Cloverdale edges Cadets in WCC battle 49-47

Friday, February 13, 2009

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Clovers boys' basketball team hosted the Cascade Cadets Thursday night to play the last West Central Conference game of the season.

Both teams entered the game with nearly identical records, both for the season, and in the conference.

The game was played at a fervent level by the closely matched teams on both ends of the floor, but Cloverdale pulled out the win, 49-47.

In the first quarter, Cloverdale's unselfish, ball-movement offense was working well, allowing Brandon Moon, Erik Kukman, Link Lovins and Jacob Clark to get in the scorebook for the Clovers.

However, Cascade held a narrow, 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The rest of the game would be the same, with the lead going back and forth between the teams, with the Clovers leading at halftime, 20-18, and at the end of the third quarter, 36-33.

Cloverdale took the lead with 55 seconds left in the third period, and never relinquished it from that point.

Jordan Hayden, Kevin Dean and Jason Slater had joined their teammates in the scoring column, helping the Clovers sustain their lead in the final nine minutes of the game.

Statistically, both teams were practically even in every category except one: rebounding.

Cloverdale pulled down 26 rebounds versus 21 for Cascade. More importantly, the Clovers grabbed eight offensive rebounds, all in the second half.

That turned out to be the difference in the game.

"This was as close to a team win as we have had in the last two years," commented Cloverdale coach Pat Rady after the game.

"The bench really came through tonight and everybody who came into the game contributed and did something well. It may have been a defensive move, or an offensive pass."

"We moved the ball really well tonight and we had eight offensive rebounds in the second half, and that was a big factor for us.

"It was a great team win, and our cheer block and band was really important to us tonight," Rady continued. "For the band and the student body to be here on a school night was really terrific.

"Most of those kids were at Speedway last night cheering on our girls to a great win. The girls got this jump started with the great win last night."

"We have great school spirit here right now, and we're just proud to be a part of it," added Rady.

Cloverdale was led in scoring by Salter with 12 points.

Kukman and Lovins followed with 10 each, Hayden and Dean added five points each, Moon had four, and Clark closed out the Clover scoring with three points.

Lovins led the Clovers in rebounds with seven boards, Kukman had six, and Salter grabbed five.

Lovins and Salter had three and two blocked shots, respectively, Clark and Hayden passed for three assists each, and Salter had a game-high four steals, with Moon grabbing two Cascade passes.

In the junior varsity game, Cloverdale defeated Cascade, 32-27.

Franky Skiles led the Clovers in scoring with eight points, followed by Mitchell Williams with seven.

Joseph Fidler scored six, Christopher Arnold added five, Seth Jonte had three, Donavan Scisney scored two, and Josh Burdette closed out the Clover scoring with one point.

The Clovers (7-10, 3-3 WCC) travel to Ellettsville Tuesday night to play the Edgewood Mustangs in a non-conference game. The junior varsity game begins at 6 p.m.

At Cloverdale

Cloverdale1281613-49
Cascade1351514-47

Cloverdale (7-10, 3-3 WCC)

Moon 0-7 4-5 4, Clark 1-6 0-0 3, Strunk 0-2 0-0 0, Kukman 4-8 2-2 10, Hayden 1-6 2-2 5, Dean 2-4 1-2 5, Salter 4-6 3-5 12, Lovins 5-9 0-1 10, Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 FG, 12-17 FT, 49 TP.

Cascade (5-12, 2-4 WCC)

Hopper 2-7 0-0 6, Alltop 0-0 0-0 0, Guthrie 1-2 3-4 5, Waggoner 0-1 2-2 2, Heimansohn 1-5 2-2 4, Baldwin 0-0 0-0 0, Pelley 1-2 2-2 4, Spencer 8-18 0-0 20, Dunn 1-2 0-1 2, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Arthur 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 16-41 FG, 9-11 FT, 47 TP.

3-pt. FG - Cl 3-14 (Moon 0-2, Clark 1-4, Strunk 0-1, Hayden 1-4, Dean 0-1, Salter 1-2), Ca 6-18 (Hopper 2-6, Guthrie 0-1, Heimansohn 0-1, Spencer 4-9, Arthur 0-1). Rebounds - Cl 26 (Moon 1, Clark 1, Kukman 6, Hayden 3, Dean 1, Salter 5, Lovins 7, Moore 2), Ca 21 (Hopper 2, Guthrie 2, Heimansohn 3, Pelley 5, Spencer 8, Dunn 1). Blocks -- Cl 5 (Salter 2, Lovins 3), Ca 5 (Guthrie 2, Pelley 1, Spencer 1, Arthur 1). Assists -- Cl 8 (Clark 3, Hayden 3, Dean 1, Salter 1), Ca 10 (Hopper 1, Guthrie 4, Baldwin 2, Spencer 3). Steals -- Cl 7 (Moon 2, Dean 1, Salter 4), Ca 6 (Alltop 1, Guthrie 1, Pelley 1, Spencer 2, Arthur 1). Total fouls -- Cl 11, Ca 17. Fouled out -- none. Turnovers - Cl 14, Ca 12.

Next game -- The Clovers (7-10, 3-3 WCC) travel to Ellettsville Tuesday night to play the Edgewood Mustangs in a non-conference game. The junior varsity game begins at 6 p.m.