Clovers hit 100 in blowout victory

Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Cloverdale’s Jalen Moore floats through the air to make a layup against Southmont on Tuesday.
Banner Graphic/Jared Jernagan

Two things were stifling in South Putnam’s gymnasium on Tuesday night in Class 2A sectional 44 play.

The first was the heat, and the second was the Cloverdale defense in the second quarter which propelled the Clovers to 100-62 victory over the Southmont Mounties in the second game of the evening.

The victory improved the Clovers’ record to 19-6 on the season.

Cloverdale held the Mounties to just five second-quarter points and sprinted to a 48-16 halftime lead, limiting Southmont to just 2-of-16 shooting in the period.

“I told the guys that it is amazing when you commit to defense,” Cloverdale head coach Patrick Rady said. “It makes everything come together. We’ve really been locked in defensively, lately.”

The first four minutes of the game saw two teams battling evenly. Jalen Moore hit a lay-up to put the Clovers up 10-9 with 4:19 left to play in the quarter. That was the closest the game would be as Cloverdale scored the next six points during a 12-2 run to end the first period with a 20-11 lead. Moore led the way with 10 points in the quarter.

The second quarter saw the Clover defense at its best. They opened the quarter forcing turnovers and used 14-3 run to break the game open.

Southmont struggled to get shots — turning the ball over five times — and when the Mounties did get shots, they couldn’t convert. The Mounties missed shots and the Clovers pushed the ball up the floor for repeated open looks.

While Southmont put only five points on the board, the two-headed monster of Cooper Neese and Moore scored 12 points each and the Clovers went to the locker room with a commanding lead. Cloverdale hit 12 of 18 from the field. The Mounties only got a total of seven points in the first half from their two leading scorers, Camden Chadd and Kaleb Swick.

“They (Southmont) really like to get points in transition. Transition points was a key for us defensively,” Rady said. “We also wanted to limit Swick’s touches in the paint. He really hurt us in the earlier game [the Clovers lost to the Mounties 83-69 on Dec. 3].”

The Clovers made the run with two starters (Seth Pfaff and Jake Wilkes) on the bench in foul trouble in the second quarter. The Clover bench came to the rescue, as Parker Watts had five of his 10 points in the first half, while Jaren Rossok also provided big minutes.

“Jaren really understands his role. Parker Watts came off the bench and knocked down a big shot. Our bench played really well tonight,” Rady said.

The Clover offense really picked it up in the third quarter, putting 30 points on the board as Neese went for 13 points.

Moore had eight in the quarter, but that wasn’t their only contributions. They two leading scorers also set up their teammates for shots. Watts had five points and Wilkes had four in the period.

“I thought Cooper and Jalen made some really great passes to their teammates,” Rady said.

The Mounties found some of their offense in the third quarter, but they couldn’t really cut into the big lead. Chadd had 10 points to lead Southmont in the period, but the pace of the game was to Cloverdale’s liking and the Clovers continued to score easily off of their defense.

Southmont turned the ball over seven times in the period, while the Clovers converted those turnovers into points. Cloverdale scored 30 points in the quarter to lead 78-37 entering the final stanza.

Southmont outscored the Clovers 11-2 to start the fourth quarter, but that was not nearly enough as the Clovers continued score easily. Moore had 10 points early in the quarter before joining most of his fellow starters on the bench with 3:16 left in the game. The Clovers were able to hit the century mark using their bench and giving the starters a little rest before Friday night’s semi-final match-up with county rival North Putnam.

Cloverdale shot an astounding 59.7 percent from the field and a really impressive 15 of 32 from behind the three-point arc.

The Clovers had three players in double figures.

Moore led the way with 40 points on an incredibly efficient night. The junior guard hit 14-of-19 from the field, 6-of-10 from downtown and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Neese moved up to eighth in career scoring in the state with 31 points. Watts added 10 as the Clovers tied their season high for points in a game.

“We were really loose. If you’re tense that is not a good thing for shooting,” Rady said.

Chadd led the Mounties with 14 points and Swick added 12 as Southmont’s season ended with an 11-12 record.

The Clovers’ teamwork was what most impressed coach Rady. “Nick Winders said at halftime that we they were playing for each other. We really try and play for each other and our school and our great community,” Rady said.

SOUTHMONT (62) – Scheidler 1-4 2-2 5, Chadd 7-15 0-0 14, Howard 3-6 0-1 7, Swick 5-9 1-2 12, Cassida 2-4 0-2 4, Wemer 4-7 0-0 8, VanCleave 2-4 0-1 4, Williams 2-7 0-0 5, Easter 0-1 0-0 0, Stanley 1-2 0-0 3, Glancy 0-0 0-0 0, Roach 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 FG, 3-8 FT, 62 TP.

CLOVERDALE (100) – Neese 12-23 2-2 31, Winders 1-5 0-0 2, Pfaff 0-2 0-0 0, Wilkes 2-2 3-4 7, Moore 14-19 6-6 40, Watts 4-7 0-0 10, Rossok 1-1 0-0 2, Kelley 1-1 0-0 3, Hall 2-2 0-0 5, Blevins 0-0 0-0 0, Halloran 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-62 FG, 11-12 FT, 100 TP.

Southmont 11 5 21 25 – 62

Cloverdale 20 28 30 22 – 100

3-point shooting – SHS 5-22 (Scheidler 1-3, Chadd 0-5, Howard 1-3, Swick 1-3, Wemer 0-1, Williams 1-4, Stanley 1-2, Roach 0-1), CHS 15-32 (Neese 5-13, Winders 0-3, Pfaff 0-1, Moore 6-10, Watts 2-3, Hall 1-1, Miller 1-1). Rebounds – SHS 28 (Scheidler 1, Chadd 3, Howard 2, Swick 8, Cassida 1, Wemer 1, VanCleave 2, Williams 3, Easter 1, Roach 1 ) CHS 30 (Neese 15, Winders 2, Pfaff 1, Wilkes 4, Moore 3, Watts 1, Rossok 2,) FG Pct. – SHS 45.0, CHS 59.7. FT Pct. – SHS 37.5, CHS 91.7. Turnovers – SHS 17, CHS 9.

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