Clovers finish strong for victory

Friday, January 27, 2017
Sammie Shrum makes a reverse layup against South Putnam on Thursday.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

Clovers win series 2-1 over Eagles

Cloverdale wrapped up its regular season and won the rubber game of three encounters with South Putnam on Thursday night by defeating the Eagles 73-55 in a deceiving score.

A pair of Lexi Vanihel free throws with 4:49 left brought South Putnam within seven at 55-48, but the Clovers dominated the remainder of the game by an 18-7 margin to record the win.

“It kind of got out of hand in the last six minutes or so,” South Putnam coach Brian Gardner said. “When one team shoots 33 free throws [Cloverdale] and the other shoots nine, that means that we aren’t attacking the rim like we need to be.

“We were more hesitant than I have seen us in that area,” Gardner continued. “That puts you in bad spots where they can get turnovers. That hurt us at the end of the game.”

Cloverdale’s Tori Combs got the first basket of the game before South Putnam used an energetic start by junior Lillie Stein to go up 6-2. Stein had two baskets after one by Jess Vensko, but the Clovers quickly got a trey from Abby Walker and a basket from Kelsey Helterbrand to retain the lead.

Lexi Vanihel goes up to make a layup against Cloverdale on Thursday.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

Walker and Arianna McCracken each hit treys over the last half of the period, which saw the Clovers take a 19-14 lead at the first stop.

South Putnam got its long distance game going in the second quarter, getting a pair of treys from Miranda Bieghler and one from Vanihel to pull even at halftime.

Bieghler hit a trey at the buzzer after driving the length of the floor unguarded for a 27-27 tie.

The Eagles crept back ahead for a short while, getting a basket from Ally Nichols to go up 31-30 with 6:30 left in the third period. After a basket by Cloverdale’s Sammie Shrum, Vanihel hit a basket plus a free throw for South Putnam’s final lead of the night at 34-32.

Walker, who had missed several games due to injury, hit a trey and a pair of free throws to put her team back ahead to satay at 37-34.

Cloverdale coach Matthew Langdon wishes Walker had not missed so much action, but thinks the necessity of the others to have to step up may have helped the team overall.

Tori Combs brings the ball upcourt after getting a rebound against South Putnam.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

“I wanted Abby to come back to a better team,” he said. “We wanted other girls to step up, and they did. Now she’s hitting her stride.”

South Putnam plays a lot of man-to-man defense, Langdon noted, and for Walker to hit five threes in that setting shows her progress.

“She’s been primarily a zone shooter,” Langdon noted. “That was really big for her to make threes in a different setting.”

Tori Combs, the relentless Clover sophomore who does not possess a low gear, had three straight baskets to help close out the third period with Cloverdale ahead 47-42 at the final stop.

Combs sandwiched a pair of baskets around another Walker trey early in the fourth period for a 54-44 lead, and a pair of Stein free throws before Vanihel’s pair kept the Eagles close.

After that 55-48 margin, however, it was all Clovers. Hailey Thomas hit a free throw, followed by a Shrum basket and pair of free throws for a 5-0 run.

Helterbrand hit two free throws before another Walker trey to expand the lead to 15, and after a Vanihel trey the Clovers got a basket from Shrum, two more from Combs and a free throw from Thomas for a 7-0 run to break things open for good.

Langdon has placed a high importance on his team’s start to the game, and getting 19 points in the first quarter was exactly what he was hoping would happen.

“The first two games we played against them were played at their speed,” said Langdon, whose team prefers a fast pace. “To be able to put 19 points up in the first quarter is huge for us, and to get the game how we wanted it to be, paid dividends for us at the end of the game. I think we were able to wear them down a little bit.”

Combs had 25 points and 12 rebounds for yet another double-double — a category in which she ranks 12th in the state.

Walker added 18 points, while Helterbrand had 11 and Shrum chipped in with 10.

Stein led South Putnam with 14, while Bieghler had 12 and Vanihel and Nichols each had 10.

The Clovers connected on just 15 of their 33 free throw attempts, something Langdon wants to cure prior to the sectional. Turnovers have been a problem for the Clovers at times this year, but they had only nine.

CLOVERDALE (73) — Combs 11-19 3-9 25, Walker 5-9 3-4 18, Helterbrand 4-5 3-4 11, Thomas 1-6 2-5 5, Shrum 3-9 4-6 10, Price 0-1 0-0 0, McCracken 1-3 1-4 4, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0, Meek 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-52 FG, 15-33 FT, 73 TP

SOUTH PUTNAM (55) — Bieghler 4-11 1-2 12, Stein 6-14 2-2 14, Vanihel 3-6 2-2 10, Vensko 1-3 0-0 2, Nichols 5-6 0-0 10, Capps 2-4 0-0 4, Boswell 0 2-2 2, Barker 0-4 0-0 0, Hill 0 0-0 0. Totals 21-47 FG, 8-9 FT, 55 TP

Cloverdale 19 8 20 26 — 73

South Putnam 14 13 15 13 — 55

3-point shooting — Cloverdale 7-18 (Walker 5-9, Thomas 1-5, McCracken 1-3), South Putnam 5-15 (Bieghler 3-5, Stein 0-5, Vanihel 2-3, Barker 0-2).

Next game — Cloverdale (14-8) plays North Putnam at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in the Cascade Seciotnal. South Putnam (12-10) plays Southmont in the 7:30 game on Tuesday at Cascade.

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