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BENNETT'S MINUTES: Moore-York battle one of best EVER
CLOVERDALE – Those of us fortunate enough to be at Cloverdale on Saturday night witnessed history being made.
After seeing Cloverdale’s Jalen Moore score 53 points and Greencastle’s Colin York pour in 40, we knew it was something special. We just had no idea at the time how special it was.
Leigh Evans, operator of the popular high school basketball site hickoryhusker.com, is to past records and history of the game what John Harrell is to up-to-the-minute scores, conference/sectional standings and statistical analysis.
Upon checking with Leigh, it turns out that only five times in the history of Indiana high school basketball have two players combined for more than 93 points in the same game.
The highest recorded total ever came just six years ago, as Victor Vincz of Eastern Hancock had 52 points and Mitch Yeagy of Alexandria had 51 in a game won 92-91 by Eastern Hancock for an amazing total of 103 points.
Ranking second on the list is a 100-point 1958-59 game between Ray Pavy of New Castle (51) and Jimmy Rayl of Kokomo (49), which is even more amazing considering the 3-point shot was decades away from becoming a rule.
Ranking third is a 2013-14 game in which current Xavier standout Trevon Bluiett of Park Tudor (51) and current Denver Nuggets’ star Trey Lyles (45) of Indianapolis Tech hooked up for 96 points. Ironically, Lyles is a close friend of Moore’s and has been a visitor to Clover games whenever his schedule allows.
Tying that game for third is a 1969-70 game between Paul Wolfe (50) and Tom Holmes (46) of Eastbrook.
In fifth place is a game from the 1983 single-class state finals in which James Blackmon Sr. of Marion (52) and Troy Lewis of Anderson (42) hooked up in a double-overtime game. Moore’s principal, Sonny Stoltz, was in attendance at that game.
And that’s it.
It’s always possible that others could have taken place which haven’t been reported to the Hickory Husker site, but with numerous members from all corners of the state making contributions the lists there are very accurate and thorough. If there are missing games, there likely aren’t very many.
I’ve been going to high school basketball games for probably about 50 years now, and until 54 weeks ago hadn’t seen a 50-point game. It’s possible I was at a 1974 game in which Terre Haute North’s Nate Mills scored 52 points against Evansville Harrison or a 1989 game in which THN’s Mark Hisle had 56 against West Vigo, but I don’t recall for sure.
I vividly recall being at Southmont on Dec. 3, 2016, when Cloverdale’s Cooper Neese poured in 53 points against Southmont. Moore matched that total on Saturday with nine in the first quarter, 11 in the second quarter, 13 in the third quarter and 20 in the fourth quarter of an 80-66 win.
The greatest fear is that York’s best game ever would be overlooked in the shadows of Moore’s bigger numbers.
So, we’ll start with him.
York missed his first three shots from the field, all 3-pointers, and then did what few players today ever do – he adjusted his game to help him get in the flow. York temporarily turned off his 3-point shot and went “old school” by driving inside the arc and connecting on a series of mid-range jumpers, “teardrops” and bank shots in the lane.
He should have been wearing No. 15 in maroon and gold instead of No. 10 in purple and gray. Colin York became Jimmy Chitwood of “Hoosiers” fame.
Not that he totally eliminated the 3-pointer from his arsenal, though. York finished the hitting 6 of 13 from behind the arc once he got going, and was 16 of 24 overall. Yep, that’s 10 of 11 from 2-point range.
On a second-quarter free throw, York also surpassed the 1,000-point career scoring plateau. But he would have traded all those numbers for a W.
York is a six-foot, 140- pounder who doesn’t possess the quickness of the similarly-sized Moore.
Moore hit just 3 of 11 treys on the night, but was 16 of 21 from 2-point range and his usual 12 of 13 from the line. His quickness was the difference on Saturday night, both in his ability to make steals out of the Cloverdale 2-2-1 press and convert into layups and his drives to the basket that wound up with a layup, a free throw or both.
York has shot 29 free throws in his team’s seven games this season, hitting 27 of them for 93 percent. Moore has hit 82 of 97 free throws (85 percent).
Although both players are adept with using both hands, Moore’s dominant left hand is an advantage for him – as are his ability to draw fouls from making good fakes to displace defenders and his uncanny knack of judging angles and getting shots up at the basket following contact.
The biggest thing they both have in common is something that fans attending games never see – they both work their butts off to be great. And we’re not talking about staying after practice for five minutes to shoot worthless halfcourt shots.
York is a common visitor to McAnally Center before school, honing his shot in the solitude of the cavernous gymnasium.
Moore’s coach, Patrick Rady, acknowledges that his senior standout “blows up his phone” with requests via text to work on his game.
The success of these hard-working young men makes the next question even more mysterious – why aren’t colleges even bigger fans of them as potential recruits?
York has heard from many NAIA and Division III schools, and will make one of them happy next year.
Perhaps the only difference in this area is that York has played on a summer travel team with area players such as Southmont’s Cam Chadd, Tri-West’s Tyler Watson and Alec Burton of Danville.
Moore, meanwhile, has not competed in the summer travel circuit and has had less exposure to colleges. St. Francis of Fort Wayne (an NAIA school) is very interested in Moore; others will be sure to follow.
Those decisions will come eventually, but they both have bigger fish to fry before then. They could meet again in the championship game of the county tournament in February, if they both win their first-round games.
A less likely meeting could take place in the Western Indiana Conference crossover round if both schools finish in the same spot in their divisional standings.
Their schools are in different enrollment classifications, preventing a meeting there. The tourney records of their schools are also quite different. Greencastle has lost its sectional opener for the past five years; Cloverdale is undefeated in sectional play during Moore’s three years.
This will be, of course, Moore’s first tournament run without Neese as his sidekick. Moore has quickly dispelled this year any notion that he would have trouble scoring due to being the primary focus of opposing defenses.
York will do everything he can to break that sectional trend, and Moore will do everything he can to keep his tourney record perfect.
For now, let’s just enjoy watching hard work being rewarded.