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Free throw line parade paces Clovers by Bulldogs
CLAYTON — Cloverdale advanced to the girls’ basketball sectional championship for the first time in school history on Friday night, defeating Monrovia 60-50 in a game which ended much better than it started.
The Bulldogs broke open a 4-4 tie with a 10-0 run in the first quarter and led 16-7 at the first stop.
Cloverdale coach Matthew Langdon, whose team also established a school record for wins with its 16th victory, played seven players on Friday — four of them being freshmen.
Well, maybe they’re freshmen in the program but not on the court.
“For us to fall behind that far, and to come back as such a young team shows a lot about this group,” Langdon said. “It’s different than most groups. They truly believe they are going to win until the end of the game.”
Langdon noted that Monrovia was hitting its shots early and his Clovers weren’t, but he never felt they were out of it.
“We used some crazy rotations that we haven’t used before and had girls playing in different spots,” he said. “We felt like, from what they were trying to take away, we had to go that way.”
One of the beneficiaries of the unusual rotations was freshman forward Sammie Shrum.
Shrum was having trouble connecting on her field goal attempts, going just 1 for 7 in the first half and finishing 2 for 11 on the night.
Her quickness allowed her to drive to the basket, and the Bulldogs insisted on fouling her. Shrum didn’t mind, calmly dropping 19 of 23 free throws to account for most of her game-high 23 points.
“She went to the line a lot, and that’s something we wanted her to do all along,” Langdon said.
How unconventional was this game for the Clovers? They normally begin full-court pressing shortly after departing the team bus, but Langdon actually took his team out of that alignment and had success with a halfcourt defense.
Freshman guard Madison Payne, who will undoubtedly have many battles with the Clover ninth-graders over the next several years, found her way through the press too many times.
“She was just beating us through the press and we just couldn’t get a stop,” Langdon said. “It was taking us a little bit out of position. We took off the press and had to grind it out.”
The Clovers scored the first six points of the second quarter on a free throw by freshman Lakkain Price, a trey from junior Abby Walker and a basket from senior Kelsey Helterbrand.
Shrum went 8 for 8 from the line in the second period as the Clovers assumed a 27-24 lead at the intermission.
The Bulldogs weren’t going away, however, playing the third quarter to a 12-12 draw and remaining three points behind going into the final period at 39-36.
Monrovia took its last lead at 36-34 on a Payne basket with 1:08 left, but Arianna McCracken (another freshman) hit a pair of free throws and Walker nailed another trey to put the Clovers ahead to stay.
Cloverdale put the game away by scoring the first 13 points of the fourth quarter, with Combs and Price getting two baskets each, Walker hitting another trey and Shrum hitting two more free throws with 4:25 to play.
The Clovers would then go more than three minutes without scoring, and Monrovia made things interesting by scoring the next 10 points to cut the gap to 52-46 with 1:30 left.
Cloverdale, which hit 29 of 38 free throws on the night, finally closed things out with Shrum hitting six free throws and Walker a pair in the final 1:07.
Neither team shot particularly well from the field, with the Clovers making 35 percent of their shots and Monrovia just 23 percent.
“We missed more shots than we would have liked,” Langdon admitted. “But I was pleased with how we dealt with them. Instead of fouling whoever got the rebound, we would work hard on defense to get a stop and get the ball back.”
Walker had 13 points and Combs 11 for the Clovers, while Price contributed seven points and six rebounds in an increased role due to some foul trouble.
“Lakkain Price and Arianna McCracken both came in and played bigger minutes than normal,” he said. “That was neat. We see somebody step up every night.
Langdon didn’t know which team his squad would play tonight, but knows his team would have to be ready regardless of the opponent..
“We’re going to enjoy this for a little while,” he said. “This is something our program has been waiting for, and we now we have a chance to get our first sectional title. Everybody is going to have a balanced game no matter who we play.”
MONROVIA (50) — Payne 4-10 0-0 8, Grimes 0-3 0-0 0, Swafford 1-13 0-0 2, Wilkinson 2-4 1-2 6, Whitney 5-12 2-4 12, Keen 4-5 4-4 15, Smith 2-10 2-2 6, Thomas 0-2 0-0 0, Palmer 0-0 1-2 1, Sears 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-60 FG, 10-15 FT, 50 TP
CLOVERDALE (60) — Combs 4-10 3-6 11, Walker 3-6 4-4 13, Shrum 2-11 19-23 23, Helterbrand 2-5 0-0 4, Thomas 0-4 0-1 0, McCracken 0-0 2-2 2, Price 3-4 1-2 7. Totals 14-40 FG, 29-38 FT, 60 TP
Monrovia 16 8 12 14 — 50
Cloverdale 7 20 12 21 — 60
3-point shooting — Monrovia 4-15 (Swafford 0-8, Wilkerson 1-1, Keen 3-4, Smith 0-2), Cloverdale 3-10 (Walker 3-6, Shrum 0-2, Thomas 0-2). Turnovers — Cloverdale 20, Monrovia 15.