Mustangs oust Clovers

Cloverdale's Craig Blair looks for an open teammate while being guarded by Edgewood's Garrett Butcher (left) and Jake Miller during the Clovers' 80-59 loss to the Mustangs Wednesday.

ELLETTSVILLE -- Cloverdale traveled to Edgewood Wednesday night in hopes of handing the Mustangs their first loss of the season, but Edgewood's size inside proved to be a deciding factor. The Clovers lost 80-59 to run their mark to 14-6 on the season, but not before showing the Mustangs what they were made of.

"I thought they came in and battled and didn't back down," Rady said.

Cloverdale started the game strong by grabbing a four-point lead and maintaining that lead most of the first quarter. Michael Neese started the scoring for the Clovers and was followed by Ryan Dean, Christian Cheatham and Seth Trinkle in the opening minutes. Cheatham scored with 3:21 left in the quarter after hauling in an offensive rebound over two Edgewood players. Edgewood got back into the game when Mitch Walton, Jake Miller and Garrett Butcher scored at the end of the quarter to tie the game 14-all.

Butcher would prove to be a thorn in the Clovers side all night.

The second quarter started with Cheatham scoring the first four points for Cloverdale. The quarter was mainly a series of ties with neither team able to take a decisive advantage. Cloverdale grabbed a one-point lead after Craig Blair scored off a great pass from Neese. Walton score with less than a minute to go for the Mustangs to give them a one-point leading at the half, 32-31.

The third quarter is when Edgewood's Butcher went to work. He scored 14 of his game-high 30 points in the quarter and opened up the perimeter by drawing defenders to the lane. Miller helped by scoring four points for the Mustangs.

Blair was Cloverdale's top man in the third as he scored eight points to keep the Clovers in the hunt. The Mustangs outscored the Clovers 25-15 in the third quarter and held a 57-46 lead going into the final period.

In the fourth, Edgewood started to pull away from the Clovers. Cloverdale seemed to get frustrated and started to rush things for the first time in the game. With time expiring and the score getting out of hand, Cloverdale started to lose focus and let some mistakes happen for the first time all night. When the horn sounded, Edgewood stood victorious but the Clovers had no reason to hang their heads. They fought hard and looked good heading into the final weekend before the sectional starts.

"I'm very proud of our kids," Rady said. "I think we played with a lot of heart tonight and we just have to keep our heads up."

In junior varsity action, Edgewood defeated Cloverdale 68-21.

Cloverdale will host Eminence Friday night at 6:30 p.m.

At Edgewood

Edgewood 80 Cloverdale 59

Edgewood (80) -- Weakley 8, Miller 9, Lowers 11, Pedersen 13, Butcher 30, Walton 9. Totals: FG 32-56 FT 7-14 TP 80.

Cloverdale (59) -- Neese 13, Blair 18, Trinkle 8, Cheatham 14, Dean 4, Gregg 2. Totals: FG 23-57 FT 5-7 TP 59.

3pt. FG -- Edgewood 2 (Weakley 2), Cloverdale 2 (Blair, Neese).

Junior Varsity -- Edgewood won, 68-21.

Next Game -- Cloverdale will host Eminence Friday night at 6:30 p.m.