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CHS toughs one out 71-70 at Shakamak
JASONVILLE - The game was completely different this time. But the end result was the same for the Shakamak Lakers on Tuesday, the Cloverdale boys' basketball team took the win this time 71-70.
When Shakamak and Cloverdale met a month ago in the first round of the Wabash Valley Classic the Lakers let an 11-point third quarter lead slip away. The Clovers fought back to take a 62-60 win.
This time it was Shakamak who mounted a furious comeback. The Lakers overcame a 12-point deficit late in the second quarter to grab its first lead midway through the third stanza. After a back-and-forth final period Shakamak again seized the lead, 70-68 on Rylee Landry's 3-pointer with 28.6 seconds on the clock.
But Cooper Neese and Jalen Moore sealed the outcome with three free throws down the stretch and Cloverdale escaped with a win in a barnburner at Shakamak.
Cloverdale coach Patrick Rady said, "For us we feel fortunate to get the win. Our kids battled. I thought we got the defensive stops at the end when we needed to. But for us to beat a Shakamak team that's been playing like they have been we're pleased to get the 'W'."
Cloverdale applied full-court pressure from the outset to force the action in a frenetic first quarter.
Jalen Moore's steal and layin gave the Clovers a 6-0 lead just two minutes in. Jake Wilkes got free for two quick fast break baskets. Another Moore steal led to a slam dunk by Cooper Neese and Cloverdale led 20-12 after the first eight minutes.
"We want to play 84 feet. We want to go up and down. That's what we want to do. That's our strength as a unit," Rady said.
For Shakamak coach J.B. Neill it was more of the same old story so far this season.
"Once again we got off to a bad start. We didn't execute the game plan I laid out for us. And obviously that's been a problem for us this year. And when you get down to a team that's got a player like Cooper Neese - you don't want to get into a gunslinging battle with him because you're going to lose that one."
The Clovers pushed it to 12 immediately at the start of the second on another bucket by Moore in the open court and his dish to Nick Winders inside.
It was still a dozen after Neese grabbed a defensive board and hit a pullup three in transition.
Then the Lakers closed out the half with a 7-0 spurt.
Mathias Caucheteur canned both ends of a one-and-bonus and scored on a putback. Tanner Yeryar plucked a defensive rebound, took it coast-to-coast and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to cut the Laker deficit to 29-34 heading into the locker room.
Shakamak cut it to three on Yeryar's baseline drive to start off the third stanza. They pulled within one after Lane Gilbert found Braden Scott wide open after breaking the Clover press.
Yeryar's pullup jumper from the baseline gave Shakamak its first lead, 43-31 at the 3:51 mark of the third period.
"Coach Neill does a great job. They were well prepared and they weathered our storm. They were able to get defensive stops and they're hard to guard," the Cloverdale mentor said.
"They've got some guys inside. Caucheteur's really difficult to guard and Yeryar is one heck of a player. He is really good. So when your defense really has to concentrate on stopping him He's s triple threat guy - he will pass it. But he can hit the three off the bounce or off the catch and he can also drive."
Yeryar led the Laker scoring effort with 20 points. Caucheteur posted his third double-double of the season putting up 14 points and hauling down 10 rebounds.
The game see-sawed back and forth the rest of the way. Three times in the fourth quarter Cloverdale forged ahead by five. Each time the Lakers answered. Five times Shakamak rallied to again make it a one point ball game.
The Lakers trailed 68-67 after Gilbert's tip-in with 51-7 seconds left. And on Shakamak's next possession, Yeryar dished to Rylee Landry on the left wing. Landry buried the look, putting the Lakers on to 70-68 with 28.6 ticks on the clock.
But Neese converted two at the stripe. The Butler University recruit finished with 28 points.
Moore added the front end of a bonus after yet another steal for the final tally.
"Cooper Neese with 20 seconds to go, he's hard to guard. We held him to 28 and I think that's great. That's sad to say but he's capable of putting up big numbers. We did a good job on him. I thought our defense was pretty solid all night," the Laker bench boss said.
Shakamak had one final chance to pull out the win. Grabbing a missed free throw with 4.2 seconds left. But the Lakers were unable to get off one last shot.
Neill summed up another close loss by saying, "We're so close yet we're so far away. Our guys, they battle and battle. We've just got to get over that hump as far as executing down the stretch. We had some untimely turnovers that hurt us.
"But these kids have come a long way and I think they'll continue to improve. And that's what we're after."
Rady said, "I think when you have two good teams playing it's going to be a game of runs. I thought we got off to a great start but give credit to Shakamak.
"Shakamak is a team I would not want to draw in March."
Cloverdale (12-6) will next play in the WIC crossover game against West Vigo on Jan. 29 for teh third-place game.
Shakamak drops to 8-10 on the season. The Lakers travel to farmersburg Saturday to take on North Central.
Att Shakamak
CLOVERS 71, LAKERS 70
Cloverdale 20 14 15 22 -- 71
Shakamak 12 17 16 25 -- 70
Cloverdale (12-6): Jalen Moore 7-19 4-6 20, Cooper Neese 10-21 5-5 28, Nick Winders 3-7 0-0 6, Jake Wilkes 4-5 0-0 8, Seth Pfaff 1-3 2-2 4, Brenan Hall 0-2 0-0 0, Parker Watts 2-4 0-0 6, Robert Nally 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 12-19 71.
3-point shooting: 5-18 (Neese 3-11, Watts 2-3, Moore 0-2, Winders 0-2). Rebounds 29 (Neese 9). Assists 7 (Moore 4). Steals 8 (Moore 5). Turnovers 12. Personal fouls 17. Fouled out: Wilkes. Technical foul: Cloverdale bench.
Shakamak (8-10): Tanner Yeryar 7-19 4-6 20, Rylee Landry 4-10 0-0 9, Braden Scott 5-10 1-2 12, Mathias Caucheteur 4-10 6-8 14, Parker Green 2-4 0-0 5, Cameron West 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 26-64 13-22 70.
3-point shooting: 5-13 (Yeryar 2-6, Landry 1-3, Scott 1-3, Green 1-1). Rebounds 44 (Caucheteur 10). Assists 8 (Yeryar 3, Landry 3). Turnovers 18. Personal fouls 18. Fouled out: None.
Junior varsity: Shakamak 50, Cloverdale 28.