Cooper, Moore lead Clovers past Patriots

Friday, January 6, 2017

SPENCER — The Cloverdale Clovers boys’ basketball team won three of four games over the holidays in the First Financial Classic.

According to head coach Patrick Rady, the Clovers maintained that good play and used that confidence for an 80-64 Western Indiana Conference win over the Owen Valley Patriots on Friday night.

The host team won the girls’ game 62-50 after jumping out to a 16-0 lead.

“We really used the momentum from the holidays to get off to a good start. They were really keying on [Cooper] Neese and we had some other kids really step up. I thought Nick [Winders] and Seth [Pfaff] really stepped up in the first quarter,” Rady said.

The Patriots came out and dedicated two defenders to the Butler recruit and state’s second-leading scorer. The Clovers made them pay for that strategy. Winders, Pfaff and Neese all scored six points each in the first quarter and the Clovers led 20-14 after one period.

The Clovers really picked up the defensive intensity in the second quarter. The Clovers pressured the Patriots into a poor shooting second quarter. Owen Valley hit only 3-of-14 field goals in the quarter as the Cloverdale extended its lead to 39-14 at the half.

“The second quarter our defense was really, really good. We want to build on that. We want to guard better in the halfcourt. It was a positive to see that,” Rady said.

The Clovers never really let the Patriots back into the game. They continued to pile up the points in the third quarter. The Clovers hit 8-of-16 shots in the period as they extended their lead to 54-31 at one point, before closing the quarter leading, 60-41.

“We want to get out in transition and run. We have found our identity and that is to run,” Rady said.

Cloverdale closed the game without allowing the Patriots to get any closer than 13 points. The Clovers improved their record to 9-5 on the season and 2-2 in WIC play. Owen Valley fell to 3-8 and 1-4 in the conference.

The Clovers will travel to New Castle today to play in the largest high school gym in the country against Franklin Co. (Ky).

“It is a real honor to go to New Castle and represent, not only Cloverdale, but the state of Indiana,” Rady said.

In the girls’ game, the Clovers’ game plan didn’t exactly work out as planned, as the Patriots started the game on a 16-0 run and used that start to build a big first-half lead.

“We knew coming in we couldn’t let them go on runs and it is exactly what happened. Give [Owen Valley] a lot of credit, they are a good team,” Cloverdale head coach Matthew Langdon said.

The loss drops the Clovers to 10-6 on the season and 1-3 in the East Division. Owen Valley improved to 14-4 on the season and 3-1 in conference play.

The Patriots pressured the Clovers in the first quarter, forcing Cloverdale into nine turnovers in the period.

Cloverdale also only hit 1-of-9 field goals and 2-of-6 from the line.

The Patriots turned their defensive pressure into offense. Dazia Drake scored 10 of her team-high 20 points in the quarter as Owen Valley hit 10-of-17 from the field during the hot start.

Langdon said that had the Clovers hit some shots early, the game might have been different.

“We had some layups and easy shots early and they didn’t go down. Had we hit those, it is an eight or ten-point game and you can come back from that,” Langdon said of his team trailing 23-4 at the end of the quarter.

The Patriots kept the pressure up in the second quarter as they extended their lead to 38-10 at the half. The Clovers’ cold shooting continued as they only hit on 4-of-21 from the field in the half.

Owen Valley jumped out again early in the third quarter and extended the lead to 48-12, their biggest of the game and continued to maintain the big lead to end of the quarter. The Patriots led 55-22 heading into the fourth quarter, but Langdon was happy how his team responded in the fourth period.

The Clovers kept fighting and outscored Owen Valley 28-7 in the final stanza.

“This group responds well. They respond like no other group I have been around. To be down almost 40 points and keep fighting is great. They really represent Cloverdale. All the coaches and staff are proud of how we showed,” Langdon said.

Cloverdale’s double-double machine, Tori Combs, scored 15 of her game-high 22 points in the quarter. The sophomore finished with 14 rebounds as well.

Drake led the Patriots with 20 points, while Lauren Godwin added 18 for Owen Valley.

The Clovers will regroup as they travel to West Vigo next Tuesday.

Boys’ game

CLOVERDALE (80) – Neese 11-19 0-0 28, Winders 4-8 0-3 10, Wilkes 4-6 0-0 8, Pfaff 3-10 0-0 6, Moore 9-17 6-8 26, Watts 0-4 0-0 0, Kelley 1-1 0-0 2, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Rossok 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-65 FG, 6-11 FT, 80 TP.

OWEN VALLEY (64) – Light 5-15 4-6 16, Heckman 12-16 0-0 25, Arthur 5-6 0-0 12, Wood 1-3 0-0 3, Herrington 2-8 1-2 5, Wrightsman 1-5 1-1 3, N. Boyd 0-1 0-0 0, Marsh 0-0 0-0 0, Head 0-0 0-0 0, Arms 0-0 0-0 0, C. Boyd 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 FG, 6-9 FT, 64 TP.

Cloverdale20 19 21 20 – 80
Monrovia14 8 19 23 – 64

3-point shooting – CHS 10-29 (Neese 6-12, Winders 2-4, Wilkes 0-1, Pfaff 0-2, Moore 2-7, Watts 0-3), OV 6-21 (Light 2-9, Heckman 1-1, Arthur 2-2, Wood 1-3, Herrington 0-4, Wrightsman 0-1, N. Boyd 0-1 REB – CHS 36 (Neese 12, Winders 6, Wilkes 2, Pfaff 6, Moore 4, Kelley 2), OV 27 (Light 2, Heckman 3, Arthur 7, Wood 1, Herringon 1, Wrightsman 6, N. Boyd 3), FG Pct. – CHS 49.2, OV 48.1. FT Pct. – CHS 54.5, OV 66.7. Turnovers – CHS 4, OV 10.

Next game — Cloverdale (9-5) plays Franklin County (Ky.) at 3 p.m. today at New Castle. Owen Valley fell to 3-8.

Girls’ game

CLOVERDALE (50) – Shrum 2-10 2-5 6, Thomas 0-3 8-11 8, Combs 9-16 4-11 22, Helterbrand 1-2 0-0 2, McCracken 0-3 0-2 0, Price 2-20 0-0 4, Meek 3-4 0-0 7, Walker 0-5 1-2 1, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-41 FG, 15-31 FT, 50 TP.

OWEN VALLEY (62) – Drake 7-8 2-4 20, Cattorini 4-9 1-2 9, Schafer 1-6 1-2 3, Godwin 7-11 4-4 18, Herrington 2-5 0-0 5, Mitchell 1-5 0-0 3, Johnson 0-1 0-1 0, Wesley 1-2 0-3 3, Truax 0-0 0-0 0, Richardson 0-0 0-0 0, Farris 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 23-48 FG, 9-18 FT, 62 TP.

Cloverdale 4 6 12 28 – 50
Monrovia 23 15 17 7 – 62

3-point shooting – CHS 1-10 (Meek 1-2, Thomas 0-3, McCracken 0-1, Walker 0-4), OV 7-14 (Drake 4-4, Schafer 0-2, Herrington 1-3, Mitchell 1-3, Wesley 1-2). REB – CHS 31 (Shrum 1, Thomas 2, Combs 14, Helterbrand 1, McCracken 1, Walker 2, Meek 2, Simpson 1), OV 36 (Drake 2, Cattorini 4, Schafer 7, Godwin 8, Herrington 1, Mitchell 5, Johnson 3, Truax 1, Farris 1), FG Pct. – CHS 41.5, OV 47.9. FT Pct. – CHS 48.4, OV 50.0. Turnovers – CHS 21, OV 23.

Next game — Cloverdale (10-7) plays at West Vigo on Tuesday. Owen Valley improved to 14-4.

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