Panthers use 18-point run to pounce on Clovers

CLOVERDALE — Cloverdale’s young girls’ basketball team opened its season at home and the lack of experience showed in a 45-19 defeat to the Riverton Parke Panthers. The Clovers only made three field goals in the contest, while after competing well in the first half and leading early, the Clovers allowed the Panthers to score 18 straight points over the second and third quarters to put the game away.

“We know we are going to make mistakes; we are young and learning,” Cloverdale head coach James Wade said.

Cloverdale started out the game well. The Clovers scored the first five points of the contest and held on to hold a 6-5 lead after one quarter. Kiersten Wade hit a pair of free throws and Emily Mann had a bucket and a free throw. The first quarter of play was typical of an opening game in high school as the teams shot just 3-of-19 and turned the ball over 20 times in the period.

The successful first quarter came at a price. Two (Andrea Nees and Wade) of their three players with varsity experience picked up two fouls and had to sit for most of the half. This would prove to be an issue in the second quarter. Nees would get five points from the free throw line in her limited time on the floor and Aubrey Yoho would knock down a free throw to account for all six of the Clover points. Riverton Parke would get 19 points in the quarter from the inside-outside combination of Bailey Duke and Haylee Mathas scoring 13 of the 19 Panther points as Riverton Parke would take a 24-12 lead at halftime.

“The foul trouble hurt us. We don’t have a lot on the bench (experience). We got in foul trouble because we were not moving our feet and getting out of position,” Wade said.

Riverton Parke would really take command in the third quarter. Yoho’s free throw with :32 left in the first quarter would be the last point they would score until the fourth period. The Panthers locked up the Clovers defensively and Duke went coast-to-coast several times against the Clovers and extending the Panther lead. The Panther senior would finish the game with 20 points and 19 rebounds, taking many of those boards the length of the floor for a bucket or a foul and the Panthers had a commanding 39-12 lead heading into the final quarter.

“I told the girls that just one time, I would like them to turn her (Duke). We let her get all the way to the elbow and that was too late,” Wade said.

Both teams began to substitute liberally in the final quarter as the Clovers won the final period 7-6, but it was too little, too late and the Panthers finished the contest the 45-19 victors.

“I told the girls that my only real disappointment was we got outworked at times, particularly in the second quarter,” Wade said as his extremely young team was learning how to play at the varsity level.

Duke led all scorers with 20 points and those 19 rebounds, while Mathas had 10 points for the Panthers. Nees would lead the Clovers with seven points and Yoho would pick up nine rebounds.

The Clovers will tray and improve on their performance as they travel to county rival, South Putnam, for a Western Indiana Conference game on Friday night.

RIVERTON PARKE (45) – Cash 1-4 0-0 3, Mathas 3-8 2-2 10, Duke 8-21 4-9 20, L. Nowicki 2-5 0-0 4, Vanatti 0-0 0-0 0, K. Nowicki 0-6 1-2 1, Adams 2-6 1-2 5, M. Nowicki 1-8 0-0 2, Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Loomis 0-0 0-0 0, Fellows 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-62 FG, 8-15 FT, 45 TP.

CLOVERDALE (19) – Wade 0-4 2-4 2, Mann 1-8 3-4 5, Bernard 0-5 0-0 0, Nees 1-4 5-8 7, Yoho 0-3 2-4 2, Nichols 0-4 0-2, Maldonado 1-1 0-1 3, Ford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 3-29 FG, 12-23 FT, 19 TP.

3-point shooting – RP 3-12 (Cash 1-3, Mathas 2-5, Duke 0-2, K. Nowicki 0-2), CHS 1-4 (Maldonado 1-1, Wade 0-2, Nees 0-1). Rebounds – RP 52 (Cash 2, Brown 2, Mathas 7, Duke 19, L. Nowicki 1, Fellows 1, Vanatti 2, K. Nowicki 4, Adams 4, M. Nowicki 2) CHS – 30 (Mann 5, Bernard 3, Nees 5, Yoho 9, Nichols 4) FG Pct. – RP 27.4, CHS 10.3. FT Pct. – RP 53.3, CHS 52.2. Turnovers – RP 25, CHS 35.