Cloverdale splits pair of WIC games at Indian Creek

Saturday, December 9, 2017

TRAFALGAR — Four Clovers reached double figures as the Cloverdale boys’ basketball team picked up its first Western Indiana Conference win Friday night, 77-75 over Indian Creek.

“It was a total team effort, just a total team effort,” Cloverdale head coach Patrick Rady said.

Parker Watts hit two free throws with :06 left to play and Indian Creek’s attempt at a game-winning three rimmed out and Jake Wilkes knocked it to Jalen Moore to seal the Clovers second win of the season. Cloverdale improved to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.

The Clover girls’ team was less fortunate in the first half of the doubleheader, falling 49-37 to the Braves. Cloverdale is now 8-2 on the season and 1-1 in WIC play.

Rady felt the importance of the boys’ win could not be overstated.

“It’s a sign of a good team to go on the road and get a conference win. This was huge, just a big game,” Rady said.

The Clovers fell behind early in the game and didn’t get another lead until the fourth quarter. The first quarter saw both teams light it up from behind the arc. The Braves closed the period on an 8-2 run to lead 25-19 at the end of the first stanza.

The two teams combined to hit 10-of-19 shots from behind the arc in the period.

Meanwhile, the teams only took 10 two-pointers as they both tried to establish the long-distance game. Cloverdale got a three-pointer from all five starters in the opening period.

The two teams battled again in another hot-shooting second quarter. The teams both shot over 50 percent in the quarter and Indian Creek led 41-36 at the half.

The two teams combined for just seven turnovers in the first half while shooting a combined 29-of-56 from the floor, including 14 three-pointers

“I thought we got some stops down the stretch when we needed,” Rady said, “but defense is still an area we need to work on and get better at.”

The Braves opened the second half with a 9-3 run and looked like they were going to pull away. Indian Creek led by as many as 12 points during the third quarter.

However, the Clovers used an 11-3 run to close the quarter and keep the game close at 61-56 entering the final period.

The final period saw the Clovers take the lead using a 7-1 run to open the quarter. The two teams played a see-saw affair through the rest of the quarter, setting up the frantic finish. The Clovers led 71-67 on a Jake Wilkes jumper with 2:31 left, but Indian Creek battled back, scoring the next five points to lead 72-71 with 1:41 to play.

“I thought our kids showed mental toughness tonight,” Rady said. “We were down, this (Indian Creek) is a good team. We had to overcome a deficit. I am really proud of the kids.”

Moore knocked down two free throws to give the Clovers another lead at 73-72, but Zach Pugh hit his second three-pointer in the final two minutes to put the Braves back on top 75-73. Moore hit another pair of free throws and the Clovers tied the game at 75-all.

Indian Creek’s Jared DeHart shot rimmed out with :06 left in the game and Watts pulled down the rebound and was knocked to the floor. He got up went to the line and facing the hostile crowd calmly sank both free throws to set the final margin of 77-75. Jared DeHart, who had a team-high 23 points for the Braves, had a three-pointer miss the mark and Wilkes knocked the ball out to Moore and the Clovers had their victory.

“Parker, what can you say? To be in this building, on the road and knock down two free throws. That is mental toughness,” Rady said.

Dehart led the Braves with 23 points. Trevor Ankney added 18 for Indian Creek.

Moore led all scorers with 33 points, with Wilkes adding 15 points for the Clovers. Jake Kelley had 11 points and Watts 10.

“We had a lot of guys step up tonight. I thought it was Jalen’s best game as a point guard,” Rady said. “Jake Kelley hit big shots, Nolan (Kelley) comes off the bench and hits a big three. Nick Winders drove the ball well and Jake Wilkes finished well.”

The Clovers are back in action tonight (Saturday) as they travel to Monrovia for a non-conference game.

In the girls’ game, the undersized Clovers got pounded on the boards on the way to the seven-point defeat.

Although the Clover defense did a good job of forcing the Braves into a poor shooting night (15-of-52), the bigger Indian Creek team got second chances as the outrebounded Cloverdale 46-25 on the night.

Cloverdale couldn’t get enough scoring as Indian Creek’s tough, physical man-to-man defense bothered them all night.

They shot just 32 percent on 14-of-43 from the floor and 4-of-11 from the line. TCloverdalestruggled all night to get to the rim and the outside shots were just not falling.

“Offensively, we couldn’t do what we wanted to. They played man-to-man, we were just way too passive. Our guards have got to look to score more,” Cloverdale head coach Matthew Langdon said.

The offensive struggles were apparent early. The Clovers scored just two points in the first 6:30 of the game before closing the quarter with a Hailey Thomas jump shot and an Arianna McCracken three-pointer. They still trailed the Braves 12-7 heading in to the second quarter.

Cloverdale cut into the lead in the first few minutes of the second quarter, tying the game at 12 on a Thomas trey, then kept the game close until the Braves outscored the Clovers 8-1 over the last 3:44 of the half.

Indian Creek was able to use its size on the boards and that led to free throws. The Braves hit 8-of-10 from the line in the first half.

The Braves took momentum into the locker room with the 8-1 run capped by a buzzer-beating layup by Addie Rund and led 25-17.

“We have got to figure out how to score when teams play physical, man-to-man against us,” Langdon said.

Cloverdale’s defense kept fighting. The Clovers wouldn’t allow Indian Creek to pull too far ahead even as they struggled shooting the ball. The Braves extended their lead in third period to 36-25, but never could put together a run that knocked the Clovers out.

Indian Creek hit just 5-of-12 from the field and didn’t get to the line in the third quarter. The Clovers trailed 36-25 after three periods, but were still in the game due to defense.

“I was proud of the defensive effort. We wanted to hold them to high 40s or low 50s,” Langdon said. “I can’t complain, we did that even with getting outrebounded like that and giving up a lot of second chances.”

“Tori Combs did a good job there at the end fighting through some sickness, but we need others to play more aggressively,” Langdon said.

Rund led all scorers with 22 points as the only Brave in double figures. Combs was the only Clover to get double figures with 15 points.

The Clovers have a week to prepare for their next game as they will host Brown County in another WIC game next Friday.

Boys

CLOVERDALE (77) – Moore 11-22 10-11 33, J. Kelley 4-6 0-0 11, N. Kelley 1-1 0-0 3, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Watts 3-8 2-2 10, Winders 2-2 0-0 5, Wilkes 6-10 0-0 15. Totals 27-49 FG, 12-13 FT, 77 TP.

INDIAN CREEK (75) – Lacey 3-7 0-0 6, Ankney 7-16 1-2 18, Lime 2-2 2-3 6, DeHart 7-17 6-9 23, Pugh 3-5 0-0 9, Ferris 2-3 0-0 4, Russell 4-5 1-2 9. Totals 28-55 FG, 10-16 FT, 75 TP.

Cloverdale 19 17 20 21 – 77
Indian Creek 25 16 20 14 – 75

3-point shooting – CHS 11-24 (Moore 1-5, J. Kelley 3-5, N. Kelley 1-1, Watts 2-6, Winders 1-1, Wilkes 3-6), IC 9-21 (Ankney 3-8, DeHart 3-7, Pugh 3-5, Ferris 0-1) REB – CHS 18 (Winders 3, Watts 1, Wilkes 2, J. Kelley 1, Moore 4, N. Kelley 3), IC 33 (Lacey 11, Ankney 4, Lime 4, DeHart 8, Pugh 1, Ferris 1, Russell 4), FG Pct. – CHS 55.1, IC 50.9. FT Pct. – CHS 92.3, IC 62.5. Turnovers – CHS 4, IC 7.

Girls

CLOVERDALE (36) – McCracken 2-6 0-0 5, Shrum 0-5 1-2 1, Walker 3-8 0-0 8, Combs 7-10 1-7 15, Thomas 1-6 2-2 5, Price 0-3 0-0 0, Shoemaker 1-2 0-0 2, Wade 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 14-43 FG, 4-11 FT, 36 TP.

INDIAN CREEK (49) – Burkman 2-7 1-2 6, Langdon 1-7 0-0 2, McElroy 0-5 2-2 2, Rund 5-12 7-9 22, Grider 4-9 1-2 9, Pendleton 1-3 0-0 3, Sizemore 0-2 0-0 0, Maddox 0-0 0-0 0, Harris 1-3 0-0 3, Snyder 1-2 0-0 2, Gonzales 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-52 FG, 11-15 FT, 49 TP.

Cloverdale 7 10 8 11 – 36
Indian Creek 12 13 11 13 – 49

3-point shooting – CHS 4-16 (Shrum 0-2, Walker 2-7, McCracken 1-2, Wade 0-2, Thomas 1-3,), IC 6-24 (Burkman 1-6, Pendleton 1-3, Langdon 0-1, Sizemore 0-1, McElroy 0-2, Rund 3-6, Harris 1-3, Gonzales 0-2) REB – CHS 25 (McCracken 1, Shrum 8, Walker 1, Combs 7, Thomas 1, Shoemaker 1, Wade 2), IC 46 (Burkman 7, Langdon 8, Sizemore 1, McElroy 7, Rund 2, Grider 11, Harris 1, Snyder 4, Gonzales 1), FG Pct. – CHS 32.6, IC 28.8. FT Pct. – CHS 36.4, IC 73.3. Turnovers – CHS 18, IC 18.

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