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BENNETT'S MINUTES: Memorable night ends ‘Cooper moratorium’ early
NEW MARKET — I would have no trouble defending the amount of coverage that Cloverdale’s Cooper Neese has received during my still brief tenure here at the Banner Graphic, considering his status as one of the most elite athletes in Putnam County history.
After taking this job, I knew I would deservedly follow him through his final year of summer basketball and would write extensively about his signing with Butler — complete with the connection between him, Chad Tucker, Butler and Cloverdale.
I did all that, and it came out well.
However, after recapping his play during the team’s opener in Illinois last month, I had self-imposed a personal moratorium on features or columns solely about the Clover basketball standout in order to spread the coverage around to other athletes, sports and schools.
I am pleased to have not yet received any irate “he’s not the only player in the county” communication from readers, and had neither considered nor developed any additional story ideas about him.
And then Saturday happened.
With 1:55 left in the third quarter, the Clovers trailed Southmont 53-33 and things weren’t particularly promising for a comeback. Neese already had 20 points, but the deeper and more balanced Mounties were dominating.
Then, the senior guard decided it was time to take over.
And he did. Seventeen straight points to end the third period, and 13 more to open the final period. Forty in the second half. Fifty-three points in all.
Whether he was open or not was irrelevant.
If there were five people in the lane, Neese would bust a three from well beyond the arc. If he was being guarded closely in transition and there was even a sliver of a gap, he put his head down and drove fiercely to the basket.
If he missed the layup, he outfought everyone else for the rebound and scored on a putback.
The 20-point deficit was whittled down to seven within the first minute of the fourth quarter at 57-51, but it could get no closer.
Being more cynical than me is a tough chore for anyone. Anytime I see that someone has scored that many points, my first question — and the one asked by the many media members ranging from Indianapolis to Terre Haute who contacted me on Sunday — is always, “Yeah, but how many times did he shoot?”
The answer is 32, which could set a record for efficiency in prodigious scoring efforts if anyone kept track of such things.
Eight of 11 on 2-point field goals. Ten of 21 on 3-point field goals. Seven of eight at the line.
Dad would say, “It looks like he should have shot more.”
Having seen countless thousands of basketball games over the years, I spent the drive home contemplating how this ranks on the list of individual accomplishments.
I was in Hulman Center on Nov. 29, 2000, when Indiana State beat Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers 59-58. That was the game when ISU trailed by four points late in the final seconds, and Michael Menser hit two 3-pointers in the final 8.5 seconds for a miraculous comeback win.
Just last December, I covered the Terre Haute South-Edgewood semifinal game of the First Financial Wabash Valley Classic tournament in Terre Haute.
South’s Jaylen Minnett, who has since signed with IUPUI, had 20 points in the second quarter (including 14 in the final 2:49 of the quarter) to complete a 30-point half.
He “only” finished with 35, playing sparingly in the second half to rest for the following night’s championship game.
That was a truly great performance, especially the burst at the end of the half.
Among these three games, I would rate Menser’s performance as the most memorable since his team won the game in such dramatic fashion even though he had fewer total points.
Minnett’s performance was also outstanding, but I would rate it behind Neese’s in terms of overall impact.
Neese unleashed his inner Jimmy Chitwood on Saturday night, and brought at least a slim hope of victory to an otherwise hopeless situation.
Like the “Hoosiers” movie character who rarely missed during the feature film, Neese was equally as magical.
A 2011 article written by David Roher in the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective detailed how the Hickory team was shown in the film playing 100 offensive possessions, and Chitwood shot 20 for 23 from the field with 40 points.
That was Neese’s second half.
I suppose it was just the passion with which Neese played that stood out in addition to his successful shooting. I have never seen anyone want something so much, and put forth so much effort to make it happen.
Immediately after the game, he was vomiting in the locker room. Unlike many players this time of year, he wasn’t suffering from the flu — he just overexerted himself as cross country runners (particularly girls) often do during their races.
I was exhausted when it was over, and I just sat in a really soft folding chair under the basket.
Cloverdale coach Patrick Rady admits that Neese taking over the game in such a manner is not his preferred offensive strategy.
“Cooper would say the same thing,” Rady said. “He’s not happy at all [despite scoring 53 points] because we lost.”
Still, basketball fans such as myself, Rady and the approximately 1,200 spectators on hand for the game were all entertained better than any movie, TV show or concert ever presented.
“It was just phenomenal,” Rady said. “When he gets in that zone, it’s is really special and fun to watch.”
Local historians agree the 53-point outburst is the largest in Putnam County history. Other high games have been recorded by Cloverdale’s Craig Blair (41) in 2008 and Greencastle’s Pete Huber (40) against Monrovia in 1989, but this is believed to be the first 50-point game in county history. (Please let me know if those facts are in error or have been surpassed.)
Friends and family members of current Putnam County players at other schools have surely seen Neese play at some point, although the 2016-17 version is an upgrade over previous years due to relentless conditioning efforts.
If you’re a casual fan and have never seen him play, you should make an effort before this season ends. You won’t regret it.
The moratorium is now restored, at least until the next night like this happens. I just hope I’m there when it does.