Cloverdale drops close one to Eels

EMINENCE -- Cloverdale limited Eminence's prolific-scoring Aulani Sinclair to a season-low 14 points Monday, but suffered a 49-46 loss in a nonconference girls basketball game on the Eels' court.

Sinclair, a 6-foot-1 senior who has signed with Indiana University, entered the game as the state's leading scorer at 30.5 points per game. She was 4-of-25 from the field, 0-of-8 on 3-pointers, and made 6-of-6 free throws.

"Our No. 1 goal was to shut Aulani Sinclair down and -- dang -- we did it and still lost," Cloverdale coach James Wade said. "Their other players stepped up. It's a tough loss because of how hard we played. To come away with a loss is rough."

The Clovers (2-5) didn't make enough shots from the field or get to the foul line enough to overcome deficits in turnovers and rebounding. Cloverdale had 23 turnovers to 15 for the Eels (1-7) and was out-rebounded, 37-32.

"We really missed some good shots, too," Wade said.

Cloverdale shot 36.5 percent (19-52) from the field and 33.3 percent (7-21) on 3-pointers. The Clovers attempted only five free throws, making one.

Eminence shot the ball even more poorly, 18-of-56 on field goals (32.1 percent) including 2-of-12 (16.6 percent) on 3-pointers. But the Eels made 11-of-16 (68.7 percent) at the foul line.

Eminence freshman guard Nikki Campbell had a breakout game, scoring 20 points on 9-of-16 field goals including 2-of-4 3-pointers to lead all scorers.

"We've been close," Eels' coach Brian Udovich said. "If we'd played every game like we did tonight, we'd be 7-1, not 1-7."

Cloverdale's Kristin McCammon had 18 points and fellow senior Kayla Shepherd added 12. Center Elizabeth Cheatham returned after missing three straight games with an ankle injury and had eight points and 11 rebounds.

"Elizabeth wasn't 100 percent, but she gave us some good minutes and played with pain," Wade said.

Cloverdale charged out to a 22-11 lead midway through the second quarter.

Eminence closed out the first half with a 7-0 run and scored nine straight points to start the third quarter to take a 27-22 lead.

McCammon's 3-pointer out of the corner stopped the 16-0 run and got the Clovers moving again.

Cloverdale trimmed the Eels' lead to 37-36 on Shepherd's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, but never was able to tie or regain the lead.

Eminence scored five straight points for a 42-36 lead , but the Clovers hung tough. Cheatham's basket from inside made it 47-44 with 22 seconds remaining.

With Cloverdale full-court pressing, Eminence completed a long pass to Campbell, who scored an uncontested lay-up to give the Eels a 49-44 advantage.

Cloverdale missed a 3-pointer and Cheatham made a putback at the buzzer for the game's final points.

"Eminence came out ready to play in the second half," Wade said. "I give credit to them. They did what they had to do to win.

"We take away some positives. Our team defense was amazing, really good. I thought we rebounded a lot better."

Cloverdale plays at Greencastle on Friday in its West Central Conference

opener.

"We can't get too high after our wins or too low after our losses," Wade said. "We have to get ready for our conference game on Friday."

At Eminence

Cloverdale 11 11 8 16 -- 46

Eminence 9 9 17 14 -- 49

CLOVERDALE (46)

Cheatham 4-10 0-0 8, Franklin 2-3 1-3 6, Shepherd 5-17 0-2 12, McCammon 7-17 0-0 18, Rightmyer 1-4 0-0 2, Andersen 0-1 0-0 0, McCallie 0-0 0-0 0, Totals: 19-52 1-5 46.

EMINENCE (49)

Sinclair 4-25 6-6 14, Greene 3-5 2-2 8, Campbell 9-16 0-0 20, Decker 1-6 2-4 4, Haymond 1-3 1-4 3, Brock 0-1 0-0 0, Totals: 18-56 11-16 49

3-point field goals -- Cloverdale 7-21 (McCammon 4-13, Shepherd 2-5, Franklin

1-1, Rightmyer 0-1, Cheatham 0-1), Eminence 2-12 (Campbell 2-4, Sinclair 0-8).

Rebounds -- Cloverdale 32 (Cheatham 11, McCammon 5), Eminence 37 (Sinclair 11, Greene 6). Turnovers: Cloverdale 23, Eminence 15. Total fouls: Cloverdale 11, Eminence 11. Fouled out -- None.

Next game -- Cloverdale plays at Greencastle on Friday.