Clovers, Mustangs split WIC contests

Saturday, December 2, 2017

ELLETTSVILLE — The Cloverdale basketball teams saw their fortunes go in opposite directions Friday night, splitting the opening doubleheader of Western Indiana Conference action with Edgewood.

The Clover girls topped the Mustangs 54-29, while in the boys’ game Edgewood won 78-60.

In the girls’ game, the Clovers (8-1, 1-0 WIC) harassed the Mustangs (5-5, 0-1 WIC) into a paltry 18 percent (9-of-49) shooting on the night, including allowing only 4-of-25 from the three-point line.

“This was a good conference win for us. There are no easy games on our side of the conference,” Cloverdale head coach Matthew Langdon said.

The defensive pressure allowed Cloverdale to jump out to a 9-0 lead early. The Clovers then cruised to a 22-7 first quarter lead.

Hailey Thomas scored eight of her 13 points in the first quarter, including two from behind the arc to lead the way.

“Hailey Thomas stepped up and knocked down some shots,” Langdon said. “She handled the ball well for us.”

The Mustangs found the Clover defense even more suffocating in the second quarter. The Clovers extended their lead to 32-9 at the half, holding Edgewood to 1-of-12 shooting in the period.

Tori Combs boosted the Clovers on the offensive end with eight of her team-high 18 points. The double-double machine also pulled down 16 rebounds for the game.

“We steadily built the lead, not because we got hot or anything, but because we held them to three points for a long time, then nine for the half,” Langdon said.

The two teams played an even third quarter, scoring 10 points each. Cloverdale wasn’t shooting the ball particularly well for the game, but was able to hold down the Mustangs and do enough on the offensive end to maintain its advantage.

The Clovers led 42-19 heading into the final stanza.

“Even on bad shooting nights we’ve got to be able to hold teams down. I was really proud of that,” Langdon said. “Hustle plays were key. We saw it all night long. We really worked hard.”

The two teams played out the fourth quarter with the Clovers further extending their lead to the final margin of 54-29. The Clover offense wasn’t as explosive as it has been in other games, only hitting 21-of-61 shots from the field, but outrebounded the Mustangs 50 to 32.

“We missed a lot of layups tonight. Edgewood causes that with their aggressive man-to-man defense,” Langdon said.

Melea Shockney led the Mustangs with 18 points as the only Edgewood player in double figures.

“Shockney is a good player, she can shoot and drive the ball,” Langdon said.

Backing up Combs’ double-double, Thomas added 13 points and Laikkan Price pulled down 10 rebounds.

“Tonight was all about defense,” Langdon said. “We’ve been working on defense for a couple of weeks. We haven’t liked some things we have seen. They really stepped up tonight.”

In the boys’ game, the Mustang boys shot over 50 percent from the field and dominated the Clovers on the boards on the way to the 78-60 win.

“We left their shooters open, right now we are not a very good defensive team. We are not a tough basketball team. We have got to fix that,” Cloverdale head coach Patrick Rady said.

The Clovers (0-2, 0-1 WIC) opened the game competing well. Jake Wilkes came off the bench early in the quarter and led the way with eight of his 14 points. The junior hit a couple of three-pointers and rebound baskets to keep Cloverdale within striking distance.

Edgewood’s Chayton Howard matched Wilkes with eight points of his own to give the Mustangs (1-2, 1-0 WIC) a 19-14 first quarter lead.

The second quarter saw the Clovers cut into the lead a couple of times. Cloverdale’s Jalen Moore hit a layup and a couple of free throws to pull within three at 21-18.

The Mustangs reeled off seven unanswered points to boost their lead back to 28-18, but the Clovers weren’t quitting yet.

Edgewood had taken its lead to 34-22 before the Clovers ripped off a 10-2 run to end the half, highlighted by a buzzer-beating trey by Nolan Kelley off a beautiful feed from Moore. Cloverdale trailed only 36-32 at the break.

“In the first half our offensive spacing was better, we were able to get to the free throw line,” Rady said.

The third quarter was a shootout between Cloverdale’s Moore and the Mustangs freshman Trevor Taylor. Moore scored all 17 points for the Clovers, while Taylor scored 10 of his team-high 25 points in the period. The two players scored in myriad of ways, both of them driving to the bucket, shooting the trey and getting to the foul line.

Unfortunately for the Clovers, Taylor had some offensive help in the quarter. Cam Banister had eight of his 21 points and Tate Balcam added all five of his points in the quarter. The Mustangs slowly pulled further ahead as they finished the third quarter with a 60-49 lead.

The Clovers were outrebounded 10-4 in the period. A lot of those were offensive rebounds, which Rady said really hurt Cloverdale.

“They beat us on the boards. They got 11 points on offensive rebounds, which is way too many.”

Edgewood controlled the tempo in the fourth quarter and pulled further away, setting the final margin of 78-60. The Mustangs slowed the pace and forced the Clovers to foul them down the stretch and they converted. Edgewood hit 12-of-15 free throws in the period.

Cloverdale couldn’t get enough stops or put together an offensive run to challenge the Mustangs.

“I thought we settled for shots way to quick in the second half,” Rady said. “But it’s a long season and you never can accept losing. We had another team expose what we have to work on.”

Taylor led the Mustangs with 25 points, while Banister supported him with 21 of his own. Chayton Howard added 13 for Edgewood.

Moore led all scorers with 33 points and Wilkes chipped in with 14.

“They were the tougher team tonight. There is no doubt about it,” Rady said. “That is disappointing, but we will work on it.”

The Clover girls will have a week off until next Friday when they travel to Indian Creek for another WIC Eastern division game.

Cloverdale’s boys are back in action tonight, hosting Southmont.

Girls’ Game

CLOVERDALE (54) – McCracken 1-6 0-0 3, Shrum 3-15 1-2 7, Walker 2-5 0-0 6, Combs 9-15 0-0 18, Thomas 4-11 2-2 13, Price 1-4 3-6 5, Shedron 0-1 0-0 0, Wade 0-2 0-0 0, Shoemaker 1-1 0-0 2, Couch 0-1 0-0 0 Totals 21-61 FG, 6-10 FT, 54 TP.

EDGEWOOD (29) – Anderson 1-11 0-0 2, Shockney 4-16 6-8 18, Minnick 1-5 0-2 2, Acuff 2-13 1-1 5, Huebner 1-1 0-2 2, Gardiner 0-1 0-0 0, Farley 0-1 0-0 0, Robertson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 9-49 FG, 7-13 FT, 29 TP.

Cloverdale 22 10 10 12 – 54
Edgewood 7 2 10 10 – 29

3-point shooting – CHS 6-18 (Shrum 0-5, Walker 2-4, McCracken 1-1, Wade 0-1, Thomas 3-6, Shedron 0-1), EHS 4-25 (Anderson 0-9, Shockney 4-10, Minnick 0-1, Acuff 0-4, Gardiner 0-1) REB – CHS 50 (McCracken 6, Shrum 4, Walker 2, Combs 16, Thomas 4, Price 10, Wade 3, Shoemaker 1, Shedron 1, Couch 1), EHS 32 (Anderson 6, Schockney 6, Minnick 5, Acuff 5, Huebner 1, Gardiner 2, Farley 2, Robertson 2), FG Pct. – CHS 34.4, EHS 18.4. FT Pct. – CHS 60.0, EHS 53.8. Turnovers – CHS 17, EHS 20.

Boys’ Game

CLOVERDALE (60) – Moore 12-26 7-11 33, J. Kelley 2-4 0-0 6, N. Kelley 1-2 0-0 3, Miller 0-0 1-2 1, Watts 1-2 0-0 3, Winders 0-1 0-0 0, Wilkes 5-11 2-2 14, Sims 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-46 FG, 10-15 FT, 60 TP.

EDGEWOOD (78) – Taylor 9-16 5-6 25, Banister 7-10 7-8 21, Kido 1-3 0-0 2, Collier 1-4 2-2 4, Howard 5-12 1-2 13, Holmes 0-0 1-2 1, Harrington 1-3 0-0 3, Cowden 1-2 1-2 4, Balcam 2-2 0-0 5, Schwartz 0-0 0-0 0, Rogers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 FG, 17-22 FT, 78 TP.

Cloverdale 14 18 17 11 – 60
Edgewood 19 17 24 18 – 78

3-point shooting – CHS 8-21 (Moore 2-8, J. Kelley 2-3, N. Kelley 1-2, Watts 1-1, Winders 0-1, Wilkes 2-6), EHS 7-20 (Taylor 2-7, Kido 0-1, Collier 0-1, Howard 2-6, Harrington 1-3, Cowden 1-1, Balcam 1-1) REB – CHS 21 (Moore 5, J. Kelley 1, N. Kelley 1, Miller 2, Winders 2, Wilkes 7), EHS 33 (Taylor 7, Kido 4, Collier 4, Howard 5, Harrington 7, Cowden 3, Balcam 1), FG Pct. – CHS 45.7, EHS 51.9. FT Pct. – CHS 66.7, EHS 77.3. Turnovers – CHS 10, EHS 8.

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