Indians Take Putnam Co. Tournament Boys Second

By David Sharp
Clark County ran their overall record to 3-1 with a 63-37 Putnam County Tournament victory over Knox County. The Indians sprang to an 8-1 lead and were never headed.
Clark County took the game to the Eagles from the outset. Kyle Kovar converted a sharp looking pass from Ryan Whiston with a minute remaining in the first quarter for a 17-5 lead.
The Indians led 34-15 late in the second quarter and took a 37-20 advantage to the dressing room.
Justin Reeves scored two of his game high 29 Knox County points just before the halftime buzzer. Clark County led 52-31 after three quarters. The Indians held a 59-34 edge with 2:17 remaining in the contest.
South Harrison won the Putnam County Tournament championship. Clark County was second followed by Knox County and Putnam County in both boys’ and girls’ play.
“We can’t make as many mistakes as we made today and expect to win a basketball game,” Knox County coach Garet Nunan said. “Our defensive rotation was not good. We were not getting back in help position. Our scoring spread was horrible.”
“We only had three guys on the books and two of them were three points and five points,” Garet Nunan said. Justin Reeves led all scorers with 29 points. Leighton McCabe scored five and Brady Morton added three KCHS points.
Knox County (1-2) sank seven of 18 from the free throw line. Clark County had four players score double digit totals, led by Justin Alderton’s 21 points.
“We are not going to stop (Justin) Reeves,” Clark County coach Clint Smith said. “If we could limit Reeves, and hold everyone else we knew we would be OK. He probably took two thirds of their shots. We lived with it because we were able to limit everyone else.”
“We hit some shots early. That helped us do everything else offensively,” Coach Smith said. “We have maybe the toughest three game schedule coming up this week that anybody in Northeast Missouri has,” Clint Smith said about his team’s 3-1 start.
“We play Canton, Keokuk and Camp Point Central. Central has beaten Pittsfield and Quincy Notre Dame by 15 and 20 points at their places,” Clint Smith said. “It’s going to be a tough week but we have some time to prepare.”
The Indians sank 8-11 from the charity stripe. “Ryan Whiston scored 12 Clark County points. Tommy Dever and Kyle Kovar scored ten points each. Jeremy Logsdon and Luke Ross put in five CC points each.
Seth Williams and Chase Bevans added four Clark County points each.