Cloverdale's boys suffered a hard-fought loss to Tri-West, 73-69, in overtime Saturday night in a nonconference game

Monday, December 19, 2005

Cloverdale's boys suffered a hard-fought loss to Tri-West, 73-69, in

overtime Saturday night in a nonconference game.

The Clovers (5-2) took the home-court defeat in stride, recognizing it

was just another step in the journey through the season. They were competitive, a made shot or two from the field or foul line, from winning over the solid Bruins (3-1).

"Any loss you don't enjoy and you'd never better start enjoying them,"

Cloverdale Coach Pat Rady said. "But it's a long season and we've still got

goals to reach and things we can accomplish. You don't want to get caught up in one game.

"Tri-West is a nice club, a veteran club. We got beat by a good ball club

tonight."

Cloverdale led 36-23 at the half, but Tri-West exploded for 26 points in

the third period to take a 49-47 lead. The Bruins made 8-of-9 from the

floor, including 4-of-5 3-pointers, and were 6-of-6 from the foul

line, in the period.

"Our defense slacked off," Rady said. "It wasn't very good at times and

we gave them too many open shots."

The Clovers took the lead, 51-49, early in the fourth period on Michael

Neese's basket. The Bruins went ahead with five straight points before Kyle

McCammon's 3-pointer tied it at 54.

Tri-West went ahead by three, Cloverdale tied it on a free throw by

Christian Cheatham and two by McCammon. The Bruins' Marco Moses converted a foul shot for a 59-57 advantage with 26.4 seconds remaining in regulation.

Cloverdale's Chase Haltom dribbled through full-court pressure to score a

contested lay-up with 18 seconds left. Tri-West's Tyler Bruce had the last

shot, a 20-foot baseline jumper that missed everything and the game went into

overtime.

The Clovers jumped out to a 64-59 lead on two free throws and a 3-pointer

from the corner by Haltom.

Tri-West scored the next six points, taking the lead on Moses' fastbreak

lay-up following a Cloverdale turnover.

Haltom put Cloverdale back on top, 66-65, with two free throws at 2:19.

Tri-West's Brandon Robertson tried a shot inside. It was blocked by

Cheatham. The loose ball was scooped up by the 6-foot-1 Moses, who -- seeing

Cloverdale's 6-foot-8 shot-blocking specialist Luke Lovins in his path -- made a reverse lay-up. It was the turning point in a game of pivotal plays, moving Tri-West into a 67-66 lead with 1:45 remaining.

"That was a very important play, maybe the biggest play in the game,"

Tri-West coach Eric Rauch said.

Cheatham missed a jumper on Cloverdale's next possession and Robertson

scored a basket to expand Tri-West's lead to 69-66 with a minute to play.

Haltom's two free throws at 46.4 moved Cloverdale within one. After Moses

missed a shot, Haltom launched a 3-pointer that rattled off the rim and

Robertson rebounded. Fouled immediately at 16.3, the 6-foot-4 junior forward made two free throws to give the Bruins a 71-68 advantage.

Tri-West committed a non-shooting foul on Neese, who still got two

attempts at 9.9 because the Bruins were over the limit. Neese made one to get the Clovers within two.

Forced to foul, Cloverdale put Tylan Thompson on the line at 6.7 and he

made both free throws to put the game away.

Tri-West's players and spectators erupted loudly, considering it was a

nonconference game in mid-December.

"This was a big game for us," Rauch said. "We lost an overtime game to

these guys at our place last year. This is just reversed. They are a very good

team. The (2A) road goes through Cloverdale. It still does. This was a big win

for us. We made plays when we needed to make plays."

Rady understands that teams are ready to play against Cloverdale.

"The two losses we've had, you'd think the teams had won the state," he

said. "Playing us is their big game. They celebrate very enthusiastically.

"It seemed like the ball bounced their way. We had our chances and it

could have gone either way. Now, we have to get ready to play at North Central on Tuesday."

Haltom led Cloverdale with 33 points on 11-of-23 from the field,

including 5-of-17 3-pointers. The 5-foot-9 senior guard was 2-of-9 on

3-pointers in the second half and overtime. McCammon and Neese each scored 10 and Lovins had nine points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

Moses led Tri-West with 22 points. Steve Ricks contributed 18 and Bruce

14. The Bruins were 9-of-16 on 3-pointers, led by Moses' three.

"Marco Moses was just tremendous," Rauch said. "I don't know what he

averages, but it's around five points a game."

At Cloverdale

Tri-West 15 8 26 10 14 -- 73

Cloverdale 17 19 11 12 10 -- 69

Tri-West: Thompson 0-2 7-8 7, Robertson 2-7 2-4 6, Bruce 6-12 0-0 14, Moses

6-16 7-10 22, Ricks 8-11 0-0 18, Tanselle 2-3 0-0 6, Tucker 0-1 0-0 0, Totals

24-52 FG, 16-22 FT, 73 TP.

Cloverdale: McCammon 3-11 2-2 10, Trinkle 0-1 0-0 0, Lovins 4-5 1-3 9, Haltom

11-23 6-6 33, Neese 4-6 1-2 10, Cheatham 2-5 1-3 5, Dean 0-2 0-0 0, Blair 1-2

0-0 2, Totals 25-55 FG, 11-16 FT, 69 TP.

3-pt. FG: Tri-West 9-16 (Moses 3-3, Tanselle 2-3, Bruce 2-4, Ricks 2-5,

Tucker 0-1), Cloverdale: 8-28 (Haltom 5-17, McCammon 2-7, Neese 1-3, Cheatham 0-1).

Rebounds: Tri-West 20 (Bruce 6), Cloverdale 17 (Lovins 5). Blocks: Tri-West 1

(Moses), Cloverdale 5 (Lovins 3). Steals: Tri-West 3 (Smith, Bruce, Moses),

Cloverdale 6 (McCammon 2, Cheatham 2). Total fouls: Tri-West 17, Cloverdale 13.

Fouled out: Ricks.

Next game -- Cloverdale plays at North Central Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

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