Menu
CHS girls lose tourney final
MONROVIA--To finish the first half of the 2014-15 season, the Cloverdale girls' basketball team traveled to Monrovia for the four-team Bulldog Holiday Classic Saturday morning and evening.
The Clovers dispatched Edinburgh in the morning 52-42 but found the hosts too much to handle in the finals, losing 43-23.
Cloverdale head coach Matthew Langdon said the opening game was one of the better games the Clovers had played this season.
"I was very happy with the first game," Langdon said. "I thought it was one of our best games of the year offensively.
"We've only scored more than 52 points in one other game. We were feeling very good after that game."
To beat the Lancers in the morning, Cloverdale relied on a balanced scoring attack that saw eight players find their way on the score sheet and double-figure point totals in all four quarters.
Free throws became a critical part of the game as Edinburgh knocked down 10-of-13 in the first half to stay within touching distance of Cloverdale.
The Clovers led 11-10 after one and 22-18 at halftime, which Langdon attributed to being on the attack.
"In the first game, we got to the line 21 times and that was a huge help," Langdon noted. "When we're able to take the ball inside and then move it out, we get a much higher percentage of made threes."
Another 11-point quarter allowed Cloverdale to take a 33-29 lead into the final quarter, where the Clovers took advantage of desperate Lancer possessions to amass 19 points, 14 of which came through the trio of Laura Worthington, Abby Walker and Hailey Hamm.
Langdon was quick to point out that the squad did a better job at the end of the game than in previous close contests.
"I think we showed a lot of maturity at the end of the game in pulling away," Langdon said. "The last couple of weeks we've been too tight.
"The girls knew that and needed to keep looking to be aggressive and in the fourth quarter, we handled the ball well and limited the turnovers."
The final against Monrovia proved to be a much different proposition.
Cloverdale could not quite rally past the Bulldogs a week prior and much like in the first meeting, shooting woes plagued the Clovers throughout.
The visitors started with a 5-2 lead but failed to score again until Monrovia had gone on a 14-0 run through the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second.
By halftime, Cloverdale was staring at a 23-9 deficit and, unlike the previous week, did not have the ability to make inroads on the Bulldog lead.
The Clovers only made nine trips to the free throw line, the same as the hosts, and missed all seven three-point shots taken.
Monrovia added to the problem by decisively out-rebounding Cloverdale 39-19, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds in the process.
Langdon said that without the team moving as a whole to rebound, the squad would have a hard time shutting down good offenses.
"We need five people going to the glass," Langdon said. "We can't have just two or three going there, we have to have a collective unit moving toward the ball.
"That's what is tough about defense. You can be a great defensive team and stop them on their first possession every time, but if you let up that many offensive rebounds, they're going to take advantage of that eventually."
Monrovia did not let off and held Cloverdale under 10 points in each quarter to win the tournament, though Langdon said that the team needed to be exposed to different basketball experiences.
"This was a good experience for us," Langdon pointed out. "We've never had to go and play two good games in a day.
"I thought we came out and played a very good game one and we didn't look like we had the legs or intensity in the second game."
Sporting a 7-6 record after Saturday's games, Langdon said the squad needed to stay on top of things in order not to fall off in the later portions of the season.
"There's always games when you look back at this point and think you could have gotten, but were over .500 for the first time in my career at this point in the season," Langdon noted. "We're happy but we're hoping the girls will stay hungry in 2015."
To start off the new year, Cloverdale travels to Clay City on Jan. 5 and Langdon said that improving on areas the Clovers struggled with against Monrovia would be helpful in trying to take down the Eels.
"Clay City is having a very good year this year," Langdon pointed out. "We played them tough last year but hopefully the physicality that we faced here against a tough Monrovia team will help us.
"We've got to come into the game wanting that win. We have to rotate quick on defense, have everyone crash the boards and try to put ourselves in a position where one bad quarter take us out of the game."
At Monrovia
Bulldog Holiday Classic
Game One
Edinburgh 10 8 11 13 -- 42
Cloverdale 11 11 11 19 -- 52
Scoring
Edinburgh -- Hoskins 17, Howard 10, Weddle 7, Schooler 4, Rooks 2, Littiken 2, Scrogham 0, McManaway 0
Cloverdale -- Stevens 12, Walker 11, Hamm 9, Worthington 8, Dorsett 4, Winders 4, Pieper 2, Huge 2
Final
Cloverdale 5 4 5 9 -- 23
Monrovia 12 11 12 8 -- 43
Statistics
Scoring
Cloverdale -- 9-42 FG, 0-7 3-FG, 5-9 FT -- Worthington 9, Stevens 6, Pieper 3, Dorsett 2, Hamm 2, Winders 1, Huge 0, Walker 0
Monrovia -- 18-53 FG, 2-13, 3-FG, 5-9 FT -- Hunter 14, Longere 8, B. Keen 7, Whitney 6, Bennett 4, Tharp 2, Speck 2, Price 0, Russell 0, Wright 0
Rebounding (Offensive)
Cloverdale 19 (7); Monrovia 39 (18)
Assists
Cloverdale 3; Monrovia 6
Steals
Cloverdale 9; Monrovia 10
Blocks
Cloverdale 2; Monrovia 7
Turnovers
Cloverdale 19; Monrovia 17
Fouls
Cloverdale 11; Monrovia 16
Next Game: Cloverdale (7-6, 0-1 WCC) travels to Clay City Jan. 5