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Clovers fall short in sectional opener
Nothing came easily to the Cloverdale boys' basketball team Tuesday night in the opening game of the South Putnam Sectional.
In a very physical game, Cascade clogged passing lanes and outjumped the Clovers for key rebounds on its way to a 56-47 win.
"The kids gave us an effort tonight but sometimes it just wasn't meant to be," Cloverdale coach Pat Rady said. "They played with desire tonight, but sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way -- it doesn't bounce in."
The two most glaring problems for the Clovers (6-15, 0-5 WCC) came in the form of nine first-half turnovers and eight first-half offensive rebounds for the Cadets (7-14, 3-2 WCC).
"We had too many turnovers in the first half, and then we gave up eight offensive rebounds in the first half. Those will kill you," the veteran coach said.
"I think I made the statement (before sectional) that the two things we have to be concerned with -- and have been our whole problem all year -- is giving the other team too many offensive rebounds, and then our turnovers," he added.
Running their offense looked like a labor for the Clovers all night, a credit to the Cadets.
"They (Cascade) play a very good weak side defense," Rady said. "We had some shots, I think, if we'd knocked them down early, would have caused some problems. But we didn't."
Very early, the shots appeared to be falling. A deliberate first possession ended with a short Kedrick Collett jumper. Brandon Dorman followed with a three on the next possession to put the Clovers up 5-0.
The rest of the first quarter went sour, though. Cascade finished the quarter on a 14-2 run, forcing turnovers and scoring a number of second-chance buckets.
The Cadets' seven-point lead grew to 11 by the end of the half. Every time the Clovers made a run, Cascade had an answer.
Kade Schroer hit a three-pointer with under three minutes to go in the half, quickly followed by a Zach Dorman steal and dunk in transition, cutting the Cadet lead to three at 22-19.
Cascade again made a run of its own, closing the half 7-0 for a 30-19 halftime lead.
The second half saw Cascade stretching its lead to as many as 16 points, but the Clovers fought back, making it interesting down the stretch.
With a push in the final minutes, the Clovers closed the lead to five, their final points of the run coming on a Brandon Dorman layup in transition.
The Cadets converted their foul shots to close the game, though, closing out a 56-47 victory.
Zach Dorman led all scorers with 18 points on 5-9 shooting. He also had 12 rebounds and four steals, three of which he turned into easy transition buckets.
Cousin Brandon Dorman joined him in double figures with 14.
Hayden Suter led the cadets with 16 points, followed by Jake Canaday and Eric Bobadilla with 10 each.
Daljot Bajwa led the Cadets on the glass with eight rebounds.
"It wasn't meant to be, but we've got some young kids that hopefully will learn from this," Rady said. "You can't change anything now, but we can start looking to the future and the next year. I think that's the mindset that we've gotta have."
Leading the charge of those young players will be the two Dormans. They will be joined in next year's senior class by Collett and Schroer.
"We have a lot of players that got a lot of experience this year," Rady said, adding that offseason work will be key to the team's success in 2013-2014.
The Clovers say goodbye to seniors Brody Pfaff, Nick Cupp and Dustin Cummings.
"You always hate to lose seniors," Rady said. "Every year they give you a lot, and we just wish them well in their life and whatever endeavor they go into. We wish them the very best. They've completed a chapter in their book and now they have to write a different chapter."
He added, though it's also a new chapter for Cloverdale basketball in the coming year.
"We've completed a chapter and now we have to start on our other chapter," Rady said. "I'm looking forward to the next chapter. We're going to have a lot of fun and see what that chapter can bring us."
At South Putnam
IHSAA Sectional 44
First Round
Cloverdale.....7 12 10 18 -- 47
Cascade......14 16 9 17 -- 56
Cloverdale (6-15, 0-5 WCC): Z. Dorman 7-9 4-6 18, B. Dorman 5-9 2-4 14, Schroer 3-11 0-0 9, Scott 1-2 2-2 4, Collett 1-6 0-0 2, Pfaff 0-4 0-0 0, Cupp 0-0 0-0 0, Cummings 0-0 0-0 0, Hughes 0-0 0-0 0, Camacho 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-41 FG, 8-12 FT, 47 points.
Cascade (7-14, 3-2 WCC): Suter 6-17 3-4 16, Canaday 3-6 4-5 10, Bobadilla 2-4 6-8 10, Butler 3-3 2-2 8, Bajwa 3-8 2-6 8, Hart 0-2 4-4 4, Drury 0-2 0-0 0, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Hyten 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-43 FG, 21-29 FT, 56 points.
3-point FG: Cloverdale 5-15 (Schroer 3-10, B. Dorman 2-4, Pfaff 0-1), Cascade 1-4 (Suter 1-4, Hart 0-1). Rebounds-off: Cloverdale 23-9 (Z Dorman 12), Cascade 26-10 (Bajwa 8). Assists: Cloverdale 8 (Collett 3, Pfaff 3), Cascade 5 (Bobadilla 2). Turnovers: Cloverdale 19, Cascade 11. Fouls: Cloverdale 19, Cascade 17.