Clovers drop heartbreaker

Saturday, February 7, 2009

CLOVERDALE -- The Speedway Sparkplugs boys may remain undefeated in the WCC, but on Friday night the Cloverdale Clovers almost stalled them. The game went into overtime and featured a sparkling display by Brandon Moon, who topped the scoring for both teams with 26 points.

By the end of overtime, though, Speedway had defeated the Clovers 60-54. Cloverdale fell to 2-3 in the WCC, 6-10 overall.

"I think we played in spurts," said Cloverdale head coach Pat Rady. "We didn't give up and so in a way I'm proud of that, but we've got to realize that Speedway [is] a very good ball club. We had to be at our best and came up short tonight."

Only the North Putnam Cougars stand between Speedway and a spot all alone as the conference champs.

The Clovers began slowly, scoring only twice in the first quarter while Speedway scored nine times. Cloverdale's Eric Kukman scored the first basket for the Clovers and Jordan Hayden had the second.

The home team trailed 17-4 after the first.

Cloverdale came back the second quarter, outscoring the Sparkplugs16-6 and closing the gap to 23-20. In fact, Cloverdale prevented the Spark Plugs from scoring for the first 4:54 of the quarter. Then Michael Hubbard scored for Speedway.

Jason Salter started out the Clovers' run with a three pointer. Moon totaled eight points in the quarter, followed by four from Kukman. Link Lovins had a free throw.

The Spark Plugs struck first in the third quarter with a three from Van Coates, but Cloverdale answered right back with a three from Moon. Cloverdale traded baskets with Speedway for the next 2:18 of the quarter with Hubbard scoring, then Moon, then Kevin Eggert, then Kevin Dean.

Speedway went on a 6-0 run before Moon finished off the quarter with a three with 22 seconds left. The Clovers still trailed, 36-30.

Cloverdale did not let Speedway walk away with a win in this game after four quarters of play, though. Speedway increased the lead early, but the Clovers battled back hard and with 21 seconds left in regulation, Moon tied the game up with a two-point bucket.

Cloverdale then fouled Speedway's Jake Daghe, who made both ends of a 1-and-1, making the score 47-45

Moon had one last shot, though, going to the line with a chance for three points. He made two. The fourth quarter ended in 47-47 tie.

Speedway caught fire in overtime, outscoring the Clovers 13-7. They took the lead early and the Clovers could not get back into it.

"You can't fault the effort of our kids," Rady said. "They didn't quit and we came back and had a chance to win it. In a game like this every play is a big play. Every possession was important.

"You can't have turnovers, make a defensive mistake, or a rebound here or a missed shot here," he concluded.

Cloverdale is back in action Thursday when they will host Cascade with JV/varsity double header starting a 6 p.m.

At Cloverdale

Cloverdale 4 16 10 17 7 -- 54

Speedway 17 6 13 11 13 -- 60

Cloverdale -- Kukman (8), Hayden (6), Salter (3), Moon (26), Lovins (1), Dean (4), Clark (6)

Speedway -- Coates (15), Lewis (20), Hubbard (9), Avance (2), Eggert (7), Duman (2), Daghe (4)

Next Game -- Cascade at Cloverdale at 6 p.m. Thursday.At Cloverdale

Cloverdale 4 16 10 17 7 -- 54

Speedway 17 6 13 11 13 -- 60

Cloverdale -- Kukman 9, Hayden 6, Salter 3, Moon 26, Lovins 1, Dean 4, Clark 6

Speedway -- Coates 15, Lewis 20, Hubbard 9, Avance 2, Eggert 7, Duman 2, Daghe 4

Next Game -- Cloverdale is back in action Thursday when they will host Cascade with JV/Varsity double header starting a 6 p.m.