Clovers suffer first loss to Tri-West 66-59

Sunday, December 22, 2013
Cloverdale freshman Cooper Neese pump-fakes the much taller Tri-West defenders off the ground to draw a foul during the second half on Saturday. Neese had 21 points in the loss. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

CLOVERDALE -- The best start to a season in more than 30 years for the Cloverdale boys' basketball team came to an end on Saturday as the Clovers lost to visiting Tri-West 66-59.

The Clovers (7-1, 2-0 West Central) held a slight lead after the second and third quarters despite allowing the Bruins to pull in more than twice as many rebounds as they grabbed themselves.

"We got beat by a better team tonight," Cloverdale coach Pat Rady said. "Sometimes those things happen. ... They shot really well. We tried to mix up our defense but they handled it."

Tri-West (5-1, 1-0 Sagamore) attempted 17 field goals in the first quarter, missed 12 of them and had 11 offensive rebounds. Remarkably, Cloverdale trailed by just three points.

Junior Marquise Moore and freshman Cooper Neese started to take over for the Clovers in the second. The pair combined for 26 points in the first half, 16 from Neese, and Cloverdale entered the break with a 31-28 lead.

The duo had 16 more in the third, all of the Clovers' points in the frame, but hosts still fought a losing battle on the boards to a much taller, deeper, more physical Bruins team.

As the fourth quarter began, Cloverdale led 47-46 with a chance to build on its perfect season. The team's 7-0 start is the best since the 1981-82 team started the season 24-0 before losing in the regional final.

Tri-West responded to the small deficit, making seven-of-nine field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. The Bruins also missed three free throws in the fourth, totaling four rebound chances, and they brought in three offensive rebounds.

The Bruins had a much taller lineup than the Clovers. Seven of the 10 players on Tri-West's roster are listed at 6-2 or taller, compared to just four from Cloverdale.

Junior Jerriontai Ragsdale, 6-foot-5, led the Bruins on the boards. Ragsdale had 13 points and 16 rebounds, 11 of them on the offensive end. In total, Cloverdale was outrebounded 48-20.

"They killed us on the boards," Rady said. "It was unbelievable. ... When you get outrebounded as bad as we got outrebounded, I was surprised we were as close as we were."

Despite the disadvantage, Moore did everything he could to give the Clovers a chance to win. He finished with 30 points, a team-high six rebounds and four steals.

He had nine of the Clovers' 12 fourth-quarter points, but the team was just 5-for-11 at the free throw line.

It was Moore's second 30-point game in as many nights. He had 38 in a conference win against Monrovia on Friday. He's averaging 27.4 per game this season.

Neese finished the game with 21.

Tri-West junior Trevor Waite had eight of his team-high 16 in the fourth quarter. Senior Austin Musial finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds, with six of the boards coming in the fourth.

Senior Brant Gadberry had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Bruins.

Cloverdale senior Kade Schroer and junior Brantson Scott both had four points.

"To get outrebounded by that much and still, with two minutes to go, we had a chance to win the ball game, we did some good things," Rady said.

The Clovers are off until Jan. 4 when they host Seymour in the first round of the Cloverdale Classic.

While no one likes to lose, Rady said the deficiencies revealed in his team Saturday may help reinforce what he's been trying to teach in practice and that may help provide an early lesson in the quickly-developing season.

"It's a long season, but it's very short," Rady said. "We can't forget where we are and we can't forget where we want to be. Not very many teams go undefeated."



Tri-West (66): Waite 5-13 6-7 16, Gadberry 5-9 3-6 14, Ragsdale 6-9 1-2 13, Musial 5-12 3-4 13, Miller 2-8 0-1 5, Wilson 1-1 0-0 3, Sprecher 1-1 0-0 2, Vervynckt 0-0 0-0 0. Total 25-54 13-22 66.

Cloverdale (59): Moore 7-15 14-19 30, Neese 6-15 6-7, Scott 1-3 2-4 4, Schroer 1-3 1-2 4, Dorman 0-2 0-0 0, Collett 0-1 0-0 0, Hughes 0-0 0-0 0. Total 15-40 22-30 59.

Tri-West13151820 -- 66
Cloverdale10211612 -- 59

Team stats

_CLTW
3PM-A7-223-10
OR-DR-Total10-10-2025-23-48
Assists26
Steals74
Blocks50
Turnovers511
Fouls1721
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: