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Clovers end season at Greenfield-Central Regional
GREENFIELD - The Cloverdale boys' basketball team's season ended in the first game of the Greenfield Central Regional on Saturday 94-74 against Northeastern.
CHS (19-8) hung with the Knights early after Northeastern took the early lead. Jalen Moore got the scoring started for the Clovers despite the Knights' physical defense in the paint. A put back bucket from Nick Winders earned
CHS an 11-10 first-quarter lead, though it was short-lived.
The Northeastern team was able to stretch the Clover defense with good shooting from long range.
Cloverdale was able to keep it at single digits, down 27-20 after one.
"They like to play fast and we like to play fast," Cloverdale coach Patrick Rady said. "We were able to get out in transition and get three on two situations. I thought we were able to get good looks. We attacked their 1-3-1 (zone) very well. We were able to screen and do some things in the middle of the zone. We executed very well offensively."
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair with Northeastern holding the lead. When the Knights tried to put some distance between the two teams CHS responded with solid offensive plays. The Clovers were able to match the fast-paced play of the Knights with quick scores of their own, going on a 7-0 run before halftime.
The Clovers were focused on defending the lane against a tall team and forcing the Knights to take long-range jumpers.
Neese ended the half with a shot from beyond half court to make the score 42-40 Northeastern at halftime.
"Defensively we chose to keep it out of the paint and they hit some big shots," Rady said. "It was one of those games where we didn't feel we could match up with them man-to-man. They had guys step up and hit shots that they hadn't hit in the last two or three games. We had to pick a way to play and they were going to have to beat us from the outside and they did. Tip my cap to those shooters and those kids."
The third quarter was when Northeastern took control. The Knights went on a hot streak opening up a 9-0 run early in the third. From there the Clovers had a tough time keeping up.
CHS got two threes from Moore but Cloverdale only scored 12 points in the third to Northeastern's 36. The Knights' Tyler Smith was effective from all over the floor against Cloverdale and the Northeastern defense pressure the Clovers into mistakes that resulted in easy buckets for the Knights.
Rady said in the future Cloverdale will have to develop into a more versatile team on the defensive end. CHS will most likely be working in the offseason to bring the "Chaos defense" back to forefront.
"Going down the road we've got to get better where we can play man-to-man against all our opponents," Rady said. "So when a team gets hot like that shooting we can take that away."
Neese scored 16 points in the fourth quarter after scoring two in the third, trying to cut into the 78-52 Northeastern lead. But despite the 22-16 Clover advantage in the fourth quarter, Northeastern walked away with the win.
The Knights fell to Indianapolis Howe in the regional final, 55-53.
CHS is losing two players to graduation and the positive attitudes of both Brenan Hall and Robert Nally will be missed.
"They were great teammates off the court," Rady said. "That is great when you have that in the locker room. They kept it upbeat and positive. We are going to miss that. It's tough to see those guys go."
Despite the loss of two big men on the inside, Cloverdale will benefit from having a lot of offensive production returning for another go-round next season. CHS will have another opportunity to go deep into the postseason.
"Cooper and Jalen I'm very proud of those two," Rady said. "I thought Nick really came on at the end of the season. He's really starting to shoot the ball well. Jake Wilkes, for a freshman to come and play like he does; it gives us energy. So does Seth (Pfaff) at different moments. We are looking forward to him to keep improving.
"I'm just really proud of the way the kids handled things that happened this year," Rady continued. "I thought that we were the biggest game on any given night. Ninety percent of our schedule for other teams we were the big game. We were the game they circled. I thought our guys did a great job of handling that. That's not easy for a 16-18-year-old kid to do."
Rady also didn't fail to mention the support that the team received from Clover Country, which followed and cheered for its team all year and throughout its post-season run.
"I want to thank the fans and community again," the first-year Clover coach said. "The student body was great today. They were with us all the way until the end. We thank them for a great season too. We can't do it without them."
IHSAA Regional Game 1
At Greenfield-Central
Northeastern 27 15 36 10 -- 94
Cloverdale -- 20 20 12 22 -- 74
Clover Scoring (26-59 13-17 74 (Neese 11-27 9-9 35, Moore 9-20 4-7 25, Winders 3-6 8, Wilkes 3-6 0-1 6)
Three-Point shots: Neese 4-15, Moore 3-6, Winders 2-2 Reb: Neese 7, Wilkes 6, Moore 3, Hall 3, Winders 2 Ast: Moore 2, Winders 2, Neese 1 Neese: 4, Hall 2, Moore 1, Winders 1
NORTHEASTERN (23-4)-T.Smith 14 10-10 41, Mikesell 0 0-0 0, Beatty 0 0-0 0, Hillard 0 0-0 0, Stewart 3 1-2 7, West 0 0-0 0, Clay 0 0-0 0, R.Smith 8 1-4 17, Reynolds 6 2-2 19, Rice 2 0-0 4, Hampton 2 1-2 6, A.Reynolds 0 0-0 0.