Second half struggles doom Clovers

Saturday, March 7, 2009
Brandon Moon pulls up for a jump shot over his Knight defenders in the Clovers semifinal game in the South Putnam Sectional Friday night.

The Clovers ended their 2008-09 basketball season the same way it began -- losing to Covenant Christian.

Without an answer for the Knights man in the middle, Andrew Smith, the Clovers lost their semifinal sectional game Friday, 58-42, finishing 9-14 for the season.

"He's a good ball player and they are a good team," CHS Coach Pat Rady said about the 6-foot-10-inch senior.

Smith devastated the Clovers, putting up 16 of his 26 points in the paint. He scored 10 of those in the first quarter when Covenant Christian established him as their go-to guy. His other 10 points came from the foul line. That's all Cloverdale could do to stop him and he went 10-of-13 for the night.

Cloverdale stayed within eight points of the Knights for the entire first half, but the second half was a different story.

Covenant Christian came out and shut down the Clovers offensively and went on a 7-0 run before Cloverdale's Jordan Hayden hit a long three to snap the Knights run.

But it wasn't enough.

The Knights started to pound the ball back into the paint and when Smith didn't hit his shots, he hit his free throws.

Cloverdale's own big man, Link Lovins, was powerless against Smith. Lovins went 1-for-6 in the post and struggled defensively.

In the final frame, Brandon Moon tried to jump start his team's offense by hitting three pointers back-to-back, but the damaged was already done.

"This late in the season you have to be able to handle the ball, play defense and be consistent," Rady said. "And we weren't.

"But I am not faulting our players. They fought hard and never quit tonight."

The Clovers shot just 36-percent from the field for the game and went 7-for-17 from downtown.

The real nail in the Clovers coffin was rebounding. The Knights out rebounded the Clovers 36-9, with Smith grabbing 13 of the rebounds.

Pacing the Clovers offense was Moon with 13 points, followed by Hayden who chipped in 10.

Jordan Hayden goes for a reverse lay up in Cloverdale's game against Covenant Christian Friday.

This was the final game for two Cloverdale seniors in Lovins and Eric Kukman.

Cloverdale finished the season with a 9-14 overall record and a 3-3 West Central Conference record.

At the South Putnam Sectional

Cloverdale1091013-42
Covenant Christian18121612-58

Cloverdale (9-14, 3-3 WCC)

Moon 5-14 2-2 13, Clark 2-8 0-0 4, Scisney 0-0 0-1 0, Strunk 1-1 0-0 2, Kukman 2-6 0-0 5, Hayden 3-5 2-2 10, Dean 1-2 0-0 2, Salter 2-7 0-0 4, Arnold 0-0 0-0 0, Skiles 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Lovins 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 17-48 FG, 4-5 FT, 42 TP.

Covenant Christian (13-8)

Miller 0-0 0-0 0, McClintic 3-8 2-2 9, Ferguson 0-0 1-2 1, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Creasey 0-0 0-0 0, Woodruff 5-13 1-2 11, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Byers 1-4 0-1 2, Beasley 0-0 0-0 0, Mollaun 3-7 2-2 9, Smith 8-12 10-13 26, Sturm 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-45 FG, 16-22 FT, 58 TP.

3-pt. FG - C 6-18 (Moon 3-7, Clark 0-4, Kukman 1-1, Hayden 2-3, Salter 0-3), CC 2-10 (McClintic 1-4, Woodruff 0-2, Mollaun 1-4). Rebounds - C 9 (Clark 1, Kukman 2, Dean 2, Salter 1, Arnold 1, Lovins 2), CC 36 (McClintic 3, Ferguson 1, Williams 5, Woodruff 6, Byers 3, Mollaun 4, Smith 13, Sturm 1). Blocks -- C 3 (Salter 1, Lovins 2), CC 5 (Woodruff 1, Smith 4). Assists -- C 8 (Moon 1, Clark 1, Strunk 1, Hayden 3, Salter 2), CC 9 (McClintic 3, Williams 1, Mollaun 3, Smith 2). Steals -- C 7 (Moon 2, Kukman 3, Hayden 1, Salter 1), CC 6 (McClintic 1, Woodruff 1, Byers 2, Mollaun 1, Smith 1). Total fouls -- C 18, CC 14. Fouled out -- Dean. Turnovers - C 9, CC 14.