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BOYS' PREVIEWS: Clovers ready for challenge of life after Neese, Moore this year
If ever a team had the proverbial “target on its back,” it would be this year’s Cloverdale boys’ basketball team.
The Clovers have won four straight sectional and county titles with a record of 61-22 during that stretch, but over the past two springs more than 4,000 points have walked across the stage at graduation with the departures of Cooper Neese and Jalen Moore.
Fourth-year coach Patrick Rady knows other teams will be taking their best shots at his squad this year, but he doesn’t mind.
And may actually bring it up with them once in a while.
“We used that to our advantage last year [after Neese had graduated],” Rady said. “We knew that we were going to be a team that a lot of other teams circled on their schedule. A lot of teams do that. We do that. To know that you’re that team means you have to play with some urgency in practice every day.
“Past success is great, but there is also responsibility that night in and night out you’re going to see the best from your opponent.”
Senior forward Jake Wilkes has scored 544 career points and is the returning team leader.
He is obviously not going to reach 2,000 points this year, but 1,000 is not out of the question.
“It’s going to be different, any time you lose two 2,000-point scorers like that,” he said. “There is going to be some adjustment in the way we play to try to develop more scorers to fill that void. We have players who are looking forward to the challenge, and we will play a style that our fans will enjoy watching.”
Rady is not without experience on his side, though. Veteran seniors Wilkes, Parker Watts and Jake Kelley have all logged considerable minutes as supporting pieces, but – along with improving sophomore Nolan Kelley – are looking to step into bigger roles this year.
“This will be the first time with our present starting lineup that we have started more than two seniors over the past three years,” Rady noted. “We have always had three starters coming back, and we have a lot of big game experience coming back from a team that was second in the regional last year. We will miss Nick Winders, too, but we have a lot of players back to build upon.”
Moore, who now plays at Olney Central College, led the state in scoring last year at 36.8 points per game and is the 11th-leading scorer in state history.
Wilkes was second on the team in scoring last year with 10.3 points per game and led the team in rebounding with 6.6 per game, while Watts scored 5.3 points and Jake Kelley scored 4.2. Nolan Kelley added 4.0 points.
“Jake Wilkes is someone who is very versatile,” Rady said. “We can play him in the post, we can play him on the perimeter and he can run the floor. He can guard a post and guys on the perimeter, and his versatility really helps us.
“We are going to need him to be huge on the boards,” he added. “Jake Kelley has continued to improve during his career. He has gotten stronger, and has shot the ball well over the off-season. We are going to ask him to guard bigger players in the post area, and in the summer he was able to do that.”
Watts will be the team’s secondary ballhandler. “He was one of our better on-ball defenders last year,” Rady said. “We look for him to set the tone for us defensively with ball pressure and containing the basketball. He has a quick first step and can get to the rim on his drives.”
Rady has been coaching for 25 years, and considers Nolan Kelley as one of the best shooters he’s ever had.
“He is a kid that can catch and shoot, and that was the tip of the iceberg in the North Putnam game in the sectional,” Rady said. “He has added a pull-up game over the off-season and also added some strength. He has developed into more of a triple-threat guy.”
The enthusiasm at Cloverdale is not only based upon the returning veterans, but the varsity debut of freshman point guard Kyle Thomas.
Thomas, younger brother of multi-sport Clover standout Hailey Thomas and son of former Indiana State standout and Clover assistant Greg Thomas, is a 6-foot-1 “gym rat” who will help ease the loss of Moore at the helm of the Clover attack.
“For a freshman, he sees the floor so well,” Rady said. “He truly makes people better. He has the ability to change speeds on the floor and very good range in shooting. He will put the ball on-time, on-target and his teammates love playing with him.”
The two Kelleys are unrelated, but Jake Kelley and Thomas are cousins.
“We want to play really fast, not necessarily taking quick shots but getting it up court very fast,” he added. “Kyle also has the ability to create his own shot, which not everybody has. He’s been looking for this moment since they moved to Cloverdale 10 years ago.”
Rady feels his team has had competitive practices both over the summer and this fall, and thinks several others have put themselves in position to be solid contributors this year.
“Sophomore Chase Ashcraft will be a force for us on defense, and he will be tough to guard off the ball,” Rady said. “Walker Sims [also a sophomore] has gotten better defensively, and we are going to need him there and with rebounding.”
Two seniors who didn’t play last year are also on the squad in Rylan Hall and Wyatt Helterbrand.
“Rylan was on the sectional championship team two years ago, but couldn’t play last year due to a knee injury,” Rady noted. “He’s a great kid and a great teammate, and the players were glad he came back out. He wanted to see how cross country went, and he was able to qualify for the regional. He can nail an outside shot.
“Wyatt Helterbrand played football but hasn’t played basketball since sixth grade,” Rady added. “He is an other great kid, and he came to us and said he’d like to give it a try. He’s another guy who is a great teammate.”
Andrew Cornelius, the only junior on the varsity roster, is a transfer from Greencastle who did not play last year.
“We are still learning about him, but with his length there are a lot of things we like about him,” Rady said.
Rady feels the county tourney, Western Indiana Conference and the sectional will all be strong again, and thinks his schedule – including the Wabash Valley Classic at Terre Haute – will again help his team to be ready for the post-season.
“Our schedule was one of the things we analyzed four or five years ago, and we made it tougher to get us ready for the post-season,” Rady said. “Everything we do is geared toward March.”
2018-19 roster
| Player | Yr. |
| Parker Watts | Sr. |
| Jake Kelley | Sr. |
| Jake Wilkes | Sr. |
| Wyatt Helterbrand | Sr. |
| Rylan Hall | Sr. |
| Andrew Cornelius | Jr. |
| Nolan Kelley | So. |
| Walker Sims | So. |
| Chase Ashcraft | So. |
| Kyle Thomas | Fr. |
Coach: Patrick Rady
2017-18 results (21-7)
at Terre Haute South, L 93-65
at Edgewood, L 78-60
Southmont, W 69-61
at Indian Creek, W 77-75
at Monrovia, W 48-45
South Putnam, W 72-53
Brown County, W 60-43
Greencastle, W 80-66
Riverton Parke, W 63-43
Linton-Stockton, L 52-47
Terre Haute South, L 80-53
Owen Valley, W 76-38
at North Putnam, W 77-67
Clay City, W 76-57
Cascade, W 72-42
at Northview, W 76-68
Delphi, W 73-60
at Danville, L 68-57
North Putnam, W 51-43
at Greencastle, W 61-44
Indianapolis Manual, L 78-46
at Shakamak, W 67-55
at Rockville, W 83-73
Sectional
Monrovia, W 65-52
at South Putnam, W 64-37
North Putnam, W 63-38
Regional
Shenandoah, W 66-61
Indianapolis Scecina, L 58-52
2018-19 schedule
(Game times 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise)
Nov. 20 — Terre Haute South
Nov. 30 — Edgewood
Dec. 1 — at Southmont
Dec. 7 — Indian Creek, 9 p.m. (Bankers Life Fieldhouse)
Dec. 8 — Monrovia
Dec. 11 — at South Putnam
Dec. 14 — at Brown County
Dec. 15 — at Greencastle
Dec. 26-29 — Wabash Valley Tournament @ Terre Haute South
Jan. 4 — at Owen Valley
Jan. 11 — at Cascade
Jan. 17 — North Putnam
Jan. 19 — at Clay City
Jan. 25 — WIC crossover (H)
Jan. 26 — at Delphi
Feb. 2 — Danville, 1:30 pm
Feb. 7 — vs. North Putnam in county tourney, 6 p.m.
Feb. 15 — at Indpls. Manual
Feb. 16 — Shakamak
Feb. 19 — Parke Heritage