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Neese earns top All-County honor
Assistant Editor
The Cloverdale High School boys' basketball squad won its first sectional in 24 seasons this year.
The Clovers were led by three players in seniors Christian Cheatham and Michael Neese and junior Craig Blair.
But it was Neese who made the Cloverdale engine run this season and because of that, he was named the 2006-07 BannerGraphic Player of the Year.
Neese was joined on the first team by teammates Cheatham and Blair in addition to Greencastle's Brennan Burks and North Putnam's Jake Mullis.
Making the second team this year were South Putnam's Ben Anderson and Adam Nees, Greencastle's Zach Remsburg and Erick Burgeson and North Putnam's Brayden Dahlstrom.
In 25 games this year, Neese was 158-for-358 from the field , including 98-of-184 from two-point range (53 percent) and 60-for-174 from three-point range (35 percent). Neese also shot 88-for-106 from the free throw line for 83 percent.
Neese finished the season with 464 points for an average of 18.6 points per game, second-best on the team. He also led the Clovers in assists with 113 for an average of 4.5 per contest while also tying for the team lead in rebounds at 6.7 per game. He tallied 167 rebounds this year, including 53 offensive boards.
Neese also made 72 steals this season while finishing the year with seven blocked shots.
Neese helped lead the Clovers to the Class 2A South Putnam Sectional Title with a 65-58 victory over Tri-West. Cloverdale lost to Providence in the first round of regional action, 61-45.
The Clovers were 18-7 this season, including 5-1 in the West Central Conference to earn a share of the league title.
Blair -- The CHS junior finished the year with an average of 19.5 points per game to lead the Clovers. He shot 49 percent from the field this season. He also averaged 4.3 assists per game while grabbing 4.3 rebounds per contest. Blair also had 57 steals this year.
Cheatham -- The senior finished the year with an average of 14.4 points per game, having scored 361 points in 25 games. In addition, Cheatham finished the year with 168 boards for an average of 6.7 per game while blocking 17 shots. Cheatham also shot 55 percent from the field.
Burks -- The Greencastle junior averaged 16.7 points per game, having scored 333 points in 20 games. He shot 42 percent (127-for-306) from the field while also grabbing 5.7 boards per game. Burks also dished out an average of 1.3 assists per contest.
Mullis -- The North Putnam senior paced the Cougar offense this season, scoring 337 points in 20 games for an average of 16.9 points per game. He shot 46 percent (127-of-275) from the field while also grabbing 102 rebounds and making 60 steals this year.
Second Team
Anderson -- The South Putnam senior led the Eagles on offense this season with an average of 10.2 points per game, having scored 204 points in 20 games. He shot 46 percent from the field whle also dishing out a team-high 42 assists.
Nees -- Also a senior, the Eagle finished the season with an average of 7.9 points per game, having scored 158 points. He shot 39 percent from the field while also tallying 46 rebounds. Nees also dished out 40 assists this year.
Burgeson -- In 20 games, the Greencastle senior averaged 9.6 points per game, having scored 192 points. He shot 40 percent from the field this season but hit 41 percent of his three-pointers (31-for-76). He also dished out 2.7 assists.
Remsburg -- Also a senior, Remsburg played in only 14 games but averaged 11.5 points per game, scoring 161 points. He hit 42 percent of his three-pointers (38-for-91) while also dishing out 1.4 assists and hitting 79 percent of his free throws.
Dahlstrom -- The North Putnam senior finished the year with an average of 8.3 points per game, scoring 166 points in 20 games. He also finished the year with an average of 4.1 rebounds per game and led the Cougars with an average of 3.1 assists per contest.