Clark carries Clovers past South Putnam to championship

Saturday, November 23, 2013
Cloverdale junior Taylor Clark blocks a jump shot attempt by South Putnam junior Emily Dobson during the first round of the Putnam County Tournament on Friday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

Junior Taylor Clark had a double-double and blocked three shots to help the Cloverdale girls' basketball team beat South Putnam in the first round of the 2013 Putnam County Girls' Basketball Tournament on Friday 32-24.

The Clovers (1-3, 0-0 WCC) had just two leads in the game, first at 7-6 midway through the first quarter and again at 5:18 in the fourth when junior Laura Worthington hit a jumper to get ahead 23-22.

"It was just a good team win," CHS coach Matthew Langdon said. "I talked to (Worthington) at the beginning of the year and I told her what I need from her is that calming effect -- when things are going a little crazy -- for her to be able to get it back up top and calm the team down. She did that very well."

South Putnam (1-3, 0-0 WCC) held the lead throughout the sloppy first half when the teams combined for 37 turnovers and shot a combined 12-for-49 from the field.

Junior Katelyn Lady led the Eagles in scoring during the first half, hitting a pair of 3s, but she was shutout after the break.

Cloverdale entered the game down two starters because of injuries and its top two scorers, Clark and junior Bailee Stevens, battled foul trouble throughout the game.

Stevens was effective offensively during her brief stints on the court but finished with four points and four rebounds.

Clark, returning to the lineup after missing Monday's game with a minor injury, had 10 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

"It seemed like every rebound she held the inside position," Langdon said.

After trailing the whole third quarter, Cloverdale started the fourth 3-for-5 from the field during a stretch when South Putnam was 0-for-7.

Trailing by three with 3:00 left, senior Aubrey Nichols made a steal for the Eagles and went coast-to-coast to cut the gap to one. Nichols had a shot to retake the lead on the next possession but her miss eventually led to a basket by sophomore Kimmy Winders to put Cloverdale back up by three.

Nichols missed on a 3-pt attempt that would have tied the game and with 1:22 left the Eagles began to foul to try to extend the game. Nichols finished with a team-high nine points and five steals. She was 3-for-20 from the field.

Cloverdale hit 5-of-10 free throws down the stretch, but, more importantly, kept South Putnam from making a shot and hauled in every rebound.

Clark had seven of her boards in the fourth quarter and for the game CHS had 43 rebounds to SPHS's 40.

"The first half we struggled, but when it counted Taylor got every rebound," Langdon said. "We talked about it all week: boxing out, boxing out, boxing out."

Despite Cloverdale's foul trouble, the Eagles attempted just seven free throws in the game. Sophomore Katie Hewitt led SPHS with nine rebounds. Junior Emily Dobson had two blocks.

Worthington had nine points and nine rebounds for Cloverdale. Winders had seven rebounds and four steals.

The Clovers advanced to the county championship game on Saturday where they will face Greencastle (3-1, 0-0 WCC).

South Putnam plays North Putnam in the consolation beginning at 6:30 p.m. The championship game will begin 20 minutes after the conclusion of the consolation game.

Kimmy Winders



2013 Putnam County Girls' Basketball Tournament
Cloverdale............9 6 4 13 -- 32
South Putnam.....11 5 6 2 -- 24

Team stats

_SPCL
FGM-FGA8-4711-50
FTM-FTA3-78-14
3PM-3PA3-123-11
OR-DR-Total15-25-4017-26-43
Assists57
Steals1213
Blocks46
Turnovers3429
Fouls1613

Individual scoring

Cloverdale (1-3): Clark 3-13 2-2 10; Worthington 3-8 1-3 9; Winders 3-13 1-2 7; Stevens 1-4 1-2 4; Dorsett 1-10 2-5 9; Combs 0-2 0-1 0; Huge 0-0 0-0 0.
South Putnam (1-3): Nichols 3-20 0-1 9, Lady 2-7 0-0 6, Barnes 2-8 1-2 5, Dobson 1-9 2-4 4, Hewitt 0-2 0-0 0, Arnold 0-1 0-0 0, Modglin 0-0 0-0 0, Higgins 0-0 0-0 0, Erickson 0-0 0-0 0.

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