Banner Graphic, Volume 14, Number 148, Greencastle, Putnam County, 28 February 1984 — Page 13

Cougars know it's tourney time and whole new season

By STEVE FIELDS Banner-Graphic Sports Editor A couple of weeks back Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight blasted sportswriters for putting lowa under a lot of pressure by picking them to contend for the Big Ten title during a transition season. Nobody picked the North Putnam High School basketball team to be a powerhouse, but the Cougars have been through a tough transition season. ANNUALLY THOUGH the state tournament series is viewed as a second season and North Putnam will begin its second round Wednesday night in the 7 p.m. opening game of the Greencastle-IHSAA sectional against South Putnam at Me Anally Center. Doors open at 6 p.m. Despite the final 1-19 record, the Cougars can’t be counted out. It wouldn’t be the first time a team with a losing record has won the Greencastle sectional. “We’ve played everybody, with the exception of Van Buren, at least one close ball game,” Bill Brothers said of his first season as North’s head coach. The Cougars do not play Van Buren during the regular season. “WE BEAT SOUTH Putnam that one ball game, they beat us earlier by 17 points. Cloverdale beat us by two here and we felt like we were a better ball club. Greencastle was a six-point ball game. They’re still the best team in there (sectional field), but they have to prove that. Rockville, who knows?” Brothers said of the Cougars’ series of near misses.

GOOD IUCK NORTH PUTNAM COUGARS

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It could be said Brothers has put down the foundation for the future. North has just three seniors, Todd Bock, Gene Ensor and Bill Horton and only junior Ryan Wehrman and sophomore Chris Colvin had any amount of varsity experience before this year. On top of that North’s tallest player is 6-2 Ed Lasley. “Hopefully we’ve got things going the right direction. We’re only going to lose three kids and that’s three kids who have been very good to us as far as helping out,” Brothers said. “They’re probably all three guards, as far as size goes, but they’ve played everywhere for us.” THE NEW SYSTEM opens the game up for the players and is designed to offer more shots. “It’s a completely different style. We don’t do as much as we’ve done in the past, but what we try to do we try to do a little better than maybe we have in the past. Now if we’ve accomplished that I don’t know,” Brothers said. “We do feel like we’ve improved. We’ve consistently improved,” the coach said of the game-to-game goal. North’s biggest problem has been lack of consistent scoring. It’s been a night by night thing. Wehrman scored 40 against Southmont, a game that slipped away by two points. Bock scored a career-high 29 against Owen Valley. But there has been no balance to those team efforts. “THE LAST HALF of the season we really haven’t had anybody going whole hog on scoring,” Brothers said. “Now we’ve had more balance.”

Wehrman and Colvin have been North’s most consistent scorers all season, both in double figures most games. The 5-11 Wehrman leads North with a 13 points per game average and Colvin averages 10. “Todd (Bock) and Gene (Ensor) have to play well for us. They’re basically our outside threat,” Brothers said recalling the efforts against sectional teams South Putnam and Cloverdale when the two hit the basket well. IT’S BEEN A tough year. The Cougars have played several good teams well and some poor ones poor. The inconsistency of the offense and the lack of experience and size have all haunted them. However, against South, Cloverdale and Greencastle, North showed the experience they have gained over the season, pulling up instead of going one-on-three, not forcing shots and better rebounding fundamentals. “I think the idea of me being a first year coach has kept them from getting into a rut,” Brothers said of the daily practice routine. This will be North’s third game this season on McAnally Center’s floor. The jitters often associated with playing before big crowds and in one of the state’s largest gymnasiums should be gone. “WE JUST HAVE to have a good ball game from everybody,” Brothers said. “If we go down and one guy scores 30 points we probably won’t win the thing, we won’t win a game. If we have a good balanced scoring night...”

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North Putnam knows the state tournament series is the second season and a second chance for them. The Cougars play South Putnam in the opening game at 7 p.m. Wednesday night. Members of North's squad are: seniors

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North Putnam seniors (from left) Todd Bock, Bill Horton and Gene Ensor will be playing in the final sectional of their high school careers. The trio will lead the Cougars against

on the front row, from left, Todd Bock, Bill Horton and Gene Ensor. Back row, from left, coach Bill Brothers, Dale Greeson, Darren Haler, Chris Colvin, Chris Lyons, Ed Lasley,

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South Putnam in the 7 p.m. opening game Wednesday night. (Banner-Graphic photo by Steve Fields).

February 28,1984, The Putnam County Banner-Graphic

Ryan Wehrman, Tim McAfee, Ron Kiger, Al Gray, manager Rusty Chaplain and assistant coach Jim Brothers. (Banner-Graphic photo by Steve Fields).

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Cougars Cougars Ht. Cl. Pos. T. Bock 5-11 12 G C. Colvin 5-10 10 F G. Ensor 5-11 12 F A. Gray 5-5 10 G D. Greeson 5-11 10 C D. Haler 5-0 10 F B. Horton 5-8 12 C R. Kiger 5-11 11 F E. Lasley 6-2t* 11 C C. Lyons 5-9 10 F T. McAfee 5-11 11 C R. Wehrman 5-11 11 G

Season

NP COUGARS 1-19 OPP. 52 Cloverdale** 69 47 South Putnam** 02 70 Southmont 73 63 Owen Valley* 78 55 Covington .60 54 Tri-West 60 51 Crawfords ville •ft 42 North Vermillion 57 61 Cascade* 78 - 45 Edgewood* 93 * 67 North Montgomery 86 ’ 60 Rockville 69 f 46 Cloverdale* 48 r 57 Danville* 73 ‘ 72 South Putnam* 00 : r 64 Monrovia* 67 ,■ 43 Greencastle* 49 52 Brazil 76 *' 60 Fountain Central 88 . 50 Turkey Run 68 • •WCC games ••Putnam County Tournament

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