The Putnam County boys improved to 6-0 in the Grand River Conference’s eastern division, and set up a “winner-take-all” battle for the division title against the Trenton Bulldogs, with a 74-71 win at rival Milan on Tuesday night, broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3.
The Midgets senior forward Calvin Heidenwith was held relatively in check by the Wildcats defense, but did connect on all eight of his free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to hold off a series of Milan uprisings. Heidenwith finished with 24 points, a number matched by Carson Quint. Kaden Seaton added 15 points.
With one game remaining in the GRC East schedule for the Putnam County boys, the Midgets move to 6-0, taking a 1/2 game lead over Trenton in the battle for the #1 seed, and home-court advantage, in the first-ever GRC championship game at 7:30 PM on Friday, February 3rd. However, with Trenton sitting at 5-0, the Bulldogs control their own destiny in the division race. The winner of the Trenton at Putnam County game on Tuesday, January 31st will clinch the GRC East title. Trenton hosts South Harrison the following night, but even with a loss would tie the Midgets, and take the title with the head-to-head tiebreaker.
In taking their second straight conference home defeat, the Milan Wildcats had 22 points from Wyatt Bohle, 21 for Mauricio Curiel, and 15 for Ryan Dabney. The Wildcats, now 3-2 in the GRC East, looked fairly locked into the #3 seed for the GRC’s crossover games, hosting the #3 seed from the GRC West.
In the opener, the Putnam County girls moved into third place in the GRC East, rallying from a 28-21 halftime deficit to defeat the rival Lady ‘Cats 64-54. High-scoring senior guard Jade Varner led the Lady Midgets with 27 points, while Callie DeVore added 15, and Sara Webb, fighting through a sprained ankle suffered in the third quarter, with 13 points. The PC girls are now 4-2 in conference play.
Milan, dropping to 1-4 in their first season in the Grand River Conference, had 15 points from Angelle Ziegler and Kenna Michael, while Samantha DeRyke added 13 points.
