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Sectional Title belongs to Cloverdale, two in a row
NEW MARKET -- Cloverdale was ready for the fight Saturday and when the smoke cleared, the CHS fans rejoiced, for the Cloverdale boys' basketball team earned its second-straight sectional title in the IHSAA Southmont sectional over Monrovia 59-53 Saturday.
Cloverdale (18-7) will next play against Northeastern (22-4) in the IHSAA Greenfield-Central Regional semifinal. Northeastern came out tops in the Hagerstown sectional defeating Centerville in the championship.
"This is my sixth year coaching, been in the sectional finals twice," Clover coach Patrick Rady Jr. said. "I guess third time's the charm."
The Clovers broke out a double-digit lead early in the game after Cooper Neese and Jalen Moore each connected from long range in the opening quarter.
"(Neese) loves March," Rady said. "If you look back, I think he's played great every game in March. But what may get overlooked, I thought he did a great job defensively against (Monrovia's Luke) Smith. I thought Jalen was back to the old Jalen."
The Cloverdale defense was buoyed by plays like Robert Hall's ability to get set on a Bulldog fast break resulting in a charging call for Monrovia.
After CHS took a 15-5 first-quarter lead, Monrovia came out with a vengeance in the second quarter.
Monrovia's Smith was scoreless in the first but in the second quarter his seven points helped the Bulldogs to 13 points. Cloverdale's Moore and Neese combined for all of the team 11 second-quarter points.
Neese was held to three points in the third but Jalen sustained CHS with four points from the floor and four from the foul line. Jake Wilkes also nailed a pair from the free throw line and Brenan Hall scored from the floor.
CHS needed every bit of scoring it could get because Monrovia was coming hard for the lead.
"Either side of this bracket wasn't a cakewalk," Neese said. "When someone came out to play us, it was a dogfight. Coming into this championship game we knew we had to play well. But in this game Jalen took over. A lot of credit to him being a sophomore. He hit his free throws he got his shots. He did it all tonight."
The Bulldogs outscored the Clovers 21-15 in the third and CHS only held a 41-39 point lead after three quarters.
Monrovia continued its rugged style of play, which resulted a lot of times with a layups made under tough Cloverdale defense.
Monrovia finally gained the lead with about four minutes left in the contest, however the Bulldogs didn't hold it for long. Moore took the ball immediately up the court, pushing at the pace Rady said he wanted, and scored the layup seconds after Monrovia earned the one-point lead. Moore then drew a foul and distanced the Clovers even more on the scoreboard with two foul shots.
"In the second half when (Jalen) is pushing the ball down the floor, I thought that he was making some great reads," Rady said. "He got a big basket. That's huge. We wanted it quickly and we didn't want to settle for the three. Jalen made the right read. That guy can read a ball screen."
Moore led all scorers with 26 points and he also had three steals. The sophomore contributed from the line, knocking down 11-14.
"Coach was just telling us to drive in," Moore said. "We were getting into the bonus so we wanted to drive into the paint. Cooper told me to drive and take over."
Moore said the sectional run was not easy but they had to fight through the wall to accomplish the title.
In the fourth with the game still in the balance, Brenan Hall was fouled hard and was hit in his eye. He went to the locker room when Cloverdale held a six-point lead but came back into the game fired up with two minutes left to play.
"I just wanted to come back in," Hall said. "I didn't want to stop playing. It was just so much fun. I went as hard as I could."
He then picked up a valuable putback for the Clovers and then swatted a Monrovia shot on the next possession. Cloverdale outrebounded the Bulldogs 29-18 in the game with Hall grabbing four.
"Brenan didn't start the season starting," Rady said. "He could've folded in his tent but he didn't. But Jake Wilkes was sick this week. Brenan stepped up last night and tonight. You never know when you've got to be ready. A lot of kids would've gotten mad, not Brenan."
With the Clover defense doing what it could and Jalen Moore's scoring ability still baffling the Bulldogs, Monrovia resorted to the foul game with 42 seconds left leaving Moore and Neese to close out the game and the sectional for CHS.
"I was so nervous," former Clover coach Pat Rady said. "I know how much he (Rady Jr.) wanted to win. I am so proud of the way he has coached this team this year. From where they started the year, going from Putnam County champs to the sectional title we're so proud of him. We are proud of both our sons. Seeing (Rady Jr.) go up that ladder and get that sectional champs' net, I can't explain it."
They say the first is always the sweetest and even though it's not Cloverdale's first ride, Rady Jr.'s first title would be a sweet experience for anyone coaching high school sports.
"I just want to thank my wife and daughter for allowing me to do this," Rady said. "We have a saying, 'It's a family.' Our house is a family. My wife and daughter have sacrificed. They open the house and they love the kids. But I'm gone a lot and I'm blessed for them to be as supportive as they are. My wife really, she's my rock. I couldn't do it without her."
Rady has been finding ways all week to motivate his players who had already come into the tournament focused on winning the championship.
"We've been watching some motivational films that coach Rady has been putting together," Neese said. "It's been getting us ready to play."
Whatever tactics CHS used certainly seemed to do the trick as the Cloverdale boys completed a title run where the opponents' best effort was always on display.
"I think we saw three teams give us their best shot," Rady said. "We always prepare for the maximum amount of games. As Clovers we say that we are built for March."
At Southmont
Monrovia 5 13 21 14 -- 53
Cloverdale 15 11 15 18 -- 59
Clover Scoring
19-50 15-23 59 (Moore 7-17 11-14, Neese 7-19 2-4 20, Hall 2-2 4, Pfaff 2-4 4, Winders 1-7, Wilkes 0-0 2-4 2)
Three-Point shots: Neese 4-12, Moore 1-3, Winders 1-5 Reb: Neese 10, Moore 5, Pfaff 5, Hall 4, Winders 3, Wilked 1, Ast: Neese 1, Moore 1, Pfaff 1, Stl: Moore 3, Neese 2 Blk: Hall 1