam sped us up a lot in the first half and we played under control in the second half.”
The offense had seven guys each with a field goal or more, as the Chargers went from 33 percent shooting in the first half to 9-of-13 for the second half and finished with 15-of-32 for the game.
Kelby Harwood also had 10 points, but the junior added to his night with a double-double and 10 rebounds. He also had five assists, all in the second half.
The Chargers finished 7-of-15 from long range and 7-of-13 from the line. They had only five turnovers, and the Cougars did not have a single point off those five miscues.
“North Montgomery played great,” North Putnam coach Vince Brooks said. “You see those predictions on sites like (John) Harrell and we just know the talent they (North Montgomery) have. They have some really good fundamental habits and they made some shots and played really good defense in the second half. They made it tough to get the easy looks we got in the first half and then on the looks we got; shots didn’t fall.”
The Cougars, who fall to 14-9 and have the nine-game streak end, were limited to only four field goals in the second half as the moves to the basket that got them the early lead just were not there in the second half.
“We stayed on their shooters,” Arnold said of the defense, That led to some misses, and then we rebounded so much better in the second half.”
The Chargers were down nine rebounds in the second half, and finished down only 29-27. The Cougars had eight second-chance points in the first half, but only one bucket in the second.
“We didn’t get any points off their turnovers and we didn’t get any transition points either,” Brooks said. “We just have to take this loss into the weekend and get ready for the sectional next week. I know the feelings from tonight will carry into practice the next couple days and into next week. We have a great group of kids, they are tremendous players, athletes and students. They have incredible discipline. Tonight is a painful memory for next week and we just need to use it as a relevant illustration of where we want to go.”
North Put was led in scoring by Chase Barber. The senior had 11. Leading scorer Nolan Hackleman was limited to five points, 14 under his average. The Cougars were 12-of-41 from the field, 5-of-22 from long range and 8-of-12 from the line. They won the rebound tally 29-27. Isaac Pickel had seven.
The game was the last home game for the Cougars, and they honored their five seniors, Brogan Woodall, Barber, Hackleman, Jaylen Windmiller and Matt Farrington, with a start.
The school also wore special t-shirts and bracelets in honor of Kaden Helderman’s father, who is fighting cancer, and was able to be in attendance at the game.
The Cougars won the JV game 50-41. Braxton Woodall led NP with 10, while Dane Elliott led the Chargers with 12.
North Putnam is finished until taking on Cloverdale in next week’s sectional, while the Chargers have a home game on Feb 23 against Greencastle before sectional play awaits next week.
