Clovers struggle with Edgewood

Friday, February 19, 2010
CHS senior guard Brandon Moon slashes to the basket during Thursday's contest with Edgewood. Moon scored seven points in the loss.

CLOVERDALE -- The Clovers got off to a sluggish start and it didn't improve from there. Cloverdale struggled against Edgewood Thursday, posting a 52-35 loss and will look to end a two-game skid tonight against Rockville.

The Clovers are known as a speedy, slashing guard drive squad, which usually earns them multiple trips to the free throw line. However, on Thursday Cloverdale continued to drive, but was unable to draw fouls, ending the evening with just two attempts.

"I guess it's one of those things; it's hard to understand, I thought we were driving, I thought we did get to the basket -- but I guess different eyes see different things," CHS head coach Pat Rady said.

Cloverdale opened the game by putting up eight points in the first quarter and then followed that up by a six-point second quarter. After two quarters of play, Cloverdale trailed 29-14 and were in desperate need of finding its offense.

The Clovers were able to up their level of play in the second half, but were never able to find a steady offensive rhythm and get anything going. Plus, Edgewood's Levi Garner was a force in the middle that Cloverdale had no answer for. Garner scored eight of his game-high 17 points in the second half.

Cloverdale shot 9-of-21 from the floor in the third and fourth quarters, with its starting backcourt of Brandon Moon and Jacob Clark going scoreless on 0-of-4 shooting. Rady believes the Clovers' struggles are a byproduct of the bad weather recently and will sort itself out in time.

"I don't want it to sound like I'm pulling a ripcord or try to bail them out, but practice is very important," Rady commented. "Due to conditions not in our control, it has been tough to get any regular type of practice. We still just have to go through it. We'll have to try to get through this and get back on track and I still feel it will come back.

"Just a little click or a little basket here or there might give a kid the confidence that he has, because right now it doesn't seem like we're playing with a lot of confidence," he added.

With only a few games left in the regular season, it's important for the Clovers that they dwell on what's to come and not on what's happened, according to their coach. Not only is the team trying to seize a milestone win for their coach, but they're also chasing a conference title and Rady thinks the importance of the upcoming games should snap them out of any funk they're in.

Cloverdale's Kevin Dean snags a rebound during Thursday's game against Edgewood.

"It's a tough loss. We still have many things to look forward to, so we can't dwell on this, we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We have three more games before the tournament and one of them is for a conference championship and if you can't get up for that one, there's got to be something wrong with you," Rady said.

The Clovers will take on Rockville tonight with a 7:30 p.m. tip.

At Cloverdale

Edgewood 16 13 10 13 -- 52

Cloverdale 8 6 9 12 -- 35

Individual Stats

Edgewood (52) -- Garner 17, Narey 11, Meek 11, Owens 8, Walls 2, No. 22 2, Bauer 1. Totals: 16-43 FG, 17-29 FT, 52 TP.

Cloverdale (35) -- Hayden 10, Moon 7, Salter 5, Strunk 4, Moore 4, Scisney 3, Dean 2. Totals: 15-40 FG, 1-2 FT, 35 TP.

Next game -- The Clovers will take on Rockville tonight with a 7:30 p.m. tip.