In reversal of fortunes, Marquette dominates Putnam County

OTTAWA – It takes time for a coach to figure out the best way to get the most out of his players and to fit those pieces together in their proper places to develop a winning picture from one night to the next as the season goes on.

Sometimes it’s as easy as a two-piece puzzle. Other times, like Saturday for Marquette coach Todd Hopkins and Putnam County coach Harold Fay, it’s more like a Rubik’s Cube.

In a complete reversal of how the teams played Friday, the Crusaders shook off their disappointing 10-point loss to Seneca and utilized the aggressive, smothering defense that had hurt them so badly only 19 hours before. Marquette limited a solid Putnam County team to only six points in the third quarter and shut them out in the fourth on its way to a 55-25 Tri-County Conference victory in Bader Gymnasium.

For PC, the offensive struggles were contrary to its previous effort, which resulted in a 74-23 conference win at home in Granville. The turnarounds left both coaches scratching their heads.

“I don’t know what to say. We’re Jeckyl and Hyde,” said Hopkins. “It’s weird. I’m beating my head on the wall last night and then today, we play like this. I’m proud of them for the way they responded.

“Last night our first half was bad. We got ourselves in a hole and you can’t do that and expect to come back all the time. We talked before the game about getting off to a good start and we got it. Our defense tonight was good against some really good shooters. They’re young, but they’re going to be a darn good team the next few years, and now I know when we go there (Mar. 3) it’s going be a totally different game.”

The contrast was apparent from the start. The Crusaders (6-3 overall, 5-3 T-C) got the offensive jump-start they needed in the opening quarter from Lucas Hoffman, who scored eight of the game’s first 13 points for an 11-2 lead.

Hoffman finished with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds, second to Marquette’s Nick Melvin’s game-best 11 and just in front of Luke Couch’s nine.

Meanwhile, Putnam County’s 3-for-12 shooting began what would be a horrid 9 for 42 (21.4%) with 21 turnovers.

Still, the Panthers used eight first-half points by sophomore Jackson McDonald and a halftime buzzer beater by Drake Smith to stay within 24-19 at the break.

But then the roof fell in on PC.

While the Crusaders made seven of their first 11 shots in the third quarter – Melvin scoring six points – the Panthers managed only a McDonald basket in their first 10 attempts from the field. That widened the gap to 43-22 by the time Luke Pederson made their next basket, a 3 at the horn, for PC’s only points in the final 12:47 of the game.

McDonald ended up with 10 points and matched Matthew Liebhart’s four rebounds, but the Crusaders finished with a 42-30 advantage on the boards.

“We came out and had a couple of missed layups, and maybe that’s jitters playing on the road, but we basically just let them bully us around,” Fay said. “Too many second- and third-chance points, and you can’t do that. The ball was right in our hands and they just took it away from us and laid it right up. Then when it got to be about a 20 margin, we just stopped playing.

“We do have trouble with [physical] teams like that … We just can’t match the physical level of play and that’s on me. I have to get something figured out there.”