Thomas drops 31-14 double-double as Clovers beat Eels on senior night

CLOVERDALE – While weather may have bobbled the schedule a bit, senior night still came Saturday at Cloverdale as Kyle Thomas and Brady Koosman were honored for their efforts with Clover basketball.

Eminence did its best to frustrate Thomas all night but that was too tall a task for the Eels to complete as Thomas finished with 31 points and 14 rebounds in a 65-45 win.

The opening tip was directed so that Koosman received a touch of the basketball before departing the game with Rady explaining that Koosman was unable to play competitively in the contest due to concussion protocol but found a way to ensure the senior was able to be part of festivities.

“Brady was out so we had an agreement with Eminence to win the tip with him and take a 10-second call,” Cloverdale head coach Patrick Rady said. “He should be ready to go for the sectional.”

The visitors made their intentions known early by lining up in a triangle-and-two defense, keeping two players assigned to Thomas at all times he was on the court.

Thomas still managed the first five points of the game while brother Zach Thomas hit a pair of threes to help counter an early eight points from Hayden Holley, leaving Cloverdale with a 13-10 lead after a quarter of play.

Kyle Thomas opened the second quarter with a steal and dunk, followed by a three to cancel out a Dylan Smith triple.

Dylan Barnett kept the three balls going for Eminence while Reno Taylor hit a pair of threes that gave the Eels the lead each time at 22-21 and 25-24.

Kyle Thomas answered both threes with threes of his own, the second turning into a four-point play inside the final 10 seconds of the half to give the Clovers a 28-25 lead at the break.

“We were a little stagnant early but then I thought we were able to make some adjustments,” Rady said about facing the specialty defense. “We were able to take advantage of what the defense gave us.

“Coach (Karl) Turk saw something where we could attack where they were going, so at halftime, we made some adjustments with the screening and cutting and the kids did a good job of executing what we showed them at halftime.”

Tayt Jackson opened the second half with a three that Smith answered but Kyle Thomas followed with a second and Zach Thomas a third as the hosts led by double-digits for the first time at 39-28.

Back-to-back threes from Kyle Thomas near the end of the quarter gave Cloverdale a 47-34 lead to protect across the final eight minutes of play.

Levi Hilton got in on the three-ball act as the elder Thomas turned from scorer to provider, providing several quality passes to help spring Jackson, Hilton and Tyson Bridges for baskets as the lead continued to build.

A steal and score by Hilton gave Cloverdale a 20-point cushion at 60-40 before Thomas put the cherry on top of his double-double with a three before receiving a curtain call for his efforts on the night and throughout his four-year Clover career.

“When we lost four seniors that had played quite a bit and now surpassed last year’s win total, a lot of that can be attributed to Kyle and Brady being two guys that are well-respected in the locker room,” Rady said about his two seniors. “The young guys have really gravitated towards them and don’t want to let them down.

“They’ve really gelled on both sides of the floor. This is as close-knit team that I’ve had in seven years in terms of the entire group of players and both guys do a good job of making it a family-like atmosphere inside the locker room.”

Cloverdale will return to action Tuesday as the Clovers will makeup last Friday’s original scheduled meeting against Sullivan with two quarters of JV basketball starting at 6 p.m. and varsity action to follow.

Statistics

Scoring

Eminence (10-31 2FG; 7-25 3FG; 4-6 FT) — Smith 15, Taylor 13, Holley 10, Barnett 3, Eisehour 2, Mobley 2

Cloverdale (11-17 2FG; 14-30 3FG; 1-3 FT) — K. Thomas 31, Z. Thomas 12, Hilton 9, Jackson 7, Bridges 4, McGuire 2