Clovers wind up season with hard-fought win

ROCKVILLE — Old school, historic Indiana high school basketball at its finest on a hot Tuesday night in Rockville.

The Cloverdale Clovers traveled to the Rock-a-Dome for the final Rockville Rox game in the gymnasium and came out on top 83-73 in their final regular-season contest.

The Clovers improved their record to 17-6 on the season on the strength of an opportunistic defense and 47 points from the state’s leading scorer, Jalen Moore. The Clovers forced nine turnovers in the second quarter and held on by hitting free throws as the Rox made a furious fourth-quarter rally. Rockville fell to 7-16 on the year.

“What a place to play!” Cloverdale head coach Patrick Rady exclaimed. “This is really great getting prepared for the tournament. Our kids were telling me they couldn’t hear me on the floor.”

Rockville came out on its Senior Night and jumped out to a quick lead. The Rox used a 9-0 run in the opening quarter to take a 15-11 advantage at the first break. Hunter Michalic scored five of his team-high 21 points in the period as the Clovers struggled to score early. They only hit 4-of-14 from the field and Rockville took advantage by converting 6-of-11 and getting to the boards. Rockville outrebounded the Clovers 9-5 on the opening stanza.

Cloverdale’s Moore got untracked in the second quarter. The senior put up 17 points in the second period, but the story was the Clover defense. It forced nine turnovers and got a lot easy baskets off the Rox miscues.

“This time of year it is so hard to score in the half court. Indiana coaches scout so well, that you have to find ways to score and the easiest is to get some baskets from your defense,” Rady said.

The Clovers put 28 points on the board in that second quarter, but even with the turnovers, Rockville posted 21 points. Junior Landon Newnum had 10 points in the quarter to pace the Rox as Cloverdale led 39-36 at the intermission.

Cloverdale used the three-ball to extend its lead in the third quarter. Nick Winders hit a pair from behind the arc and Jake Kelley also hit two from long range. The opportunistic Clovers were able to get in the lane and then kick the ball to wing for those open threes.

“Coach [Karl] Turk does our scouting and he told us we could get to the rim. We were able to do that as our three-pointers came from getting the ball inside and kicking it out,” Rady said.

Cloverdale extended its lead early in the fourth quarter. The Clovers pushed the lead to 70-53 on a Moore layup with 5:03 to play. Rockville called a timeout and came out not giving up or wanting its final home game to end in defeat. The Rox scored 13 straight points to cut the Clover lead to 70-66 with just 2:09 to play, but Cloverdale was able to stem the tide by hitting its free throws. The Clovers hit 13-of-15 in the final quarter to set their final margin at 83-73.

“Rockville really played tough. Michalic hit some big shots and they just wouldn’t quit. They really wanted to win this last game and really pushed us late in the game,” Rady said.

Michalic led the Rox with 21 points, Newnum netted 18, while Garrett Nichols added 17.

Moore had another big night with 47 points and Jake Kelley added 11 for the Clovers. Moore is now 16th on the all-time list of scorers in Indiana as he passed Anthony Winchester of Austin and sits 38 points from 15th.

The Clovers will now start tournament play as they take on the Monrovia Bulldogs next Tuesday night in Class 2A Sectional 44 play.

CLOVERDALE (83) – Winders 2-5 3-4 9, Watts 3-7 0-0 7, Wilkes 2-6 1-1 5, J. Kelley 4-10 0-0 11, Moore 14-28 19-19 47, N. Kelley 1-2 0-0 3, Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Gill 0-0 1-2 1, Ashcraft 0-0 0-0 0, Sims 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 FG, 24-26 FT, 83 TP.

ROCKVILLE (73) – Newnum 8-14 2-2 18, Cottrell 0-3 2-2 2, Michalic 5-9 7-9 21, Nichols 7-12 2-2 17, Stadick 0-0 0-0 0, White 2-6 4-6 8, Gooch 1-2 0-0 2, Butler 1-3 0-0 2, Black 0-0 0-0 0, Stewart 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 25-50 FG, 17-21 FT, 73 TP.

Cloverdale 11 28 22 22 — 83

Rockville 15 21 15 22 — 73

3-Point Shooting — CHS 7-25 (Winders 2-5, Watts 1-4, Wilkes 0-2, J. Kelley 3-7, Moore 0-5, N. Kelley 1-2) RHS 6-19 (Newnum 0-5, Michalic 4-7, Nichols 1-3, Gooch 0-1, Butler 0-2, Stewart 1-1). Rebounds – CHS 30 (Winders 9, Watts 5, Wilkes 5, J. Kelley 3, Moore 2, N. Kelley 2, Miller 4,) RHS – 30 (Newnum 3, Black 1, Cottrell 4, Michalic 1, Nichols 7, Stadick 1, White 3, Gooch 5, Butler 1) FG Pct. – CHS 44.1, RHS 50.0. FT Pct. – CHS 92.3, RHS 81.0. Turnovers CHS 9, RHS 21.