PREP ROUNDUP: Clovers improve to 3-0; Cougars fall to Athenians

CLOVERDALE — Cloverdale got huge games from several different players in defeating North Central 89-56 on Tuesday night to improve to 3-0 on the season.

Tori Combs scored 28 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to pace the Clovers, while Sammie Shrum had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Hailey Thomas and Arianna McCracken each added 13 points.

“This was a really good win for us,” Cloverdale coach Matthew Langdon said. “North Central has two really talented freshmen. A lot of credit goes to them, and they play a really upbeat style of game.

“Our girls did a great job of adjusting when we tried to slow it down,” he added. “From talking to their coach before the game, we thought it was going to be the first team to 80 would win. Arianna McCracken did a great job on their point guard and played a great game.”

Langdon also thought that Combs and Shrum did a great job on the inside.

“They were beasts, and did a great job of driving to the basket,” he said. “They both had double-doubles, and combined for 53 points. Hailey Thomas hit some threes for us, and we put Abby Walker on their shooter and she did a great job on defense.”

Thomas also had eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals, while Shrum had five assists and Lakkain Price had three steals.

NORTH CENTRAL (56) — Valentine 3 1-2 7, Davidson 3 0-0 8, Cox 5 0-3 11, Williams 4 2-2 11, Baker 0 0-0 0, Shroyer 7 4-6 18, Stone 0 1-2 1. Totals 22 FG, 8-15 FT, 56 TP

CLOVERDALE (89) — McCracken 5-8 0-2 13, Shrum 11-19 3-6 25, Wade 0-3 2-2 2, Walker 1-15 1-2 4, Couch 0-1 0-0 0. Combs 13-17 2-3 28, Thomas 5-12 0-0 13, Shoemaker 1-1 0-0 2, Price 1-4 0-0 2, Shedron 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-71 FG, 8-15 FT 89 TP

North Central 19 14 12 11 — 56

Cloverdale 17 21 30 21 — 89

3-point shooting — North Central 4 (Davidson 2, Cox, Williams), Cloverdale 7-24 (McCracken 3-3, Wade 0-1, Walker 1-14, Thomas 3-6).

Next game — Cloverdale (3-0) hosts Shakamak on Saturday night.

In other action:

• Crawfordsville 49, North Putnam 46 — At Bainbridge, a fourth-quarter rally came up short for the North Putnam Cougars as Crawfordsville held on for 39-36 girls’ basketball victory Tuesday night.

Trailing by eight points heading into the final period, the Cougars rallied behind four points from Baylee Osburn and two each from Clarissa Gibson and Payton Lyons to outscore the visitors 10-5 but could get no closer than the final score.

The loss dropped the Cougars to 1-1 on the young season, the same mark as the Athenians.

North Putnam led at the first break, 9-8, but could not contain Addie Laskowski in the second period as she put up 13 of her game-high 15 points in the quarter, including three threes. That outburst allowed Crawfordsville to grab a 23-17 halftime lead.

The teams essentially traded baskets in the third period with Kinzey Young coming alive for the Cougars, getting four of her eight points on the night. But at the end of three quarters Crawfordsville led 34-26.

Osburn led the Cougars on the night with nine points, while Young had eight and Gibson scored seven.

CRAWFORDSVILLE (39) — Viveros 1, Francis 1, Barnett 2, Kellerman 7, Simmons 7, Laskowski 15, Walbert 2, Lynas 2, Livesay 2, Tomlinson 0.

NORTH PUTNAM (36) — Simmerman 2, Sims 2, Runnells 0, Young 8, Osburn 9, Lyons 2, Day 6, Gibson 7, Tennis 0, O’Neal 0.

Crawfordsville 8 15 11 5 -- 39

North Putnam 9 8 9 10 -- 36

3-point goals — Laskowski 3.