Thunderbirds spoil Clovers' home return

Cloverdale's Olivia Hemmerling provided an offensive spark off the bench in the second half, scoring 12 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, during Monday's 66-39 loss to North Central.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

CLOVERDALE – For the first time since Dec. 9, Cloverdale welcomed its girls’ basketball team to Al Tucker Court after eight games on the road.

Waiting to greet the Clovers was North Central, which quickly pulled the welcome mat from under the hosts and stole away with a 66-39 win.

“(North Central) definitely has an athletic, young group,” Cloverdale head coach James Wade said. “They like to push the ball and that was a point of emphasis for us.

“Out of the 17 points they scored in the first quarter, at least eight of them were transition layups where we didn’t get back in time. We were executing some things well and, case in point, we were in the game at that time.

“As the game went on, we started turning the ball over, didn’t get back, weren’t rebounding and it was a lot of things all at once that got away from us,” Wade added.

Cloverdale (1-18) struggled to keep the Thunderbirds (15-4) out of the interior early on as the visitors were quick to skip past the Clover pass with Shelby Seay, Jalyn Davidson and Katie Jones all scoring at the rim.

Emily Mann scored twice in reply with Aubrey Yoho also scoring at the rim, keeping the score close at 7-6 before an 8-0 run for North Central created separation between the two teams.

Mann scored six-straight points in reply with an inbounds three cutting the gap to 15-12.

Davidson scored to end the first quarter, giving the visitors a 17-12 lead, kickstarting a 12-0 run into the second quarter that gave the Thunderbirds a 27-12 advantage.

With the Clover offense limited to a Mann basket and two Sarah Nichols free throws, a three and three-point play from Samantha Secrest gave North Central a 35-16 lead at the break.

The Thunderbirds kept their feet on the gas as Seay and Davidson harried the hosts into multiple turnovers, leading to quick baskets that helped stretch the lead to 50-19.

Mann hit a three in the middle of the 15-3 run and added a second, followed by a jumper from Olivia Hemmerling, as the hosts trailed 52-24 after three quarters of play.

“In the second half, at times we played hard and OK, but we just give away too many possessions,” Wade said as the Thunderbirds recorded nine steals in the third quarter. “We’re not good enough to overcome that.”

Hemmerling would be a bright spot in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points in the final period, as both teams moved to their reserves as the clock wound down to the finish.

“Olivia is someone that can shoot for us,” Wade said about the junior guard. “We have to get her better on the defensive end and to take care of the ball better than she does at times.

“We’ve had those conversations with her and if she can shore those things up, there are definitely places we can use her in the lineup. She had a great game tonight.”

Scoring

North Central (25-48 2FG; 2-10 3FG; 10-15 FT) — Seay 28, Davidson 13, Secrest 10, Gaines 5, Jones 4, Scott 2, Goodman 2, Ming 2

Cloverdale (8-25 2FG; 5-15 3FG; 8-19 FT) — Mann 19, Hemmerling 12, Nichols 4, Wade 3, Watkins 1

Statistics