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Comeback falls short for Clover girls
CLOVERDALE -- Seven first-quarter turnovers put the Cloverdale girls' basketball team in a hole they couldn't quite dig out of Friday night.
The Clovers spent the evening battling back from a 14-7 first-quarter deficit, briefly taking a one-point lead on Cascade.
Their upset bid fell short in the end by a score of 49-47.
"They just jumped on us a little bit, but I'm so proud of the effort of my girls tonight," Cloverdale coach Matt Langdon said. "We definitely didn't give it away. Cascade played well tonight, they hit some shots and they won the game."
No one hit more shots than Cadet forward Sydney Stein, who scored six of her game-high 20 points after the Clovers (5-11) took their brief lead early in the fourth quarter.
Langdon said looking at the Cadets' (8-5) strengths, his team focused on the guard play, which led to the 16 turnovers forced by the Clovers.
"I think us being out on that three-point arc more just gets you in the passing lanes more. I think that cause a little bit of frustration for them, and we hit our layups," Langdon said.
Senior guard Paige Gruener led the charge for the Clovers, getting the bulk of her 19 points on layups.
Fellow seniors Sydney Shrum and Bristy Skiles joined Gruener in double figures with 10 points each.
The Clovers 12 turnovers forced after the half turned the tables on the Cadets, who had forced 10 in the first half, including seven in the opening frame.
"After the first quarter, I thought we handled the pressure very well," Langdon said. "There were turnovers popping up here and there that could've impacted the end result, but we didn't have any huge letdowns where there was two or three turnovers in a row. That kept their runs to a minimum."
Even in the loss, Langdon was happy with the effort his team displayed against a more successful opponent.
"I told the girls there was nothing I could go back and say we didn't do to win the game," Langdon said. "They (Cascade) just played a little better. They were just a little bit better team tonight."
"We've been battling lately, but it was great to see against a team that can compete in the conference and could win the sectional that we were right there going blow to blow.
The Clovers host South Vermillion at 2 p.m. today.
At Cloverdale
Cascade 14 13 9 13 -- 49
Cloverdale 7 15 12 13 -- 47
Cascade (8-5, 3-1 WCC): Stein 6-12 6-8 20, Sallee 6-15 1-5 16, Smallwood 3-4 0-0 8, Bell 1-2 0-0 2, Smith 1-4 0-1 2, Gaddis 0-7 1-2 1. Totals: 17-44 FG, 8-16 FT, 49 points.
Cloverdale (5-11, 0-3 WCC): Gruener 8-11 2-6 19, Shrum 4-8 2-4 10, Skiles 3-8 1-2 10, Nally 2-11 0-0 4, Clark 1-1 0-0 2, Stevens 1-1 0-1 2, Walters 0-3 0-0 0, Wellington 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-44 FG, 5-13 FT, 47 points.
3-pointers: Cascade 7-17 (Sallee 3-6, Smallwood 2-2, Stein 2-3, Smith 0-1, Bell 0-1, Gaddis 0-4), Cloverdale 4-13 (Wellington 3-8, Gruener 1-1, Wellington 0-1, Nally 0-3). Turnovers: Cascade 16, Cloverdale 17. Fouls: Cascade 16, Cloverdale 17.