The nets were on fire last night at Cloverdale High School

The nets were on fire last night at Cloverdale High School.

Led by hot shooting from Chase Haltom and Kyle McCammon, the Cloverdale boys' basketball team put together a 31-point third quarter, defeating Greencastle, 80-61 at Cloverdale.

Haltom scored 36 points, going 13-of-19 from the field, while McCammon was 10-of-20 in the game, scoring 30 points. The Clovers connected on 29-of-56 field goals, shooting 52 percent in the game.

"I thought we played well," Cloverdale Coach Pat Rady said. "We had to win this game."

It was not an easy task.

Greencastle came out fired up, hitting 11 three-pointers in the first half alone. The Tiger Cubs jumped out early, hitting three three-pointers, with Cal Gard connecting with the last basket, giving Greencastle a 9-5 lead.

Gard later hit a buzzer-beating three off one foot to tie the game at 20-20 after the first quarter of play.

"When a team jumps out like that, you have to stay focused because they can run you out of the gym," Rady said.

The second quarter wasn't any slower.

Greencastle went on a quick 10-2 run, taking a 30-22 with 4:55 remaining in the period.

McCammon responded by scoring eight points in the next 90 seconds, bringing the Clovers within three points at 33-30.

After a Zac Remsburg three-pointer, Haltom connected with two consecutive three's to tie the game at 36-all. Brian Troyer then responded with a three-pointer from Michael Richardson, only to have McCammon answer with a bank three to end the first half.

The teams were locked at 39-all after two quarters of play.

"I thought our kids hung in there the first half," Rady said.

As the track meet ensued, both teams came out fired up in the second half.

Greencastle held a 46-45 lead just two minutes into the half. However, from there, Haltom scored 11 straight points, giving Cloverdale a 56-46 lead. This was part of a 23-2 run, giving the Clovers a 68-48 run from which they never looked back.

Rady said the key to the third-quarter success was in his defense. After Greencastle's hot shooting in the first half, Cloverdale switched to a man-to-man defense in the third quarter, which closed the Tiger Cubs' perimeter and created opportunities for the Clovers' offense.

"I thought the second half we did a much better job defensively," Rady said. "And then I thought we were able to control the tempo of the games at times."

Gard had 23 points in the game, going 8-of-12 from the field while hitting six three-pointers. Remsburg added 12 points to the Greencastle effort, while Michael Richardson had six points and five assists.

Greencastle falls to 5-8 on the season, and hosts Cascade Friday at 7:30 p.m.

For the Clovers, Michael Neese had eight points and four rebounds, while McCammon added six assists.

Cloverdale improves to 8-3 on the season, and plays at North Putnam Friday at 7:30 p.m.

"This has been a tough week," Rady said. "We were off 24 days. Now we've come back and have five games in eight days.

"We've got two days of practice and then two tough games. We've got a very demanding schedule. Right now, we're playing some very tough teams, and we've got to be at our best," Rady added.

At Cloverdale

Greencastle 20 19 17 5 -- 61

Cloverdale 20 19 31 10 -- 80

Greencastle -- Burgeson 2-7 0-0 5, Fenlon 2-3 0-0 4, Remsburg 4-10 0-0 12, Faust 1-2 0-0 2, Richardson 2-6 0-0 6, Gard 8-12 1-1 23, Troyer 2-6 0-0 5, Burks 1-5 0-0 2, Miller 1-2 0-0 2. Totals FG 23-55, FT 1-1, TP 61.

Cloverdale -- Neese 3-6 1-1 8, Haltom 13-19 4-4 36, Cheatham 2-3 0-0 4, Trinkle 0-1 0-0 0, McCammon 10-20 5-5 30, Cooper 0-1 0-0 0, Lovins 1-2 0-0 2, Blair 0-2 0-0 0, Dean 0-1 0-0 0. Totals FG 29-56, FT 10-10, TP 80.

3 pt. -- Greencastle 11 (Gard 5, Remsburg 4), Cloverdale (Haltom 6, McCammon 5), Rebounds -- Greencastle 21 (Burks 6), Cloverdale 20 (Lovins 4, Neese 4), Assists -- Greencastle 14 (Richardson 5), Cloverdale 13 (McCammon 6).

Next game -- Cloverdale plays at North Putnam Friday at 7:30 p.m., while Greencastle hosts Cascade Friday at 7:30 p.m.