Clovers prepare for clash with Sparkplugs

Wednesday, March 5, 2014
The premiere showdown of South Putnam Sectional 44 takes place tonight when Cloverdale junior Marquise Moore and his Clover teammates take on sectional favorite Speedway at 6 p.m. at South Putnam. (Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)

Cloverdale will take on Speedway at 6 p.m. Wednesday night. Even with a 19-1, 5-0 WCC record, the Clovers fall short of sectional favorite to their opponent who is 13-6 and 4-3 in Hoosier Crossroads play.

"Being the underdog takes the pressure off of us," Clover coach Pat Rady said, "I have no problem with that. It's obvious why they are the favorites. They have two division one players, they are two-time sectional champions and three of their players that play a lot have been on both sectional teams. They beat Tri-West this year, which we lost to and they played the top-ranked team in our class and took them to overtime and lost by three points. We feel happy and are happy about the challenge. We know the game isn't won on paper."

It has been the best year for the Clovers since the 2004-05 season when they finished 19-4, losing to Cascade in the sectional final in Rady's first year at Cloverdale.

"It's a tribute to the players," Rady said, "They dedicated themselves over the summer. They came in regularly, and we played games. It continued over into the fall. The attendance was still very good and it just happened over time. To have a record like this doesn't just happen. Players have to dedicate themselves. I am proud of the players and I'm happy the work is paying off on them."

Cloverdale started the year off by winning the Putnam County Classic in a thriller over North Putnam, 60-58 and started out 7-0 before falling to Tri-West for its only loss of the season.

This game will be a big test for the Clovers, but it will also give them a chance to prove themselves. Their only true quality road win came against Covenant Christian, 69-65, which was the first win against the Warriors in school history.

"This is a good challenge for our players," Rady said, "I have never in over 50 years had a team say they did not want to win it all. To do so, you have to play anybody and everybody. It is a blind man draw and sometimes you get who you want and others you don't."

If the Clover can pull off the win, they cannot be too excited because they have two more games to go before they can call themselves sectional champions.

"You can't look too fast," Rady said, "If we win we still have two more games to go. We have to take it one game at a time. This starts a new season and everybody's record is 0-0."

Clover's assistant coach Patrick Rady has done most of the scouting for his team. Friday night the whole Clover team traveled to watch Speedway play because the players are really enthused about playing Speedway.

"Speedway is really good in transition," Patrick Rady said, "They are going to push the ball down the floor and our defense has to be ready to stop the fast breaks."

Sparkplug stars Anthony Jones and Jordan Furlow, who are two possible division one players, are the main strengths for their team. Jones averages 18.6 points per contest and Furlow is at 20.8. This excludes their final two matchups of the regular season. They also average 10 rebounds between the pair and six steals.

"Furlow and Jones are so good with the ball," Patrick said, "They like to drive, they like to hit pull-up shots and they can also hit the three."

The Clovers not only have these two to worry about, but the whole Sparkplug team is a threat.

"We really got to try and keep the ball out of the paint as much as we can," Patrick said, "Their other guys are really good at knowing their roles. They're good screeners and they go to the offensive glass really hard. Rebounding is going to be important for us."

Limiting the turnovers and making shots will be very important as the game goes on. Cloverdale has had some issues throughout the season with turnovers, but have also has games with under five turnovers. Keeping it clean will prevent transition for the Sparkplugs, which is what they like to do.

"We are going to have to take care of the basketball and limit our turnovers," Patrick said, "They use turnovers as their offense. We are going to have to take care of the basketball and get shots we want."

The Clovers will have to use their balanced attack of freshman Cooper Neese and juniors Marquise Moore and Brantson Scott. Between them they average 54.8 points per game.

Scott will really have to pull down some rebounds. He averages just under eight per game but lately has been ranging from around the 12-16 mark.

Speedway coach Chuck Bennett knows coach Rady has his team well prepared. He knows they can win games and that the Clovers are a solid team.

"First and foremost, we know that Coach Rady will have his team well prepared," Bennett said, "Coach Rady has always been very good to me and Speedway High School. I have been able to gain great insight about basketball and life from talking with him. Second, we know that Cloverdale is an outstanding team. They have shown that they can win games in many different ways. When we watch them, they are a true team. They have solid seniors leaders in Schroer and Collett. There is good balance among Neese, Moore and Scott. Their bench is solid with Fislar, Hughes, and Lotz.

"We know that it will be a good atmosphere at South Putnam and we know that both teams will play as hard as they can," Bennett added. "While it is cliché, 'survive and advance' will probably most likely describe this game."

Both teams will have their work cut out for them. The winner of this game will take on the winner of the North Putnam-South Putnam game on Friday night.

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  • Congratulations to Coach Rady and his Clovers. Great year! Bust of luck in the tournament from a 67 Bainbridge Alumni.

    -- Posted by Trying hard on Wed, Mar 5, 2014, at 9:16 AM
  • Go Clovers!

    -- Posted by chicagogirl on Wed, Mar 5, 2014, at 10:05 AM
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