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Clovers hope continued defensive focus sustains growth
CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale girls' basketball team allowed a conference-best 40.8 points last season and while the personnel has changed, the focus hasn't.
The Clovers had five seniors on last year's team -- all starters most of the season -- to help key an aggressive half-court defensive attack that took risks, jumped into passing lanes and used their perimeter quickness to disrupt the offensive attack before it got going.
Now, without any seniors who have significant varsity experience, the Clovers are hoping to duplicate that success.
"We established what I wanted to establish defensively last year," CHS coach Matthew Langdon said. "They feel confident. They feel that they've lost nothing from last year and they can continue on from where those seniors left off.
"They feel that they can come in and be competitive right away. If we can turn that confidence into some results, I'll be happy."
The keys to the defense will be handed over to juniors Bailee Stevens and Taylor Clark, both of whom got big minutes last year and have a ball-stopping mentality.
Stevens will be charged with controlling the perimeter and getting the remaining swing players into position and on point. Clark, a shot-blocking and rebounding presence, should help the Clovers on drives and limit second-chance points.
Despite their junior status, the returning players and other will be counted on immediately, Langdon said.
"Even if you don't have experience in those leadership roles, we need girls to step up," he said. "They have some varsity minutes logged, but we are going to be young and inexperienced.
"When you're that young and inexperienced, even the games are practices and ways to get better."
A few others who played spot minutes last season, senior Megan Helterbrand and sophomores Payton Dorsett and Haley Hamm, will be counted on to play bigger roles.
With the younger players in last season, the defensive variance wasn't nearly as substantial as the offensive end.
The seniors last year accounted for nearly all of the Clovers' points and to replace that it will take a committee, not an individual, Langdon said.
"We're going to need three or four girls trying to get to that double-digit (scoring)," he said. "Offensively, we put some new things in. We've got a team that I think can slash and hit the midrange shot.
"We have some threats all around the board. Megan Helterbrand can hit some threes. Haley Hamm has improved her shot over the years. We've got a couple girls inside that I think can help us on offensive rebounds and put-backs."
While the team has fewer established scorers, getting shots and scoring chances should come easier for the Clovers because of their defense.
Guards creating steals and leaking out on fast breaks accounted for a large chunk of the Cloverdale offense last year and with a different but similarly athletic group this year, those opportunities should remain.
Cloverdale's veteran group won seven games last year, the most for the school since the 2008 team won 15, and while the team this year hasn't put its goal at a win-total, holding that mark or improving on it isn't out of the question.
By focusing on frustrating defense, the Clovers have an opportunity to sustain their success even when they start the year with limited experience or established scorers.
"Defensively it's just more about mentality," Langdon said. "It's, 'I'm not going to let the other team score. I've got to get in the passing lanes. I'm going to talk. I'm going to keep that intensity high.' ... If we can put ourself in a position to win every game in the fourth quarter, if it's a single digit game going into the fourth, I feel like that's a success."