Clovers fall to Bruins in OT

CLOVERDALE --The Cloverdale Clovers boys' basketball team hosted possible sectional opponent Tri-West Saturday night, hoping to get back on track after suffering a tough loss to Monrovia the previous evening, 64-78.

Tri-West had defeated Sheridan the prior night, 81-47.

Playing a solid game, the Clovers battled the talented Bruins evenly throughout the game, but Tri-West would end up defeating Cloverdale, 75-73, in overtime.

Cloverdale took an early 4-1 lead in the game on two Jason Salter field goals from assists by Brandon Moon and Jordan Hayden.

However, Tri-West then went on a 10-0 scoring run during the next 3 minutes, but the Clovers rallied with scoring by Kevin Dean, Moon, Hayden, and Jacob Clark to tie the game at the end of the first quarter, 17-17.

The second quarter turned out to be Cloverdale's best of the game, as they scored 20 points in the period, taking a 37-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Clovers used balanced scoring by Hayden, who hit 3-of-3 from beyond the 3-point arc to score 9 points, Salter getting 4 points, Moon scoring 3, and Clark and Dean adding 2 each, while Moon, Clark, and Dean were generously passing for 7 assists.

Things would change in the second half.

Tri-West steadily closed Cloverdale's lead, outscoring the Clovers 18-15, and 20-13 in the third and fourth quarters, forcing the game into overtime, with the score at the end of regulation, 65-65.

The lead went back and forth during the overtime, with the Bruins leading 75-73 with 10.5 left on the clock, but the Clovers were unable to hit a 2-point shot to send the game into a second overtime period.

The Clovers were better than the Bruins in nearly every statistical category in the game, hitting 53 percent of their 3-point shots, 50 percent of their shots from the field, 67 percent of their free throws, grabbing 31 rebounds, and passing out 17 assists.

However, Cloverdale committed 25 turnovers compared to 13 for Tri-West.

That turned out to be the difference in the game.

"When you lose one like this, it's always tough, but a week ago, we won one like this," commented Cloverdale head coach Pat Rady after the game.

"You can't turn the ball over as much as we did tonight, and beat a good team like Tri-West."

"Those turnovers were very costly to us tonight."

"These kids want to win, the desire is there, and you can tell that by the way that they play."

"We just have to work on our skills, cut down our turnovers, and we'll be all right."

"We've got some work to do, and we're going to get at it," added Rady.

Cloverdale was led with 4 players scoring in double figures, with Moon leading the way with 23 points, Hayden and Salter with 14 each, and Clark with 12.

Kevin Dean had 6 points, Jaquan Moore scored 3, and Mitch Williams closed out the Clover scoring with 1 point.

Dean and Salter led the Clovers in rebounds with 9 boards each, Hayden grabbed 4, Moon and Clark each had 3 rebounds, Williams pulled-down 2, Moore had 1 rebound, and Salter had a blocked shot.

Dean and Clark each passed for game-high 7 assists, and Hayden, Dean, and Salter dished-out 1 assist each.

Finally, Clark had 2 steals, and Moon also had one.

In the junior varsity game, Cloverdale was defeated by Tri-West, 38-60.

Mitch Williams led the Clovers in scoring with 13 points, followed by Franky Skiles with 6.

Jordan Brinkman scored 5, Chuck Strunk, Foe Fidler, and Josh Burdette added 4 each, and Justin Wilson closed out the Clover scoring with 2 points.

Cloverdale (5-3, 1-1 WCC) hosts Eastern Greene Tuesday night in a non-conference game. The junior varsity game begins at 6:00.

At Cloverdale

Cloverdale 17 20 15 13 8 - 73

Tri-West 17 10 18 20 10 - 75

Cloverdale (5-3, 1-1 WCC)

Moon 8-22 2-4 23, Clark 3-9 6-6 12, Strunk 0-0 0-0 0, Hayden 5-6 0-1 14, Dean 2-3 2-4 6, Salter 7-9 0-0 14, Moore 1-2 1-1 3, Williams 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 26-52 (50%) FG, 12-18 (67%) FT, 73 TP.

Tri-West (4-2, 1-2 SAC)

Hendershot 0-2 0-0 0, Chastain 0-1 2-2 2, Josh Pierle 0-0 0-0 0, McVicker 3-3 2-4 8, Lowe 10-18 3-6 26, Waite 8-16 5-10 22, Moore 0-2 5-6 5, Keck 3-6 0-0 6, Joe Pierle 2-12 0-0 6. Totals 26-60 (43%) FG, 17-28 (61%) FT, 75 TP.

3-pt. FG - C 9-17 (53%) (Moon 5-12, Hayden 4-5), TW 6-23 (26%) (Hendershot 0-2, Lowe 3-7, Waite 1-4, Joe Pierle 2-10). Rebounds Total-Offensive -- C 31-5 (Moon 3-0, Clark 3-0, Hayden 4-1, Dean 9-1, Salter 9-1, Moore 1-1, Williams 2-1), TW 31-11 (Chastain 1-0, McVicker 2-1, Lowe 5-2, Waite 14-6, Moore 4-0, Keck 4-2, Joe Pierle 1-0). Blocks -- C 1 (Salter 1), TW 2 (Waite 1, Keck 1). Assists -- C 17 (Moon 7, Clark 7, Hayden 1, Dean 1, Salter 1), TW 12 (Hendershot 1, Lowe 4, Waite 3, Moore 1, Keck 1, Joe Pierle 2). Steals -- C 4 (Moon 1, Clark 3), TW 11 (Hendershot 1, Lowe 3, Waite 4, Moore 1, Joe Pierle 2). Total fouls -- C 19, TW 20. Fouled out -- C (Clark, Dean), TW (Keck). Technical fouls -- Tri-West bench. Turnovers - C 25, TW 13.

Next game -- Cloverdale (5-3, 1-1 WCC) hosts Eastern Greene Tuesday night in a non-conference game. The junior varsity game begins at 6:00.