GREENCASTLE — Southmont painted a pretty picture in a 70-48 non-conference win over potential sectional opponent South Putnam.
Painted, as in 23 field goals, good for 46 points, in the paint, and a huge portion of those 23 were arms length from the glass and rim.
“We got the ball into the paint consistently,” South coach Jake Turner said. “In scouting them, we thought we could get inside on their zone, and we did.”
The result was three Mounties in double-digits, with all barely missing a shot.
Carter Hubble had 17 points, 12 points over his average, as the junior was 6-of-7 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line. EJ Brewer also had 17, with the senior was 6-of-8 from the line and slipped outside to hit one triple. His pair of free throws finished his scoring.
Carson Chadd never strayed far from the rim while on offense, as the senior was 7-of-9 and had 14 points.
Nobody else missed much either, as the Mounties finished the night 28-of-41 from the field for a little better than 62 percent.
Yet, with all the offense, the star of the game was South’s defense, aided by the Mounties great conditioning.
After four early lead changes, South got a couple stops in the second quarter and moved to a 37-30 halftime lead. They opened the third quarter with a 9-2 lead and never looked back.
“We really did grind them down in the second half,” Turner said. “We got some stops followed by a score, and that extends leads. They (South Put) had lost a couple guys last week , so we knew we had a deeper bench. They were more tired than us.”
The impact of all was that South held the Eagles to 18 second half points, and for the game held the home squad to 35 percent shooting. Their leading scorer, Drew Hill, was held to two second-half points after posting 15 in the first.
“We knew that Hill was the head of the snake,” Turner said of the junior. “He is strong to the rim, strong off the dribble and can score in many ways, some of which just makes you tip your cap to him.
We knew we had to put a body on him and keep him at arms length. EJ (Brewer) did a good job on him, especially in that second half.”
The Eagles, who fall to 10-7 on the season while the Mounties move to 14-6, also got 14 points from Austin Branam, but their shooting prevented any comeback.
South also owned the boards, holding a 37-17 advantage, but since the Mounties only missed 14 shots all game (28-41 field goals, 10-of-11 free throws) there weren’t many misses to gather up.
The Eagles did score 13 points off of 16 South turnovers, and that was not missed by Coach Turner.
“We over-pass sometimes,” the sixth year coach, who picked up his 90th career win, said. “Sometimes that extra pass can go awry. Sometimes we can be too unselfish, but I’ll take that problem. What we have to do is clean up those lost possessions. Our sectional is full of teams with really good guards, and we just have to get a little better focused. Not too tight – not too loose. It’s a tough mix, but it’s what we need to have.”
The Eagles finished 18-of-51 from the field and 5-of- 20 from long range, although they only made one in the second half. They were 9-of-12 from the line.
South’s rebounders were led by Chadd with eight, and for good measure, he added eight assists. Trip Ward grabbed seven, while Brewer and Hubble had a half-dozen each. Brewer had six helpers, and Hubble went three assists, two steals and a block.
The season winds closer to the end for both teams.
The Eagles, with four left, have games Friday and Saturday, while the Mounties, with only two, are at home Friday.
“We’ve got Frankfort Friday for Senior Night,” Turner said. “We really want to send our seniors (Chadd and Brewer) out with a win. That is a big goal for our guys. Frankfort is a well-coached team, and it’s a conference game. I know our guys will play hard – I never have to worry about the effort.”
SOUTHMONT 70, SOUTH PUTNAM 48
Score by Quarters
Southmont 17 20 13 20 - 70
South Putnam 18 12 9 9 - 48
Southmont (14-6)
FG-FGA FT-FTA Pts: Chadd 7-9 0-0 14, Ward 3-8 0-0 8, Hess 1-2 1-1 3, Brewer 7-9 2-2 17, Hubble 6-7 5-6 17, Reimondo 2-4 2-2 7, McCandless 1-1 0-0 2, Oppy 1-1 0-0 2, Bell 0-0 0-0 0, McMasters 0-0 0-0 0, Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Fox 0-0 0-0 0, Little 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-41 10-11 70
South Putnam (10-7)
Hill 6-18 2-3 17, Mullin 2-8 2-2 6, Bozell 2-8 0-0 6, Branam 6-12 2-4 14, Garner 1-6 0-0 2, Dorsett 1- 2 1-3 3. Totals 18-54 9-12 48
3 Pt Shooting: SM 4-10 (Reimondo 1-2, Ward 2-6, Hess 0-1, Brewer 1-1); SP 5-20 (Hill 3-7, Mullin 0-4, Bozell 2-6, Garner 0-2, Dorsett 0-1).
Rebounding: SM 37 (Chadd 8, Ward 7, Brewer 6, Hubble 6); SP 17 (Hill 4, Garner 4).
2nd Chance Pts: SM 3, SP 7
Turnovers: SM 16, SP 9
Pts off TOs: SM 9, SP 13
Paint Points: SM 46, SP 18