GREENCASTLE — It was officially post-season time for Southmont on Tuesday as they traveled to Greencastle to open up the Class 2A Sectional 41 Tournament against the North Putnam Cougars.
Southmont was looking to avenge a regular season loss (66-41) to the Cougars. This game was much closer than the first meeting as the Mounties won 48-44.
The game came down to the final minute-plus. With 1:37 to play, Mackenzie Mason gave the Cougars a 44-43 lead and then the Mounties turned over the ball. With 57 seconds to play an errant pass ended up in the hands of Mountie freshman Kaylee Turner who ran down the court and posted a layup to give the Mounties a 45-44 lead.
On the next Cougar possession, Southmont’s defense forced a jump ball and North Putnam took possession with 11.1 seconds left. With just one foul the entire quarter, North Putnam needed to waste time off the clock. However, Layla Gomez finally got to the free throw line for the Mounties with 3.8 to go and knocked down both shots to make it a 47-44 game. On the next play, the Cougars attempted to get a game-tying three, but were called for a travel in the back court which all but sealed their fate.
“What a game and what an experience for this young group of girls,” Southmont coach Dan Burkman said. “A sectional environment, close game, down to the wire and for this young team to come through says a lot. On top of that we avenged a regular season loss and all around our girls just showed up tonight. I’ve got to give it up to Kaylee Turner because she was an animal and that’s not any easy ask of a freshman.”
Southmont (11-11) came out of the gates strong, but so did the Cougars as the Mounties trailed 18-15 after the opening quarter. The Cougars Rose Haste drained three threes in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter the Mounties began to shift momentum. Coupled with an Ella Barry three at the end of the first, Southmont began the second quarter on a 6-0 run with Barry getting a layup to fall, then back-to-back buckets by Turner as the Mounties led 21-18. Haste evened the game with her fourth three. Gomez and North Putnam’s Melanie Davies traded baskets to even the score at 23-23. Southmont then went on a 7-0 spurt to lead 30-23 before North Putnam’s Jacy Huffman buried a three in the final seconds of the first half.
In the first meeting during the regular season, the Cougars owned the glass with a 35-22 advantage and had a 19-4 fourth quarter. This time the Mounties, led by Gomez and Claire Kessler, didn’t let the Cougars control the boards. The final rebound tally did favor the Cougars, but just by a single rebound (30-29). Burkman credited both of his bigs for their performance.
“Claire and Layla both have been owning the boards lately and that’s been a big emphasis for us,” he said. “It’s been a big reason why we’ve had the success we’ve had late in the season. Layla too on the offensive end was near unstoppable. I told her at one point that there’s no one that North Putnam has that can stop you. We needed her to take over and she did just that.”
Gomez led the way with a 17-point, 10 rebound double-double for the Mounties. Barry added in 12 with Turner scoring nine. Kessler chipped in six of her own and Molly Williams rounded out the scoring with four.
For the game, Southmont shot 20-43 (46.%) from the field, 3-10 (30%) from three while going 5-11 (45%) from the foul line. The Mounties grabbed 29 rebounds and turned the ball over 16 times.
North Putnam, who ends their season at 12-11 was led by Melanie Davies 17 points and 11 rebounds while Haste scoring 15. They shot 14-47 (29.%) for the game and 7-28 (25%) from three, 9-14 (64%) from the foul line while grabbing 30 rebounds and turning the ball over 17 times.
Southmont now advances to the semi-final on Friday where they’ll get another regular season re-match against the host Tiger Cubs. The two teams squared off Nov. 5 with the Mounties winning convincingly 57-26.
“Greencastle recently took North Putnam to overtime so we can’t go walking in expecting the same 30-point win,” Burkman said. “We’ll watch some film and see what Greencastle has done to get better. We’ll come ready for sure come Friday.”
The game between the Tiger Cubs and Mounties is the second semi-final of the night and is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
