Cloverdale can't overcome Walker's 17, loses 73-43

Saturday, January 17, 2015
Cloverdale senior Bailee Stevens tries for two in the paint. (Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT)

CLOVERDALE--Having dropped three straight contests for the first time since the close of the 2013-14 season, the Cloverdale girls' basketball team looked to get back to winning ways when it hosted Cascade Friday night.

The Cadets, meanwhile, were looking for a win to move to 3-0 in the WCC and force a showdown with Greencastle on Jan. 23 for the conference title, a win they duly found in a 73-42 romp over the Clovers.

Cloverdale coach Matthew Langdon said the team was not at the races to start the game.

Cloverdale's Kimmy Winders clears space in the lane. (Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT)

"It didn't look like we came out ready to play at all," Langdon admitted. "We did a lot of things we haven't done the whole year, like drop easy passes, force the ball in, got off of our feet a lot and did so without seeing anybody open.

"We didn't play well tonight. We've struggled with some injuries but we've been able to push through in certain instances, but tonight, we weren't able to do that."

Cascade did not allow Cloverdale to settle into the first quarter and much of the damage done by the Cadets came through Bayleigh Walkers.

The sophomore scored nine points and snared seven rebounds in the first quarter, allowing the visitors the chance to burst out into a 19-8 lead after the opening period.

"It looked like they were just a step quicker than us tonight," Langdon said. "I thought we had some good individual performances at times and we hit some shots.

"We didn't handle the pressure as good as we had in the past. Against the last couple of teams, we've made them pay for their aggressiveness and we didn't make them pay tonight at all."

Cascade shuffled its deck repeatedly throughout the second quarter, losing some of the offensive rhythm of the first quarter in the process and allowed Cloverdale to hang with the Cadets for much of the second period.

Two late threes in the last minute from the visitors, however, dampened the mood for the Clovers as they trailed 39-18 at the break.

Despite trailing by 21, Cloverdale came out swinging to start the second half, scoring seven of the first 10 points of the third quarter before Cascade slowly reeled them back in.

A late 8-0 run by the Cadets ensured the visitors would have a healthy lead entering the fourth quarter and slowly cruised through the final eight minutes, sending the Clovers to their fourth straight loss and second WCC loss of the season.

"We didn't play well defensively," Langdon said. "We cannot give up that many points.

"We gave up 39 points in the first half and 34 points in the second half. We cannot give up points like that on the defensive end."

Cloverdale hosts Rockville next Tuesday.

"We've seen Rockville quite a bit because they've played the other county teams," Langdon said. "They're a smaller team that likes to push it up.

"We have got to play better defense. Defense is partly a mindset and we have to have the mindset that we're not going to give up 40-50 points and force our offense to play catch-up the whole time."


At Cloverdale

Cascade 19 20 20 14 -- 73

Cloverdale 8 10 13 11 -- 42


Scoring

Cascade -- 31-75 FG, 7-25 3-FG, 4-8 FT -- Walker 17, Rasnake 14, Collier 10, Stinnett 9, Bell 7, Cleveland 4, Norris 4, Smith 2, Gross 2, Burke 2, O. Bryant 2, E. Bryant 0

Cloverdale -- 13-55 FG, 3-16 3-FG, 13-26 FT -- Stevens 12, Hamm 10, Walker 7, Worthington 5, Pieper 2, Smith 2, Winders 2, Huge 2, Meek 0, Shedron 0

Rebounding (Offensive)

Cascade 43 (17); Cloverdale 29 (5)

Assists

Cascade 15; Cloverdale 8

Steals

Cascade 10; Cloverdale 8

Blocks

Cascade 4; Cloverdale 4

Turnovers

Cascade 19; Cloverdale 25

Fouls

Cascade 22; Cloverdale 11

Next Game: Cloverdale (7-9, 0-2 WCC) hosts Rockville next Tuesday.

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