Cloverdale wins consolation

Monday, December 4, 2006

The Cloverdale Clovers won the consolation of the Putnam County Classic Saturday night against the South Putnam Eagles, 73-53.

The Clovers' Michael Neese stole a pass at the beginning of the third quarter and took the ball coast-to-coast to score and give the Clovers a 43-26 lead.

South Putnam came out after half with much more passion and attempted a comeback led by a reverse lay-in from Conor Frame.

He was closely followed by teammate Noah Boswell who hit a short jumper.

The Clovers wound the quarter down by scoring four unanswered points to make the score 49-30 entering the final quarter.

Ryan Shoulders opened the quarter for the Clovers with a jumper.

South's Boswell answered at the other but a great move from Cloverdale's Craig Blair kept the Clovers on track. Neese missed the second of two free-throws with 3:56 on the clock but Shoulders was there for the rebound tip-in.

As the quarter came to a close, South's Brad Eickhoff hit a three but Cloverdale continued to convert their foul shots winning the game 73-53.

"Our team played with a lot of heart and passion tonight," Coach Pat Rady said after the game.

"I'm proud of the way they came back from their loss."

The first quarter saw the Clovers jump out to a 13-3 lead and never let up. Neese hit a three pointer and a reverse lay-in to help the Clovers end the quarter in the lead 18-8.

Neese started the second with a slashing drive to score a lay-in between two South Putnam defenders. Cloverdale's Neese hit two foul shots with 6:01 to go, putting the Clovers in the bonus for the remainder of the half.

Blair, who led Cloverdale with a game-high 28 points, grabbed a rebound and took it the length of the court to make the score 28-14.

Cloverdale continued to press the Eagles and closed the half with a 38-19 lead.

The second half saw a South Putnam squad with more passion but the Clovers were too much for them to overcome.

Cloverdale blended great offense with some solid defense to take the game with a final of 73-53.

Adam Nees led the Eagles with 11 points.

Cloverdale will next travel to Greencastle this Friday at 7:30 p.m.

South Putnam will next host Cascade this Friday at 7:30 p.m.

At Greencastle

South Putnam (53) Anderson 2-6 0-0 4, Sebanc 3-3 1-4 7, Nees 4-14 3-5 11, Frame 3-5 0-0 6, Boswell 3-7 2-7 8, Cash 1-4 0-0 5, Parker 3-8 0-2 6, Tomaw 0-0 0-0 0, Eickhoff 2-3 0-0 6, Hammond 0-1 0-2 0 FG 21-51 FT 6-20 TP 53

Cloverdale (73) Neese 8-18 10-14 27, Blair 12-18 2-6 28, Cheatham 1-4 2-2 4, Shoulders 5-7 1-2 11, Dean 0-1 0-0 0, Hacker 1-1 1-2 3 FG 26-49 FT 16-26 TP 73

3-point shooting -- South 3-13 (Cash, Eickhoff-2), Cloverdale 2-9 (Neese, Blair)

Next Game -- Cloverdale will travel to Greencastle this Friday at 7:30 p.m. South Putnam will host Cascade this Friday at 7:30 p.m.

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