Clovers dominate Eminence in 61-9 win

Cloverdale sophomore Bailee Stevens steps in front of a pass intended for Eminence freshman Zoe Foote. Stevens had eight steals in the game. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The Cloverdale girls' basketball team held Eminence to only two first-half points in its 61-9 win on Monday.

It was the team's largest margin of victory since beating Indianapolis Howe 81-24 on Dec. 29, 2006.

"Defensively we played well," Cloverdale coach Matthew Langdon said. "You have to just slow down and make sure that we were learning stuff off of the game."

The Clovers shut out the Eels in the first quarter, using a full-court press for the first four minutes before falling back into half court for the remainder of the game.

The teams' 2-3 zone proved just as potent. Senior Paige Gruener had five first-half steals, most leading to layups on the other end.

Gruener finished with 11 points.

The Clovers were led in scoring by sophomore Bailee Stevens, who came off the bench to score 14 points. She added seven steals.

"Paige is always our leader on the defensive end; getting steals. Bailee really stepped up for us tonight." Langdon said. "Our girls, defensively, moved their feet really well. Even in the 2-3, where it's easy to just pass it around and not to get a lot of steals, our girls really moved their feet."

Eminence finally got on the scoreboard when senior Codi Belcher made a short shot from the baseline with two minutes left in the second quarter.

Leading 32-2 at halftime, senior Amillia Nally came on in the third quarter, scoring seven of her 13 points in the first two minutes.

Both teams used the game as a chance to get younger players into the game.

With the outcome decided (45-4 after three quarters), Langdon used the fourth to get his underclassmen varsity experience.

Because many of them also play on the junior varsity team, they were only eligible to play for one quarter of varsity action.

"It gets tough for us from here on out," Langdon said. "We need to continue to work on things and continue to improve. We can't just be content with this. We really need to work to get better in the next week."

Cloverdale opens its conference schedule at Greencastle on Friday at 6 p.m.

At Eminence
Cloverdale -- 17 15 14 15 -- 61
Eminence -- 0 2 2 5 -- 9