CHS knocks off Sparkplugs for share of WCC crown

SPEEDWAY -- For the first time in school history, the Cloverdale High School boys' basketball team earned a piece of the West Central Conference Championship.

The Clovers knocked off Speedway Friday, 80-72, to complete a 5-1 record in the WCC. Cloverdale will share the title with Cascade.

'I'm really happy for the players," CHS Pat Rady said. 'They have worked hard and put a lot time and effort in to get this far and it has been one of their goals from the start and they have earned it.'

After the first quarter, it almost looked like Speedway was going to deny the Clovers their title. After the first quarter of play, the Sparkplugs were up on Cloverdale, 27-19, but that changed in the next period.

Cloverdale bounced back and showed the Sparkplugs that this wasn't football season anymore. Cloverdale came out and lit up the scoreboard with 26 points. Kyle McCammon went 3-for-5 from downtown and 6-for-11 for the game. McCammon finished the night with 18 points, all from the three-point line.

Christian Cheatham was the man on the inside for the Clovers, ripping down four boards and blocking one shot.

'We had a lot of players step up and contribute (Friday),' Rady said.

The Clovers' defense held the Sparkplugs to 13 points in the second quarter.

'I thought our trap defense in the second quarter jump started our defense for the rest of night,' Rady commented after the game.

At the half, Cloverdale led the Sparkplugs, 45-40.

Cloverdale kept the momentum going, right into the third period. Itopened the quarter with an 8-0 run that lasted for the first 2:30 minutes. Michael Neese came out in the drained a big three-pointer 30 seconds into the half followed by inside jumper from Cheatham. McCammon topped the run off with a three.

Chase Haltom got into the action, but not by scoring, by assisting his teammate's buckets. Haltom had two assists for the quarter and four for the night.

'We had some big assists (Friday) that were key to us scoring on the inside,' Rady said.

The Clovers' defense started to slip a little in the fourth quarter, allowing the Sparkplugs to get within five of the lead, but that would be as close as they would get as the Clovers closed their 2005-06 conference season out with the win.

'This was a good team win for us to into Monday with,' Rady said.

The Clovers finished Friday's game with five players in double figures with Haltom leading the way with 21 followed by McCammon who had 18. Cheatham chipped in 13 points while Craig Blair came through for 11 and Neese finished with 10. Luke Lovins put up seven points while Ryan Dean had two.

At Speedway

Cloverdale 19 26 16 19 - 80

Speedway 27 13 11 21 - 72

CL - Neese 4 0-0 10, Blair 4 2-4 11, Haltom 6 5-6 21, Cheatham 6 1-1 13, McCammon 6 0-0 18, Cooper 0 0-0 0, Lovins 3 1-2 7, Dean 1 0-0 2. Totals - FG 30-52, FT 9-13, TP 80.

SW - Dial 9 4-4 23, Emerson 4 0-0 8, Dunbar 7 0-0 18, Dietrich 0 0-0 0, Rush 3 1-1 7, Pedigo 1 0-0 2, Walton 5 0-012, Watts 1 0-0 2. Totals -- FG 30-64, FT 5-5, TP 72

3pt- CL 12 (McCammon 6), SW 8 (two players with three each). Rebounds - CL 23 (Cheatham 6), SW 23 (Dunbar 6). Assists - CL 12 (McCammon 5), SW 4 (Dial 3). Steals - CL 3 (Neese 2), SW 3 (three players with one each). Blocks - CL 3 (Cheatham 2). Total Fouls - CL 6, SW 11. Fouled Out - None.