COLLEGE REPORT: Neese continues rise up ISU leaderboard; Brooks earns academic honors; Moore hits career-high in loss

College sports highlights from here and there:

• Cloverdale graduate Jalen Moore had a career-high 37 points for Oakland University last Friday in a loss to Detroit Mercy. Moore hit 11-of-15 field goals, including 1-of-2 treys, and added 14 of-16 free throws. He also had five rebounds, six steals and four assists.

The Grizzlies have a 12-17 record overall and a 10-8 mark in Horizon League play.

• Cooper Neese of Cloverdale continues to climb up in the Indiana State record book as his career also nears its end.

Neese currently stands 16th in career scoring with 1,318 points and is three points away from 15th place.

The Sycamores are 20-10 overall and 13-6 in Missouri Valley Conference play.

ISU hosts Missouri State on Sunday for Senior Day, and will be one of the top five seeds in next week’s 12-team Arch Madness tourney in St. Louis.

• Greencastle’s Brody Whitaker has started three games this season for the Marian Knights, pouring in a career-high 22 points in a win over St. Francis last month.

Whitaker hit 7-of-13 field goals, including 4-o- 6 from three-point range, in addition to 4-of-4 at the free throw line to lead the Knights in scoring. He also had four rebounds.

Marian is now 21-8 overall and 10-8 in the Crossroads League. The Knights will play at Grace on Saturday in the Crossroads tournament quarterfinals.

• Mason Brooks of North Putnam is one of six basketball players at Cornerstone University to earn College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors.

To earn the honor, athletes must be a sophomore or above in academic class standing and have a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher. All six athletes will now go on to the CSC Academic All-America voting where the top athletes who achieve academic and athletic success in the 2022-23 season will be selected to the CSC Academic All-American team.

On the court, Cornerstone is 18-10 overall and 12-8 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Association. Brooks averages 4.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

• Kyle Thomas of Cloverdale had a career-high game of 23 points in a game against Lake Erie on January 21. Thomas has scored in double figures in seven games this year.

Cedarville is 17-9 overall and 10-8 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference play.

• Several Greencastle natives who have competed at other high schools have announced their college plans.

Elle Patterson of Tri-West has signed to play collegiately for Division I Fairfield.

Patterson was named all-state, academic all-state and all-Sagamore Conference.

This year, Patterson played every position this season for the Bruins, collecting 358 kills with a .267 hitting percentage, 29 aces, 33 total blocks, 279 digs and 365 assists.

She had 10 kills, one ace, a solo block, 16 digs and a season-high 25 assists vs. Western Boone in sectional play, and accumulated 1,269 kills and 1,017 digs over four varsity seasons.

Claire Donald, a standout forward and defender in soccer for Tri-West, has signed to play collegiately for St. Mary-of-the-Woods.

“Claire is a brilliant student and dynamic player,” SMWC coach Ron Kiernicki said. “We look forward to her impacting our training atmosphere and watching her grow over the next four years”

Donald is looking forward to the experience.

“I’m excited to start my new journey and create new friendships and memories.” Donald said.

Also, former Greencastle basketball player Mia Shields started 20 of 24 games this year for Manchester, averaging 5.8 points per game.

Her older sister Ella played for Earlham in the 2021-22 season.