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Cloverdale boys fall in J7 title game
LINTON -- Facing a team that had many players in the Class A State Football Championship one day earlier, the Cloverdale basketball team still found a difficult opponent in Linton-Stockton on Saturday evening.
The host Miners overcame the short turnaround, a morning game against Fountain Central and finally the Clovers, taking the inaugural J7 Sports Grille Shootout by a score of 63-49.
Even in taking the loss, Cloverdale coach Patrick Rady was pleased his team gained tournament experience.
"I thought it was great to play in a tournament style atmosphere this early in the morning," Rady said. "I feel it can only help you in February and March."
The Clover coach credited the Miners with exposing some things his team needs to work to correct.
"When you play a pressure defense like Linton it exploits some of the things that you need to work on," Rady said. "They showed us some areas where we have flaws. But luckily those are areas we can improve. They are just the things that you haven't been able to see in practice."
Cloverdale jumped out to a 14-9 lead in the first stanza behind six points from Cooper Neese and five from Kaleb Camacho.
Then the Linton bench went to work with a pair of starters in early foul trouble. Jacob Clothier found Bill Smith open for a 3-pointer.
The next two trips downcourt, Noah Clark scored inside courtesy of assists from Smith and Williams giving the Miners a 21-19 edge.
Corey Anderson, a freshman, nailed a deep three off a feed from Clothier and Smith closed out the half with his second three-ball of the quarter.
Clark and Woods each grabbed five boards in the second frame.
Linton's 20-13 edge in the second was a big difference in the game.
Smith ignited a 9-2 Miner spurt to start off the third quarter with a 25-footer and with Josh Dieball back in action, Linton-Stockton extended its lead to 44-37 after three.
Neese led all scorers with 23. He was joined in double figures by Camacho (12) and Jalen Moore (11).
Miner coach Joey Hart termed Saturday's victory an "ugly win."
But it was far from ugly in two key areas.
Linton-Stockton enjoyed distinct advantages in rebounding margin and field goal percentage.
The Miners won the battle of the boards 37-22. Their ability to control the glass and get out in transition led to shots from point-blank range in the second half.
Rady will be looking to make his improvements early this week before back-to-back games Wednesday and Thursday at Edgewood and at home against Southmount.
"After the first week of games I'm pleased with our effort," Rady said. "We've got to get better rebounding. We just have to. But against Riverton (in the first game Saturday morning) we had great ball movement. The ball had eyes and we found the open man."
Linton-Stockton connected on 24 of 42 from the field, 57 percent, and the defense limited Cloverdale to 31 percent shooting on 15 of 49.
"That's one of the reasons why we wanted to come down here and play. Joey does an outstanding job," Rady said. They're one of the best defensive teams in the state. I thought it would give us an idea early on what we needed to do against a defense like that.
"They showed us we don't have enough in our arsenal right now. We've got to add some things, change some things. But I think it's great we can find that out now in November and that's really what this is about."
Both teams are back in action and on the road Friday. Cloverdale (1-1) travels to Edgewood. Linton-Stockton (2-0) takes on Clay City at the Eel Dome.
The Cloverdale boys had an easy time dispatching the Riverton Parke Panthers in the first game of the shootout Saturday afternoon. CHS led 33-4 after the opening stanza and coasted the rest of the way.
Neese led the Clovers with 26 points and Moore added 18.
MINERS 63, CLOVERS 49
Cloverdale 14 13 10 12 -- 49
Linton-Stockton 9 20 15 19 -- 63
Cloverdale -- Jalen Moore 3-13 3-7 11, Cooper Neese 6-17 8-10 23, Kaleb Camacho 5-12 1-1 12, Brennan Hall 0-1 0-0 0, Seth Pfaff 1-5 0-0 2, Nick Winders 0-1 0-0 0, Jake Wilkes 0-0 1-3 1. Totals 15-49 13-21 49.
3-point shooting: 6-22 (Neese 3-10, Moore 2-7, Camacho 1-5). Rebounds 25 (Hall 5, Neese 5, Pfaff 4, Winders 4, Moore 3). Assists 7 (Moore 2, Neese 1, Winders 2, Camacho 1). Steals 4 (Moore 2, Neese 2, Winders 2, Camacho 2). Turnovers 11. Personal fouls 20. Fouled out: None.
Linton-Stockton -- Joe Dieball 3-6 2-5 8, Kendall Williams 1-1 1-2 3, Jacob Clothier 4-8 2-5 11, Josh Dieball 3-6 2-3 8, Dylan Morris 1-1 0-0 2, Brayden Talley 0-1 1-2 1, Noah Woodward 1-2 0-1 3, Andrew Woods 0-1 0-0 0, Bill Smith 5-5 0-0 13, Noah Clark 5-8 1-3 11, Trey Passen 0-2 0-0 0, Corey Anderson 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 24-42 10-21 63.
3-point shooting: 4-9 (Smith 3-3, Clothier 1-2, Anderson 1-1, Joe Dieball 0-1, Talley 0-1, Woodward 0-1). Rebounds 37 (Clark 8). Assists 14 (Clothier 6). Steals 2 (Clothier, Josh Dieball). Turnovers 10. Personal fouls 21. Fouled out: Clothier.
Game 1
Cloverdale 33 13 21 16 -- 83
Riv. Parke 4 1 9 3 -- 17
Cloverdale 35-67 (Neese 11-19 3-3 26, Moore 7-11 2-3 18, Hall 2-1 2-2 6, Camacho 5-10 12, Pfaff 4-9 8, Wilkes 3-5 6, Nally 2-3 4, Winders 1-8 3)
Reb. Camacho 9, Pfaff 8, Neese 7, Hall 8, Winders 3, Nally 3, Wilkes 2)