Cloverdale girls lose regular season finale at Shakamak
The Cloverdale girls' basketball team lost at Shakamak on Tuesday, 53-47, in its final regular season game of the 2012-13 season.
The Clovers will enter tournament play next Friday with a record of 7-14.
"Tonight's outcome was a tough one to swallow," CHS head coach Matthew Langdon said. "Our girls played their guts out to the end. Shakamak had some height that we just couldn't match so we tried pushing the ball up as much as possible."
Unless they're forcing turnovers, the Clovers have been working with a more deliberate pace for most of the season, hoping to keep the score low.
The increased speed helped senior guard Paige Gruener's offense.
She finished the game with a career-high 24 points.
Senior Sydney Shrum, faced with the task of competing with Shakamak's forwards, hauled in 15 rebounds.
"(You) always want to go into sectionals with a win, but I liked what I saw out of my team tonight," Langdon said. "We hope to see the same passionate play in the upcoming days of practice to help us get ready for the sectionals."
The Clovers will face the winner of the South Putnam versus Speedway game on Friday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Speedway.