Clovers lose second game in Pizza Hut Tournament

Cloverdale senior Branston Scott (32) fights for a good shot. (Banner Graphic/JOHNATHON GOODE)

TERRE HAUTE--The Cloverdale boys' basketball team fell in the second round, of the 2014 Wabash Valley Classic to Terre Haute North, 57-48, on Terre Haute South's Pat Rady Court. South hosts the annual tournament and named the court after Rady, who coached there for 24 years before switching to Cloverdale.

"You always hate to lose," Rady said. "But if the effort is there, you got to accept it and our effort was there tonight."

The tone of the first half was in favor of Terre Haute North. The Patriots were able to get out and run off of 12 defensive rebounds and junior Keshuan Sandifer led the attack handling the ball. He had three points, two assists and three rebounds, but he also had two costly turnovers.

The Patriots had nine in the first half and that kept the Clovers in the game, as senior Marquise Moore led the team with 12 of his 23 points in the first half.

"It was a tale of two separate halves," Rady said. "I thought we stayed focused on our defense. We did a good job there. The ball didn't drop for us. We had some good looks and they didn't fall."

The Clovers were 9-of-25 shooting in the first half and Moore was 4-of-8 in the half alone. Senior standout KJ Coleman sat much of the first half with two fouls, but scored all four of his points in the half.

Cloverdale's epitome, Cooper Neese, had a sparse night, only shooting the ball 1-for-16 from the floor. He did hit all six of his free throws for a total of nine points and had three assists.

All of Neese's shot attempts were contested and some were forced, but with his talents shooting the ball it is expected.

The Clovers were down eight late in the second quarter, but Moore responded to a Sandifer bucket with a three and hit a second consecutive to cut it to three with under a minute left. His team had a chance to tie at the halftime buzzar, but Coleman missed a three from the far left side sending his squad to locker room down, 30-27.

"We came to win tonight," Rady said. "We just came up short. If they'll continue to do this we'll get better. The last time we played a team like this we didn't do so well, so I thought we did a good job tonight."

Neese came off a screen to the top of the key with 2:37 left in the third and that is where he buried a three, his only make of the night.

"Those things happen," Rady said. "We just got to keep playing."

Terre Haute North had only two assists in the game before rattling off four straight assists on buckets in the third quarter. The stat was shared by four different players showing all contributed and Sandifer padded his statistics a little more in the third, proving his importance the game with six third quarter points.

Though the Patriots did good things, senior Branston Scott and Moore did their part in the third with Scott scoring five points in the quarter and Moore hitting a couple of shots, so the Clovers could cut it to two going into the final quarter of play, 42-40.

In the final quarter it came down to making shots and getting rebounds. Patriot junior Kobi Riley hit three of his four free throws and senior Charlie Aimone solidified his double-double with eight second half rebounds. He had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the game.

The Clovers could only get eight points in the quarter, which ultimately was not enough, but there were good things to be looked upon. They only turned the ball over six times and took advantage of most of the 13 turnovers committed by the Patriots. They also had six assists.

"We cut down our turnovers tonight," Rady said. "We forced them to turn the ball over. Except for the score board I'm very pleased with tonight."

Cloverdale will play Northview in a consolation round Monday night. Northview lost to Marshall (Ill.) in the game just before.

"Northview is a very good ball club," Rady said. "They got size and they got good shooters. They also give you several defensive looks. They're a strong ball club. When you come to this tournament you have to be ready to play. All the teams are decent and they play different styles. You have to be ready."

At Terre Haute SouthM/b>