Cloverdale opens season with win at home

CLOVERDALE -- Cloverdale's boys played with patience and poise on offense and diligence and determination on defense Tuesday in winning their season-opening basketball game over North Central Farmersburg, 32-23, on the Clovers' court.

The Clovers committed only six turnovers and forced the Thunderbirds into 13. Cloverdale held North Central to 29 percent shooting (9-of-31) from the field.

"It was a good start," Cloverdale coach Pat Rady said. "It was a good win against a good opponent. I thought the kids played well. To keep the turnovers this early under 10 was a a good effort. We had good patience. We had good ball movement and made their defense have to move.

"I was real pleased with our defense. It set the tone. They (North Central) set the tone with some threes (3-point field goals) early and then we closed out on them. We mixed up our defenses, man and zone, and kept them out of their rhythm. It was strictly a good team win."

The Thunderbirds were 3-of-10 on 3-pointers in the first half, but struggled to find openings in the second when they were 1-of-4.

When North Central's guards tried to penetrate against the extended defense, they were confronted by 6-foot-9 Mitch Williams, who intimidated them into turnovers and wild shots.

Jordan Hayden led the Clovers with 12 points. The senior guard was 3-of-8 on 3-pointers and 4-of-12 from the field overall and 1-of-2 at the free throw line.

Williams was impressive on offense, too, scoring 10 points on 5-of-9 field goals. He also had 10 rebounds.

North Central's only lead was 3-0 on a 3-pointer by Seth Vanschoyck.

Cloverdale scored the next 10 points. The Thunderbirds got within two at 15-13 midway through the second quarter, but a basket inside by Williams and a 3-pointer by Hayden stretched the Clovers lead to 20-13.

North Central's Cody Cox scored the opening bucket of the fourth period to slice Cloverdale's advantage to 26-23. It was the last points the Thunderbirds would score.

Williams scored the next six points, starting with a basket following an offensive rebound. Josh Burdette drove the lane and dished off to Williams for a lay-up. Williams' final field goal was a nifty inside move, spinning away from a defender to spin the ball off the glass for a 32-23 lead with 4:05 to play.

Cloverdale made 14-of-40 shots from the field, 35 percent, but on this night, that was plenty good enough.

"I'm not worried about the missed shots," Rady said. "They'll come."

The victory was No. 701 in Rady's legendary career and his 83rd at Cloverdale.

Cloverdale travels to Riverton Parke on Saturday night for a non-conference game.

N.C. Farmersburg 6 9 6 2 -- 23

Cloverdale 11 11 4 6 -- 32

NORTH CENTRAL FARMERSBURG

Rehmel 0-4 0-0 0, Cox 4-6 0-0 9, Bellgraph 1-5 1-4 3, S. Vanschoyck 2-8 0-0 6, C. Strain 1-5 0-2 3, T. Strain 1-1 0-0 2 Stone 0-2 0-0 0, Harding 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 9-31 1-6 23.

CLOVERDALE

Arnold 0-4 0-0 0, Fidler 1-4 0-0 2, Williams 5-9 0-1 10, Hayden 4-12 1-2 12, Strunk 2-3 0-0 4, Scisney 0-2 0-0 0, Burdette 2-5 0-0 4, Skiles 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 14-40 1-3 32.

3-point field goals: NCF 4-14 (S. Vanschoyck 2-8, Cox 1-2, C. Strain 1-3, Stone 0-1), C 3-13 (Hayden 3-8, Arnold 0-3, Fidler 0-1, Scisney 0-1). Rebounds: NCF 26 (Bellgraph 9, Rehmel 3, C. Strain 3), C 24 (Williams 10, Fidler 3, Hayden 3). Total fouls: NCF 7, C 11. Turnovers: NCF 13, C 6.