Cloverdale drops contest to Panthers

Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Clover Breegan Andersen guards Riverton Parke's Sara Dickey in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's contest.

CLOVERDALE -- Turnovers and not enough opportunities extended Cloverdale's losing streak to five after succumbing to Riverton Parke Tuesday 56-29.

The Clovers committed 32 turnovers and only managed 26 field goal attempts on the night. For head coach Tom Anderson, there was only one positive to take from the 27-point loss.

"For the most part, I only see one positive and that is we have one girl that's really improving and really working and understanding what we're trying to get done," Anderson said. "And she's doing it in two different positions and most of our other girls are not showing game improvement and some of them only play one position and not improving.

"That's what's really upsetting us is that we're not really getting any better in the games," he added.

Cloverdale opened the game with a four-point first quarter, and then put together a nine-point second, behind five points from Mariah Oetken. The Clovers went to the locker room trailing 27-13.

Cloverdale was never able to find a rhythm on offense, with Riverton Parke's zone defense causing them problems all evening. Anderson pointed out that if they would have attack the middle more, there were opportunities to be seized.

The Clovers took to the court in the second half with more energy, but unfortunately it didn't translate into a better situation for CHS. Cloverdale scored eight points each in the third and fourth quarters, with turnovers and limited shots chances not helping their cause.

One positive the Clovers could take from the game, was they outshot the Panthers in free throw percentage. The Clovers shot 59 percent, while Riverton Parke shot 52 percent. Nineteen of Cloverdale's 29 points came at the line.

Anderson acknowledged the team is focusing on fundamentals in practice, but as of now, they are not translating to game situations. After logging their fifth loss, Anderson challenged the team and hopes to see some positive results.

"We work on every facet of the game imaginable that is junior high or below level," he said. "Basic dribbling, passing and then we get in the game and just panic, dribble into trouble, don't use pass fakes, won't use the bounce pass and just a lot things.

"So we really challenged the girls tonight after the game that we need more people to step up. We have one girl that's showing a lot of improvement and from there, we're not really see it. Some are improving in practice or the drills, but we're not seeing it in the game. It's got to start relating to the game," Anderson added.

Another aspect Anderson said he wanted to see improvement at was just thinking the game through. He pointed out that at one point the team went into a 1-3-1 zone and get a steal and then abandoned the zone on the next possession. He wants them to see the things that are working and take control of them.

When asked what he hoped to get from the challenge he threw at the players sneakers, Anderson was clear and to the point. He also used a junior varsity player to accentuate what he wants to see out of his varsity squad.

"I'm wanting to see who wants to join that one girl that's improved," he said bluntly. "I don't care who she is. We made an example of Sydney Shrum, who scored eight points in the overtime of the junior varsity game. That's something she's been working on. That's what we need to see, somebody to step up."

"I want to find, I don't care who it is, I don't care if it's four more freshmen, I want somebody to step up and say I want to play, I want to learn and I want to do it right," Anderson concluded.

The Cloverdale junior varsity defeated Riverton Parke in overtime 32-23. The Clovers tied the game at 21-all for force the extra period and that's when Shrum took over. She scored eight of Cloverdale's 11 overtime points.

Cloverdale will host Eminence Thursday with a 6 p.m. tip

At Cloverdale

Riverton Parke 15 12 20 9 -- 56

Cloverdale 4 9 8 8 -- 29

Riverton Parke -- S. Dickey 17, Kinne 9, Cookus 6, Yando 6, Falls 4, Dailey 4, Byers 4, Pollard 2, E. Dickey 2, Wood 2. Totals: 21-49 FG, 14-27 FT 56 TP.

Cloverdale -- Oetken 11, McCammon 7, Langdon 3, Andersen 2, Gruener 2, Wiley 2, Gutierrez 2. Totals: 5-26, 19-32 FT, 29 TP.

Next game -- Cloverdale will host Eminence Thursday with a 6 p.m. tip