Clovers regional bound, again

Sunday, March 5, 2017
Cloverdale celebrated its third straight boys’ basketball sectional title on Saturday night after a 74-61 win over Monrovia.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

One night after hitting just 3 of 26 shots from 3-point range, Cloverdale drilled four long distance field goals in the first 2:18 to set the early tone against Monrovia on Saturday and went on to record a 74-61 victory in the championship game of the South Putnam Sectional.

The win marked Cloverdale’s third straight sectional title, and advances the Clovers to the Greenfield-Central Regional on Saturday and a rematch with Northeastern — the team which ended their season last year.

Butler-bound Clover senior Cooper Neese entered the game needing eight points to move into seventh place on the all-time state scoring list, and accomplished that feat by hitting three of the four treys in the opening volley.

The long bombs were all from well beyond the 3-point arc and got further away each time, with the final one being two steps behind the volleyball line — approximately 36 feet away from the basket.

Was Neese especially fired up for this game?

“I was ready to play,” he said afterward, soaked in sweat and still trying to grasp the enormity of the moment. “It’s my senior year, and from now on every game can be your last. I was treating it like it was my last game.”

The three straight sectional titles for Cloverdale is the first such run for the school since 1981-83, when the Clovers were led by players such as the late Chad Tucker and another guy named Jerry Neese.

“My dad was able to win three straight sectionals, and I am glad to be able to accomplish that too,” Neese said. “He also won a regional, though. We want to be able to accomplish that and give Cloverdale what it deserves.”

Neese finished with 19 points, after scoring 14 in the opening quarter, and did not wind up with particularly impressive shooting numbers (4 of 17 overall, 3 of 12 from long range).

Cloverdale coach Patrick Rady has seen Neese have big games and incredibly hot streaks this year, including back-to-back 20-point quarters in a 53-point effort at Southmont. Rady felt that Neese’s hot start drastically changed how Monrovia defended his team.

“Cooper did what big players do in that moment,” Rady siad. “He opened the whole floor up, and that allowed Jalen to be able to find the seams and get in there. Our two leaders came out and played well and did some great things.”

Moore led the Clovers with 36 points, including 16 of 20 at the free throw line. He and Neese combined for 55 points, their season average, but Rady felt it was huge that the four other Clovers who scored contributed 19 points.

“Jalen and Cooper told them [Saturday] morning they were going to have good games,” Rady said, referring to Jake Wilkes, Nick Winders, Seth Pfaff and Parker Watts. “They told them they have to be confident, and when they get the ball they needed to be ready to shoot. You saw Nick Winders knock down four shots, and that comes from a reassurance from our leaders.”

Cloverdale’s first eight shots were from 3-point range, and helped the team to a 23-14 lead at the first stop.

The Bulldogs, who were seeking to win their first sectional title since 2000, opened the second quarter on a 7-3 run to cut the Cloverdale lead to 26-21.

With Monrovia switching to an unusual 2-3 zone defense with the top flank of players literally at the volleyball line, the Clovers were able to get the ball to Pfaff at the high post and he was able to find open shooters or hand off to Moore for drives to the basket.

Cloverdale closed out the half on a 13-3 run, with Moore getting eight of those points to lead 39-24 at the half.

Neese did not score a point in the second quarter, and only had a pair of free throws in the third period. He could not have cared less about those statistics.

Cloverdale’s Jake Wilkes applies ball pressure as Monrovia’s Sam Whitaker passes to teammate Chris Eller.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

“Our team is one of the most improved teams in the state of Indiana this year,” he said. “Nick Winders, Jake Wilkes, Seth Pfaff and Parker Watts ... even Jalen from the beginning of the year. Everybody has improved in some aspect of the game, and that has been more than helpful for this team to win basketball games.”

Monrovia did not back down despite being knocked to the canvas again at the end of the first half, with star senior guard Luke Smith scoring three straight baskets for his team to cut the Clover lead to 44-34 with 4:19 left in the period.

Moore then jumped in the passing lane and picked off a Bulldog pass, taking it in for a layup, and followed on the next two possessions by assisting Wilkes and Winders for baskets.

Moore and Winders added two more baskets to complete a 10-0 run and make the score 54-34 with 1:24 left in the third period and the Clovers held a 58-42 advantage at the final stop.

The Bulldogs kept on chipping away, and a Smith trey with 2:01 left kept the Bulldogs in the game at 66-56.

The Clovers scored only two baskets in the final period, one each by Watts and Moore in the final minute, but took full advantage of their 14 free throw attempts by sinking 12.

For the night, the Clovers hit 25 of 32 free throws — led by Moore with 16 of 20.

The dimunitive Moore found himself frequently in the middle of physical contact from all sides in parading to the line.

“It was rough out there, but it’s the sectional championship so it’s going to be rough,” Moore said. “I didn’t mind. I might be a little sore [Sunday], but that’s OK.”

Moore and the entire Clover squad had a bad shooting performance in the semifinals on Friday night against North Putnam, and the versatile lefty knew his team had to stay focused entering the finals.

“The coaches told us to play with all we’ve got, and we did,” he said. “It feels great, especially for our seniors [Neese and Pfaff]. They’ve put in a lot of time in the gym, and it’s great for the team, coaches and the fans.”

Smith finished his Monrovia career with 22 points, but hit only 8 of 18 shots and 3 of 11 from long range.

Rady was pleased with the way his team defended the Bulldog lefty.

“If you look back to last year, Cooper took the challenge and made it difficult for him to score then, too,” he noted. “Cooper wanted that challenge again in this game, and then we went to our zone. Our defense was definitely better, and we rebounded much better than when we played them in December.”

Rady noted his team was outrebounded by 20 in that game, but won the battle of the boards by a 31-27 margin this time around.

“That was a huge factor in our win,” he said.

Rady thinks his team’s schedule, which has seen the 21-6 Clovers only play seven games on their homecourt, also contributed with its ability deal with the excitement of the large and loud capacity crowd on hand for the sectional.

“We played before a lot of big crowds in a lot of historic gyms,” he said. “All of that helped us to be ready for this week, which is what we were shooting for all season. It was well worth it.”

Rady also thinks the team’s many bus trips, including one overnight stay in Illinois to open the season, helped to build team camaraderie.

“In high school you don’t always get the opportunity, but just going out to eat as a team so much and being together really brought our team closer,” he said. “We really needed that, because we didn’t get to spend as much time together last summer as we would have liked.”

The Clovers will face a familiar foe in Northeastern, which will be making its fourth straight regional appearance and eliminated them 94-74 a year ago.

MONROVIA (61) — Smith 8-18 1-3 22, Seber 3-10 2-2 8, Newman 4-10 3-4 11, Seals 2-3 0-0 5, McCloud 1-3 0-0 3, Sadler 0-0 0-0 0, Whitaker 0-1 0-0 0, Sprague 2-3 0-0 6, Cottrell 2-3 0-0 6, Eller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 FG, 6-9 FT, 61 TP

CLOVERDALE (74) — Neese 4-17 8-10 19, Moore 9-18 16-20 36, Wilkes 2-6 0-0 4, Winders 4-6 0-0 10, Pfaff 1-2 0-0 2, Watts 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 21-50 FG, 25-32 FT, 74 TP

Monrovia 14 10 18 19 — 61

Cloverdale 23 16 19 16 — 74

3-point shooting — Cloverdale 7-25 (Neese 3-12, Moore 2-5, Wilkes 0-3, Winders 2-4), Monrovia 9-24 (Smitih 3-11, Seber 0-3, Seals 1-2, McCloud 1-2, Sprague 2-3, Cottrell 2-3). Rebounds — Cloverdale 31 (Neese 13), Monrovia 27 (Newman 10).

Next game — Cloverdale (21-6) plays Northeastern (21-5) at 10 a.m. Saturday in the first game of the Greenfield-Central Regional. Monrovia ended its season at 16-10.

Bruins win again

Tri-West won its fourth straight boys’ basketball sectional on Saturday by defeating Lebanon 44-41 in the championship game of Class 3A Secitonal 25 at Greencastle.

Peyton Hendershot paced the Bruins with 15 points, while Tyler Watson added 13.

Tri-West fell behind 10-2 early and trailed 12-7 after one quarter and still trailed 20-18 at halftime. The Bruins opened the third period on a 9-2 run and led 33-29 entering the fourth quarter.

The Bruins defeated Crawfordsville 66-53 on Friday night in the first semifinal game, while Lebanon routed Western Boone 55-35.

Tri-West will return to Greencastle on Saturday for regional competition, meeting Hendricks County foe Danville in the second game. Northview will meet Indianapolis Crispus Attucks in the opener.

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