Clovers fall to Warriors in season opener

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Cloverdale Clovers boys' basketball team traveled to Indianapolis Tuesday night to open the 2009-10 season against the Covenant Christian Warriors, hoping to reverse the fortunes of the last time the teams played each other in the South Putnam Sectionals on March 6, with Covenant Christian ending the Clovers' season, 58-42.

In a game that was much closer than the final score indicated, Covenant Christian defeated Cloverdale, 87-71.

Covenant Christian stormed out of the gate, taking a 10-5 lead over the Clovers in the first 4 minutes of the game, but Cloverdale rallied, taking the lead at 14-13 with 2:25 left in the first quarter, and both teams continued to score during the rest of the period, with the quarter ending in a tie at 19-19.

The game continued to be close until the Warriors went on a 9-0 run in the middle of the second quarter, and the Clovers were never able to overcome the gap during the rest of the game.

Covenant Christian took a 47-38 lead into the locker room at halftime, but the Clovers had not yet conceded the game to the Warriors.

In the first 3 minutes of the third quarter, Cloverdale closed the gap to 2 points at 48-50, with 5:01 showing on the clock, but Covenant Christian was able to outscore the Clovers 15-7 during the rest of the period, taking a 65-55 lead into the final period.

Once again, the Clovers rallied at the start of the fourth period, closing the deficit to 6, at 59-66, with 7:11 left in the game, but Covenant Christian then went on a 13-2 run over the next 4 minutes of the game, and that ended any chances for Cloverdale to defeat the Warriors.

The Clovers matched the Warriors in nearly every statistical category in the game, but Covenant Christian hit 7 more 3-point shots than Cloverdale, by hitting 46 percent of their attempts, compared to Cloverdale's 29 percent, and the Warriors had 6 more steals than the Clovers.

Those statistics turned out to be the difference in the game.

"It's the first game of the season, and when you play a good team like this, they expose your weaknesses," commented Cloverdale head coach Pat Rady after the game.

"I think the things that we need to take from this game tonight are the mistakes that we made, can be corrected."

"There are things we need to work on, and we'll take the positive things from this game and continue to grow," added Rady.

Cloverdale was led with 3 players scoring in double figures, Brandon Moon with 21 points, Kevin Dean with 19, and Jacob Clark with 10.

Jason Salter had eight points, Jordan Hayden scored six, Jaquan Moore had five, and Chuck Strunk and Franky Skiles closed out the Clover scoring with one point each.

Dean had a double-double for the night, as he led the Clovers in rebounds with a game-high 18 boards, Salter grabbed five, and Moon, Hayden, and Moore each had three rebounds, Clark, Chris Arnold, and Mitch Williams had 1 rebound each.

Dean also had a game-high three blocked shots, with Clark and Moore each deflecting a Warrior shot.

Clark passed for 3 assists, Moon and Dean passed for two assists each, and Donavan Scisney, Hayden, and Williams dished-out one each.

Moon had two steals, and Clark and Dean each had a steal.

In the junior varsity game, Cloverdale defeated Covenant Christian, 41-29.

Chuck Strunk led the Clovers in scoring with 10 points, followed by Chris Arnold with eight.

Jordan Brinkman scored six, Franky Skiles added five, and Donavan Scisney, Joe Fidler, and Mitch Williams closed out the Clover scoring with four points each.

Cloverdale (0-1, 0-0 WCC) plays its first home game Saturday night, hosting Riverton Parke in a non-conference game. The junior varsity game begins at 6 p.m.

At Covenant Christian

Cloverdale -- 19 19 17 16 -- 71

C.C. 19 28 18 22 -- 87

Cloverdale (0-1, 0-0 WCC)

Moon 6-16 6-7 21, Clark 4-15 2-2 10, Scisney 0-0 0-0 0, Strunk 0-1 1-2 1, Fidler 0-0 0-0 0, Hayden 2-4 0-0 6, Dean 7-10 5-5 19, Salter 3-5 2-4 8, Arnold 0-0 0-0 0, Skiles 0-0 1-2 1, Moore 2-3 1-5 5, Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 (44%) FG, 18-27 (67%) FT, 71 TP.

Covenant Christian (1-0)

Miller 2-2 0-0 5, McClintic 5-17 1-2 11, Ferguson 7-12 4-4 19, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0, Clevenger 0-1 0-0 0, Creasey 1-1 0-0 2, Woodruff 3-12 0-0 8, Johnson 2-4 2-2 6, Ray 4-6 0-0 10, Mollaun 10-15 0-1 26, Byers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-70 (49%) FG, 7-9 (78%) FT, 87 TP.

3-pt. FG -- C 5-17 (29%) (Moon 3-8, Clark 0-4, Hayden 2-4, Salter 0-1), CC 12-26 (46%) (Miller 1-1, McClintic 0-6, Ferguson 1-2, Woodruff 2-4, Johnson 0-1, Ray 2-3, Mollaun 6-9).

Rebounds Total -- Offensive -- C 35-12 (Moon 3-1, Clark 1-0, Hayden 3-0, Dean 18-8, Salter 5-0, Arnold 1-1, Moore 3-2, Williams 1-0), CC 28-13 (Ferguson 9-7, Morgan 1-0, Clevenger 2-1, Woodruff 6-2, Johnson 2-0, Ray 3-1, Mollaun 4-2, Byers 1-0).

Blocks -- C 5 (Clark 1, Dean 3, Moore 1), CC 0.

Assists -- C 10 (Moon 2, Clark 3, Scisney 1, Hayden 1, Dean 2, Williams 1), CC 11 (McClintic 2, Clevenger 2, Woodruff 1, Johnson 1, Ray 5).

Steals -- C 4 (Moon 2, Clark 1, Dean 1), CC 10 (Miller 1, Ferguson 1, Woodruff 2, Johnson 3, Ray 1, Mollaun 2).

Total fouls -- C 14, CC 25.

Fouled out -- none.

Turnovers -- C 16, CC 13.

Next game -- Cloverdale (0-1, 0-0 WCC) plays their first home game Saturday night, hosting Riverton Parke in a non-conference game. The junior varsity game begins at 6:00.