Putnam girls basketball entered the year with designs on its first state championship after returning four starters from a 5A semifinal team.
The Kingsmen suffered a big setback in the week leading up the season opener, however, when junior guard Rylee Lemen — a Northwest Oregon Conference second-team selection last season — broke her ankle in practice.
Putnam is hopeful that Lemen will return to the court later in the season, but with no guarantees, the Kingsmen are trying to pick up the slack and press forward. They improved to 3-0 on Tuesday night by rallying from behind in the fourth quarter for a 57-52 home win over 6A West Linn.
"We’re just in the mindset that we need to go 100 percent every single game," senior center Riley Greenleaf said. "Without her, we’re more shorthanded than we were last year, but I think we still have the pieces we need to be a good team. Having her out is going to impact us a lot, but I think we’ll be OK."
Putnam, No. 4 in the OSAAtoday 5A coaches poll, showed its resilience against West Linn (0-3). The Lions, who trailed by 10 points late in the second quarter, erupted for 24 points in the third quarter to lead 48-44. But the Kingsmen buckled down and held West Linn scoreless for the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter to pull out the win.
"This group has been together for a while now, and they’re developing that maturity to understand when shots aren't dropping, there are other things we can do on the court to make it work for us," Putnam coach Max d’Auvergne said. "Tonight that was defense."
Senior guard Emma McDonald scored a game-high 21 points, making all six of her free throws in the final minute to seal the win. Greenleaf had 16 points and senior guard Kayla Kasubuchi added nine points.
Putnam graduated the NWOC player of the year in point guard Maddie Olma, who is playing at Clackamas Community College. But McDonald, who is averaging 22.7 points per game, said the team's maturation is helping it reach a new level.
"Our relationships with each other have grown so much that we just trust each other a lot more than we did last year," McDonald said. "This game, that stretch where no one scored for a while, my mindset was, 'I know that Riley is going to score, or that Kayla is going to score.' It’s just having that mindset that we're going to win."
D'Auvergne said that the players are still recovering emotionally from the loss of Lemen.
"Obviously Lemen is a huge part of what we do," he said. "She's been with the group the entire time, through all those experiences, so it was really, really hard to find out she probably won't be with us for at least a little while. But the team is recovering well. They know that the team is much stronger than any one piece of it."
Putnam — which opened the season with two wins in a tournament at Crook County, dominating Bend 59-24 and Ridgeview 64-38 — remains confident that it can be a serious state contender.
"Once we hit our stride, we can be a really good team, so I'm hoping we can hit our stride later in the season," Greenleaf said. "I’m not sure when we'll get Lemen back, I don’t know if we will get her back, but if we do, then it'll be a huge addition." 
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