Freshman Neese nets 36 in debut, Clovers win opener on road 69-57
FARMERSBURG -- Freshman Cooper Neese has been the talk of the community for the past year and he more than lived up to the hype on Thursday scoring 36 points in his debut for the Cloverdale varsity boys' basketball team.
Neese and his teammates repeatedly snared turnovers and made easy baskets from the opening horn to the final whistle in a win at North Central on Tuesday, 69-57.
Cloverdale head coach Pat Rady said that getting an opening-night win was a good start, especially in the unfriendly confines that North Central typically presented the Clovers.
"I was very pleased because this has been a tough place for us," Rady said. "The last time we won here was in 2005 when Chase Haltom was a senior. (North Central) plays hard, they're well coached and the shoot the ball extremely well.
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight, so for us to get a win in the first game of the year, with some of our young kids, is very pleasing. I'm pleased with the effort we gave tonight."
The Clovers established themselves behind the ball handling of junior Marquise Moore. The newcomer to the Cloverdale lineup set the tempo early with several fast breaks that allowed the visitors to extend their lead.
Neese became the bane of North Central's attempts to get back into the game as the freshman got hot in the third quarter, knocking down four 3-point shots in the frame.
Moore, meanwhile, typified the effort the visitors put in during the game. On a one-man fast break, Moore missed his initial layup but followed up on the shot, splitting two Thunderbird defenders, grabbing the rebound and getting the second shot to fall.
Neese's remarkable 36 points led the way, while Moore added 25. Branston Scott scored the remaining eight points for the Clovers.
Next for Cloverdale is Riverton Parke, a squad the Clovers narrowly edged out last season 45-44 and one Rady said would be ready to test his young squad.
"Riverton Parke's a good team that's well coached," Rady said. "They'll come in playing an aggressive defense, so we've got to be concerned with that. We averaged 18 turnovers a game last year but I think we had less than that tonight."
At North Central
Cloverdale 16 15 22 16 -- 69
N. Central 9 15 22 14 -- 57
Scoring
Cloverdale -- Neese 36, Moore 25, Scott 8
North Central -- Nikirk 26, Peterson 8, Jewell 7, Drake 7, Stucker 5, Stanifer 4
Next Game: Cloverdale (1-0) hosts Riverton Park Saturday.