Clover seniors exit in style, rout Lakers

Monday, February 20, 2017

Clovers swish 14 of 25 treys; Wilkes scores 13

CLOVERDALE — Cloverdale took care of business Saturday night, wrapping up the regular-season schedule of the boys’ high school basketball season with a ho-hum 84-45 senior night victory while anticipating of the IHSAA Tournament draw on Sunday.

In front of a nearly packed gym that included former Indiana Mr. Basketball and current Utah Jazz player Trey Lyles, Cooper Neese and Jalen Moore combined for 64 points and a second-half shooting exhibition that put the “wow” factor into a blowout.

Neese, who passed former Marion star and current Indiana University guard James Blackmon Jr. on the career scoring list, hit 11 of 19 shots en route to 30 points. Neese’s 7-of-8 shooting from 3-point range (including a couple from the volleyball court line) put an exclamation point into his final game on Cloverdale’s Tucker Court.

Neese enters the sectional ninth on the career scoring list with 2,406, trailing Alan Henderson, former Brebeuf Jesuit and IU star, by 13 points.

Moore paced all scorers with 34 points on 14-of-24 shooting from the floor, including a 5 of 9 on 3-pointers. The junior guard hit 4 of 6 threes in the fourth quarter. But he also had four steals in the season finale.

But that was your normal Cloverdale homecourt victory. The play of Cloverdale’s 6-3 Jake Wilkes and the Clovers’ defense against the Lakers (13-9) leaped out to coach Patrick Rady.

Wilkes, a sophomore, scored 13 points, hitting 1 of 2 three-point attempts, grabbed seven rebounds, blocked five shots and had two steals in an all-around performance that coach Rady hopes to see on a regular basis.

“This is [Wilkes’] third year of playing organized basketball. He wrestled when he was younger. He’s getting better from a team defense concept and those kind of things. But he’s an energy guy and I think you got to have some energy guys to get hands on balls, rebounds, deflections. He’s the kind of guy who just lifts you up. His motor is always on high,” Rady said.

On the defensive end, Cloverdale held Shakamak 10 points below its season scoring average. The Lakers’ Tanner Yeryar started the night averaging 22 points a game, but netting just 17 on 6-of-17 shooting against the Clovers.

Cloverdale put this victory away in the first half before Neese and Moore got warmed up. Moore had 14 points and Neese 10 at halftime and Cloverdale led 36-13. The Clovers held the Lakers to 1-for-12 shooting in the second quarter.

In addition to Neese and Moore, Cloverdale got scoring from senior Seth Pfaff, who stepped outside to hit a three, and Wilkes while building a 15-6 first quarter lead.

“Everybody thinks it’s just about those two (Neese and Moore). Jalen and Cooper would be the first to tell you that they want to win, they want to go as far as we can in this tournament. They know we need five guys working as one on this floor,” Rady said.

Cloverdale blew the game open in the second half, outscoring Shakamak 28-16 in the third quarter to take a 64-29 lead into the final eight minutes. The Clovers, who shot 55 percent (33-60) for the game, hit 18 of 31 shots from the floor the second half.

Neese and his Pfaff left the court to a standing ovation in the final minutes of the contest.

SHAKAMAK (45) — West 3-10 0-0 8, Townsend 2-2 1-4 5, Gilbert 3-10 1-2 8, Landry 1-3 0-0 2, Yeryar 6-17 3-4 17, Webb 1-1 0-0 2, Crane 1-2 0-0 3, Pilant 0-1 0-0 0, Dicus 0-2 0-0 0, Webb 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 FG, 5-10 FT, 45 TP.

CLOVERDALE (84) — Neese 11-19 1-2 30, Winders 0-2 0-2 0, Pfaff 2-6 0-0 5, Wilkes 5-6 2-3 13, Moore 14-24 1-2 34, Watts 0-0 0-0 0, Kelley 0-0 0-0 0, Blevins 0-1 0-0 0, Rossok 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 33-66 FG, 4-9 FT, 84 TP.

Shakamak 6 7 16 16 — 45

Cloverdale 15 21 28 20 — 84

3Pt. FG: Shak 6-17 (Yeryar 2-5, West 2-5, Crane 1-2, Gilbert 1-3, Pilant 0-1, Landry 0-2), Cd 14-25 (Neese 7-10, Moore 5-9, Wilkes 1-2, Pfaff 1-3, Winders 0-1). Total fouls: Shak 9, Cd 10. Turnovers: Shak 11, Cd 1. Rebounds: Shak 29 (Gilbert, Yeryar 7), Cd 35 (Neese 9, Wilkes 7).

Next game — Cloverdale (18-6) is idle until sectional play. Shakamak fell to 13-9.

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