‘Canes Fall to Putnam Tuesday
The ‘Canes were looking for revenge for their only loss of the season to the Putnam County War Eagles Tuesday night, but it was not to be.
They came out cold, never got hot, only shot 50 percent at the free throw line, and went on to suffer their second loss of the season 63-54.
It was a packed house with the atmosphere of a play-off game, and the ‘Canes jumped out to an early lead, but saw it dwindle away and were behind 16-15 at the end of the first quarter.
They fared even worse in the second quarter. Their shots just wouldn’t go down and they were down 28-21 at halftime.
Shot after shot missed as the third quarter began and they were soon down by 12 points, 35-23, with five minutes and thirty seconds left in the quarter. Just before the buzzer went off ending the third quarter, Lance Dennis let one go from 30 feet out to bring the ‘Canes back to within seven points, 44-37, as the quarter ended.
The ‘Canes did make a run at it toward the end of the game. After cutting the War Eagle Lead to five points, Markese Thurman scored two on a break-away steal, was fouled, converted the free throw and tied the game at 50 with two minutes and thirty seconds to go. But then they went cold again and it seemed the War Eagles couldn’t miss as the ‘Canes were outscored 13 points to four points during the remainder of the game.
Head Coach Steve Spruell missed the game as he was out of the state on bereavement time, while Coach Michael Williams stood in for him.
Scoring was led by Nick Standifer with 19 points, Thurman with 9, Octavious Epps and Keldrick Davis both with six, Dennis with five, Coddy Carter with four, and Josh Thompson with three. Coddy Carter also led the team in rebounds with seven.
Last Friday the ‘Canes recorded their fourth win of the season when they defeated Taliaferro County 65-48. Scoring in this game was led by Thurman with 19 points, followed by Epps with 13, Carter and Davis with nine each, N. Standifer with seven, and James Lawrence, Alex Pucket, B. J. Ross, and Alton Standifer with two each.
The ‘Canes upcoming schedule includes traveling to Pike County this Friday night, and hosting the class AAAA Stockbridge Tigers next Tuesday, December 19, at home. The Tigers are 6-0 as of this witting and should be quite a challenge for the ‘Canes.