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Northview defense shuts down Cloverdale
BRAZIL – After surrendering a combined 158 points – albeit to Class 4A No. 10 Plainfield and Class 3A No. 9 Danville, which average 60 and 77 points per game, respectively – Northview’s boys' basketball team returned to the friendly confines of its own gymnasium where the Knights entered Friday with a record of 4-0.
Waiting for them was another 60 points-per-game scoring team in Cloverdale, led by its dynamic duo of Nolan Kelley and Kyle Thomas.
Northview not only had an answer for Kelley and Thomas, who were held to nine points apiece, but the entire Clover offense.
The Knights held Cloverdale to 39 points on 26 percent shooting from the field.
That, matched with a second straight 80-plus point night on the offensive end, culminated in an 84-39 blowout victory, getting Northview back into the win column.
“I’m really proud of our guys. I thought we played a complete game. Defensively, we caused them a lot of problems,” said Northview coach Michael Byrum.
It was clear from the tip, Northview was on a mission to carry over its offensive output from Tuesday at Danville into Friday night.
Putting the ball in the hands of their point guard, the Knights soared out to a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game, forcing Cloverdale coach Patrick Rady to ask for a timeout.
It was Brevin Cooper, who scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, that led the way, scoring all seven of Northview’s points during the span.
“Brevin’s one of the best point guards in the Wabash Valley, there’s no question about that,” said Byrum of Cooper. “We need that of him. He’s capable of doing stuff like that. When he does it, it’s something special to watch.”
The offense continued to hum throughout the quarter as the hosts put up 31 points on 75 percent shooting from the field.
“We knew we were going to have to have a great effort on the defensive end if we were going to have a shot at winning,” said Rady. “We kind of tinkered with our defenses, mixing up the zones a little bit, but they just shot the lights out … You just can’t give up 31 points in a quarter to a team like Northview and expect to have a shot at winning.”
However, what made the big difference, in the eyes of Rady, was the defense the Knights played.
He credited the whole team, but pointed out the way Caleb Swearingen, who scored 17 points after being presented a commemorative basketball before the game from Athletic Director Scott Buell for scoring 1,000 career points, guarded Thomas was what kept the Clovers out of rhythm.
“Caleb did a good job on Kyle,” stated Rady. “The kid is definitely deserving of the praise offensively, but he plays defense too. They honored him for 1,000 points – and what a career he’s had – but he’s a good defender too. I think sometimes that gets overlooked because we’re in a day and age where it’s points, points, points, but he plays defense. When your best player plays defense like that, you’ve got something special.”
Northview kept its foot on the gas in the second quarter and took a 25-point lead into the halftime break.
Byrum said getting out in front early, and then padding their advantage, was crucial.
“We always want to start off quick. And when you get put into a hole like that, it puts a lot of stress on yourself – both offensively and defensively because now you’re playing from behind and have to get consecutive stops and have to score on multiple possessions. Getting off to a fast start is really important,” explained Byrum.
Northview stayed hot in the second half with each of the 13 players that entered the game contributing in one way or another.
It all led to a 45-point victory, snapping the Knights’ modest two-game losing streak.
What made it even better was getting to do it in front of the largest home crowd Northview has had all season.
With the school allowing 25 percent capacity, as well as having its band, cheerleaders and dancers adding to the atmosphere, Friday night’s game with Cloverdale felt like a normal evening of high school basketball, something Byrum was grateful to see.
“I’m very grateful that we’ve been able to play at all. I was really worried about that early in the fall with how things were going. But you know what? Tonight, having people in the stands, it felt more like basketball season. Hopefully we can maintain that and hopefully we can get more fans to come out,” said Byrum.
| Cloverdale | 14 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 39 |
| Northview | 31 | 16 | 22 | 15 | 84 |
CLOVERDALE (39) — N.Kelley 3-13 3-3 9, Ashcraft 2-10 1-1 5, Sims 5-11 1-2 14, Gill 1-3 0-0 2, K.Thomas 4-17 1-2 9, Z.Thomas 0-3 0-0 0, Firkins 0-0 0-0 0, E.Kelley 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15-57 FG, 6-8 FT, 39 TP.
NORTHVIEW (84) — Cooper 9-14 2-2 24, Cook 6-13 2-2 18, Swearingen 5-10 6-6 17, DeHart 1-3 0-0 3, Fowler 2-2 1-2 5, Sampson 1-1 0-0 2, Carr 1-4 0-0 3, White 1-1 2-2 4, Ellis 1-2 0-0 3, Parkey 1-4 0-0 2, Wallace 1-3 0-0 3, Roembke 0-1 0-0 0, Holman 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 29-58 FG, 13-14 FT, 84 TP.
3-point shooting — Cloverdale 3-22 (N.Kelley 0-3, Ashcraft 0-1, Sims 3-8, K.Thomas 0-8, Z.Thomas 0-2), Northview 13-28 (Cooper 4-7, Cook 4-10, Swearingen 1-2, DeHart 1-2, Carr 1-1, Ellis 1-2, Parkey 0-1, Wallace 1-2, Roembke 0-1). Rebounds — Cloverdale 22 (Sims 6, Ashcraft, K.Thomas 4), Northview 46 (Fowler 8, Swearingen 7). Turnovers — Cloverdale 7, Northview 6. Total fouls — Cloverdale 11, Northview 8. Fouled out — none.
JV — Northview 63, Cloverdale 21