A lot of threes were the downfall for the Crawfordsville girl’s basketball team in a 59-35 loss to North Putnam.
That and matchup problems made things difficult for the Athenians, who fall to 1-2 on the season while the Cougars continue their good start and move to 3-1.
“North Put was quicker than we were,” CHS coach Joe Ferguson said. “We couldn’t stay in front of them defensively, and offensively, we put our heads down too many times and dribbled into the pressure. We had some good minutes, and some good possessions, but we just have to string more of those together. It’s a long game.”
The Cougars scored the first 10 points of the game, blocked 10 shots and hit 10 three-pointers to move away from the home team quickly and then stayed out front. Five different players hit a trey.
“It was a good road win,” Cougars coach Kelly Windmiller said. “We had two hard games last weekend and the girls gave a great effort tonight. They kept their composure and played good team basketball. There were a bunch of things we didn’t do too well tonight, but part of that is due to Crawfordsville. They are a really improved team.”
The first problem for Cville and positive for NP was Mel Davies.
The junior scored at least two field goals in each quarter, and finished with a season-high 23. She also had six rebounds, dished out a few assists and blocked a couple shots.
Another junior, Hailee Daigle, dropped a pair of threes on the way to 10 points, grabbed seven boards, blocked four and snared three steals.
In all, four of the five North Putnam starters had at least six rebounds, as they held a 38-28 advantage and scored 14 second-chance points.
For the game, they were 20-of-46 from the floor, 10-of-24 from deep and 9-of-16 from the line. They had 20 turnovers, and forced 22. They had a 25-12 advantage in points scored off the miscues.
The Athenians got the same 46 field goal attempts as the Cougars, but only 15 found the mark, and only one was a made three-pointer. They were 1-of-8 from long range and only 4-of-6 from the line.
Crawfordsville was led in scoring by Yuli Torres. The junior had 10 points to go with three steals and a pair of assists. Molly Pierce had eight points, four steals and three assists, while Olivia Hedrick led the rebounders with eight, followed by Caroline Melevage with six. Both of those juniors had four points.
“Like I said, we had some good possessions and some good stretches,” Ferguson noted. “Aubrey Lowe had a good game off the bench. She had some good looks and good shots that just didn’t fall (she had three steals and two assists). Torres played really well, and we missed Litzy Huesca open in the middle several times. We need to get her more than four shots.”
Both teams have plenty of action ahead.
The Cougars are home against Covington tonight, and have the Putnam County Tournament next weekend. They will face Southmont on Nov. 22 and North Montgomery on January 7. Both games are at Roachdale.
The Athenians start their final season of Sagamore Conference action on Friday against Tri-West, and will entertain Fountain Central next Tuesday.
