Cloverdale gets first win of season over South Vermillion

Holding on to a 19-13 lead after three quarters, Cloverdale's Andrea Nees, seen in the earlier game against Clay City, helped secure the teams' first win of the season by scoring six of her eight points in the fourth quarter as the Clovers defeated South Vermillion 31-25 in the seventh-place game of the Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic Monday evening.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

BRAZIL – Cloverdale had little time to dwell on its close loss to Clay City in the consolation bracket of the Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic Monday afternoon, getting one game to refocus ahead of facing South Vermillion in the seventh-place game.

With both teams angling for their first win of the season, the Wildcats took a five-point lead into halftime but the Clover replied by winning the third quarter 11-0 and held on to pick up a first win on the season 31-25.

“In the first half, we played with low energy and didn’t do what we needed to do,” Cloverdale head coach James Wade said. “In the third quarter, we came out focused, asserted ourselves, held (South Vermillion) scoreless and took the lead.

“Because we have been working on so many other things, we haven’t worked on late-game situations much and, let’s face it, we haven’t had leads to protect often this year. We have young girls taking shoot shots they shouldn’t and upper classmen not taking care of the ball but we learned that we have to value possessions as, at that point in the game, the clock becomes a teammate, but after tonight hopefully we’re moving in the right direction.”

As would be a recurring theme for the second half of Monday’s action, both teams showed the fatigue that came with playing two games in a day as both struggled to hold on to the ball while making a slew of mental errors on the offensive end.

Cloverdale (1-13) got three points from Emily Mann and a basket from Andrea Nees while holding South Vermillion (0-14) to a single three from Caledonia Coleman three to take a 5-3 lead into the second quarter.

Coleman added two more threes in the second quarter, however, while Emily Vaughn added a basket and MiKaitlyn Klyaic added two free throws while the Clovers only got a basket from Aubrey Yoho and a Kiersten Wade free throw, finding themselves trailing 13-8 at halftime.

Cloverdale turned the game around in the third quarter, holding the Wildcats without a point while Mann scored eight points in the period, helping turn a five-point deficit at the break into a 19-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

South Vermillion made a run to close the gap as Coleman scored seven points in the final frame while Klyaic added a three but Nees scored six points in reply and Sydney Bernard added three free throws to help keep the Clovers in front, leading to the team’s first win of the season.

“It is very nice,” Wade said about getting the win. “We talked in the locker room that while we didn’t play a great game and it wasn’t a great win, a bad win is still better than a bad loss.”

Scoring

South Vermillion (3 2FG; 5 3FG; 4 FT) — Coleman 16, Klyaic 5, Vaughn 2, Richardson 2

Cloverdale (8 2FG; 2 3FG; 9 FT) — Mann 12, Nees 8, Bernard 4, Yoho 4, Ford 2, Wade 1