April 18, 2024
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Boys basketball: Putnam County goes cold in fourth, gets upset in TCC quarterfinal

By Brad Martin
Putnam County's Austin Mattingly keeps the ball away from Roanoke-Benson's Kaden Harms and Jude Zeller during the Tri-County Conference Tournament on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023 at Putnam County High School.

Putnam County's Austin Mattingly keeps the ball away from Roanoke-Benson's Kaden Harms and Jude Zeller during the Tri-County Conference Tournament on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023 at Putnam County High School. (Scott Anderson)

GRANVILLE – For almost three quarters it looked as if the No. 3-seeded Putnam County boys basketball team was going to move on in the Tri-County Conference Tournament.

But the Panthers went ice cold from the field while No. 6 Roanoke-Benson clamped down defensively and found its stroke on offense to come up with a 46-44 upset Tuesday.

The Panthers led 24-18 at halftime and started out the third quarter just as strong with Wyatt Grimshaw hitting a hook shot and putting the Panthers ahead 28-20.

Moments later, Jackson McDonald fought through a double team and put Putnam County ahead 30-22, but from there on it was the Rockets who blasted off.

Freshman Jude Zeller drained a 3-pointer and followed with a drive and bucket as the Rockets closed the quarter on a 7-0 run and made it 30-29 heading into the final eight minutes.

“We do that sometimes where we play well for a couple quarters and then we exhale and we let them back in it,” Putnam County coach Harold Fay said. “We were doing a good job early on getting the ball inside, but we didn’t continue that in the second half as well.”

The Rockets continued their strong play in the fourth with another freshman, Kaden Harms, hitting a shot behind the arc that gave Roanoke-Benson its first lead of the game at 32-30.

Shortly after that, Zeller drove and hit a short jumper that capped off a 12-0 Roanoke-Benson run for a 34-30 advantage.

“Those shots by the two freshmen Zeller and Harms were huge,” R-B coach Abe Zeller said. “I know we’re young, but with the schedule we’ve played, these guys have really grown up fast and I think that benefitted us tonight.”

With 4:17 left, McDonald spun into the lane and hit the Panthers’ first bucket in over six minutes.

Harms responded with a 3-pointer that extended R-B’s lead to 37-32.

McDonald cut the deficit to 37-35 with a long-range shot of his own, but then the Rockets went to the foul line and over the final minute hit 6 of 6 to stay ahead of the Panthers. Putnam County’s Austin Mattingly hit a pair of 3s, but it was too little too late.

The Panthers started out strong with Owen Saepharn hitting a corner shot before a steal led to a layup from McDonald along with a putback and free throw by McDonald for a 7-0 start.

The Rockets got on the board with a 3-pointer from Nolan Hunter, but Putnam County responded with a bucket from Saepharn before Orlando Harris slashed to the hole to give the Panthers a 15-6 edge.

“I was really happy with the start of the game,” Fay said. “We came out with energy and got the ball into the paint and got some good looks.”

The Rockets trimmed the Panthers’ lead to 15-11 at the end of the first quarter on back-to-back 3s from Jack Leman.

Both teams were cold to start the second. Just over three minutes into the quarter, Putnam County got a mid-range jumper from McDonald to get on the board and push the lead to 18-11.

Grimshaw made it a double-digit lead at 21-11 with a 3-pointer with three minutes remaining in the half.

Zeke Kearfott got a putback for the Rockets’ first points of the quarter before Zeller hit a 3-pointer to make it 24-18 heading into the break.

McDonald led all scorers with 26 points to go with seven boards, while Mattingly added seven.

Zeller led the Rockets with 19 points, while Hunter added nine.

Putnam County heads to the consolation bracket, where the Panthers will face Woodland at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, while the Rockets will face No. 2 Marquette in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.