Cadets too much for Clovers

CLAYTON -- It's a growing process for the Cloverdale girls' basketball this season. Even with wins not coming, they are finding things to build on.

The Lady Clovers got a couple of those building blocks Friday, with a strong third quarter and a surprise performance from a freshman.

Unfortunately, early turnovers had already sealed their fate. Cascade led 43-13 at halftime en route to a 63-29 victory.

With the Lady Cadets (7-7, 4-0 WCC) pressing in the first quarter, Cloverdale (2-14, 0-3 WCC) struggled mightily, turning the ball over 13 times. It was 22-5 after one.

In the second, the turnovers were down, but the scoreboard was still a problem, as Cascade led by 30 at the break.

Halftime adjustments made things better for the Clovers, though.

"I just told the girls that the biggest thing I felt positive about was that we could easily have totally just cashed it in in the second half because we were so far behind," Anderson said. "But we actually came out and played with great effort and made the adjustments we talked about at the half and outscored them 12-5 in the third quarter."

The defense made a big difference in the third, shutting down what Anderson called a "very good shooting ball club."

The Clover offense also adjusted. Half of their 12 third-quarter points came from freshman Bristy Skiles, seeing her first varsity action. Skiles went 2-for-5 from long range and was the Clovers' second-leading scorer, with six.

"She got her feet wet in a varsity game, and did a nice job and hustled," Anderson said.

The biggest thing the Clovers need to overcome is nervousness at the beginning of the game.

"Our biggest problem is when a team comes out -- and I knew they would press the heck out of us -- we don't play with any calm," the coach said. "We don't have composure under pressure, especially at the start of the game."

He returned to the pluses, though.

"Overall, I thought we took some positives out of the game," Anderson said.

Junior Holly McCammon led the way for the Clovers, scoring 15 points on the night. Cascade senior Alex Morgan, four inches taller than her competitors, was the game leader with 28 points.

Cloverdale visits South Vermillion today, with the JV tipping at 1 p.m.

At Cascade

Cloverdale 5 8 12 4 -- 29

Cascade 22 21 5 15 -- 63

Cloverdale (2-14, 0-3 WCC) -- McCammon 7-18 1-2 15, Skiles 2-6 0-0 6, Gruener 1-2 1-2 3, Rightmyer 1-6 1-3 3, Andersen 1-3 0-0 2, Gutierrez 0-3 0-0 0, Nally 0-0 0-1 0. Team: 12-37 FG, 3-8 FT, 29 points.

Cascade (7-7, 4-0 WCC) -- Morgan 13-27 0-0 28, Stephenson 5-10 0-1 10, Bri. Sallee 4-6 0-0 10, Smith 2-5 3-3 7, Bra. Sallee 2-7 0-0 5, Rivera 1-3 0-0 3, Suter 0-1 0-0 0, Powell 0-3 0-2 0. Team: 27-62 FG, 3-6 FT, 63 points.

3-pt FG--Clov 2-8 (Skiles 2-5, Gutierrez 0-2, Andersen 0-1), Cas 6-16 (Bri. Sallee 2-5, Morgan 2-4, Rivera 1-2, Bra. Sallee 1-5, Suter 0-1). Turnovers--Clov 27, Cas 11. Fouls--Clov 7, Cas 12. Fouled out--None.

Next game: Cloverdale visits South Vermillion today with JV action at 1 p.m.