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Clovers top NP in wild shootout
CLOVERDALE — North Putnam scored more than 20 points higher than its season average on Thursday night at Cloverdale and matched its best offensive production of the season with 74 points.
Those might seem like good numbers until factoring in that the Cougars ran into the high-octane Clovers — who buried 14 3-pointers and had four players in double figures on their way to a 92-78 victory.
“I’m proud of how we competed,” NP coach Collin McCartt said. “We came out strong in the first quarter and didn’t back down from them at all. We talked about that, how we gave them a really good run at our place last year, and then Cooper [Neese] got on a streak in the second quarter of the sectional last year and we didn’t recover.”
The Clovers posted a 21-18 lead after one period without any points from Neese, the state’s second-leading scorer.
Jalen Moore hit two treys, two baskets and two free throws for 12 first-quarter points, and the Clovers got treys from Nick Winders, Parker Watts and Jake Wilkes.
All five NP starters scored in the opening quarter, and for the second straight game valuable Cougar point guard Treyton Smith got in early foul trouble. Neese also picked up his second foul in the first quarter.
The Clovers poured in 21 more points in the second period, while North Putnam came through with 22 of its own to come within 42-40 at intermission.
Neese had five points in the second quarter for one of his least productive scoring halves of the season, being hounded by Duke Duff and also working to get the ball to open teammates.
“Duke did an outstanding job on Cooper in the first half,” McCartt said. “Obviously with Treyton picking up three fouls like that early, it changes the way we tried to play Jalen as quick and as good as he is.”
The third quarter, however, is where Cloverdale did serious offensive damage and solidified its seventh straight win.
Duff gradually got into foul trouble, and Neese became more aggressive offensively and scored half of his team’s 32 points in the period.
Neese started the half with a basket, and Moore followed with a pair of free throws. The points continued to drop in, as Moore hit back-back treys and Winders added a free throw before “Neese mode” officially kicked in.
A trey with 3:40 left in the period made it 59-47 Cloverdale, and after a Watts basket came a Neese 35-footer, a layup, two more free throws and a putback. Wilkes had a basket in the middle of that stretch, and for good measure Neese hit Seth Pfaff with pass for the team’s final points of the period with 47.5 seconds left.
Gross had seven more points in the period to give him 23 at that point, and he would add 10 more in the fourth period to finish with a team-high 33.
Cloverdale led 74-54 after three periods, and the Cougars again fought resiliently to the final whistle but had just too big of an obstacle to overcome in the last eight minutes.
Neese and Watts each hit treys in the final period and Moore hit five of six free throws in the final quarter to finish with a team-high 34.
“Guys are in the right position, and our coaches [Karl Turk, Daniel Varnes, Bryan Gerard and Greg Thomas] put these guys through a lot of game-like situation shooting drills since before Christmas,” Cloverdale coach Patrick Rady said. “That is really helping us, and I can tell the difference in all of our guys.”
Neese is continuing to evolve his game and re-invent his floor game as he continues to climb within the top 20 of the state’s top scorers.
“He’s really making some good decisions with the ball,” Rady said. “We like to play him in the middle of the floor, and he sees it really well. When the double team comes, he’s making the right reads.”
Sophomore Parker Watts has continued his progression through the middle part of the Clover season, scoring 11 points and earning praise from his coach.
“Parker has had two really good weeks of practice, and it has shown in the games,” Rady said. “We are big believers that you play how you practice, and he’s playing with a lot of confidence right now. We’re getting better offensively every day, but our defense still has us concerned.”
Rady’s post defenders had a monumental task on Thursday night in the 6-foot-2 Gross, not one of the taller players the Clovers have run across but unquestionably one of the most relentless and one with a knack for finding the open seam and getting to the basket.
“I was pleased with our defense in the third quarter,” Rady said. “We didn’t give them the clean looks they did earlier. Gross is an outstanding player.”
Wilkes added 10 points for the Clovers and Winders had nine, as the notion of the two-man team has been buried.
Preston Porter hit five 3-pointers and finished with 16 points for the Cougars, while Smith had and Duff had nine.
McCartt knows his team is going to have to find a way to limit the Clover attack over the next couple of months as tournament time approaches.
“We know who we’re going to have to get through to win championships, either the county or the sectional,” he said.
NORTH PUTNAM (78) — Smith 2 6-6 11, Porter 5 1-2 16, Gross 14 5-6 33, Duff 3 3-6 9, Judy 2 0-0 4, Webster 0 0-0 0, Mitchel 0 2-2 2, Pickel 0 0-0 0, C.Duncan 1 0-0 3, Kendall 0 0-0 0, Rude 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 FG, 17-22 FT, 78 TP
CLOVERDALE (92) — Neese 8 6-8 25, Winders 3 1-2 9, Watts 4 1-2 11, Miller 0 0-0 0, Wilkes 4 0-2 10, Kelly 0 1-2 1, Rossok 0 0-0 0, Pfaff 1 0-2 2, Moore 10 9-11 34, Hall 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 FG, 18-29 FT, 92 TP
North Putnam 18 22 14 24 — 78
Cloverdale 21 21 32 18 — 92
3-point goals — Smith, Porter 5, Neese 3, Winders 2, Watts 2, Wilkes 2, Moore 5.
Next game — Cloverdale (12-5) plays at Clay City on Saturday. North Putnam (5-10) plays at Owen Valley on Jan. 27 in the Western Indiana Conference crossover round for 10th place.