South Putnam survives furious fourth-quarter Cloverdale rally for second win of season

Having watched Cloverdale rally from an 18-point deficit, South Putnam's Cameron Bozell lines up a decisive counter blow to push the Eagles back in front by three as the visitors managed to close the game with seven of the last 10 points in a 55-51 win over the Clovers.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

CLOVERDALE – Until a minute into the fourth quarter, South Putnam looked like it would be comfortably collecting its second-straight win in the early boys’ basketball season.

Eighteen points later, Cloverdale had erased a deficit it had been staring down since late in the first half, tying the game at 48-48.

Cam Bozell and Parker Harris ended the rally with two huge shots, allowing the Eagles to escape with a 55-51 win over the Clovers.

“We haven’t really been in a situation like that before this year where we were in the lead and the other team came back,” South Putnam head coach Josh Estridge said. “It was good experience to go against that type of pressure.

“It’s going to help us down the road as we try to win games.”

“That game was lost in practice,” Cloverdale head coach Karl Turk said. “We didn’t practice the way we should have the day before the game and that was the message we gave the team at the half: the reason the score was the way it was because of the day prior.

“The game honors toughness and if you don’t respect the game, it will treat you that way. In the second half, the guys renewed their purpose.

“The coaches issued some challenges for the guys to try and meet at halftime. In the second half and there was a lot more cohesion,” Turk added. “When we ran things, all five guys were where they needed to be, when they needed to be there.”

Until the fourth quarter, South Putnam was largely in control of the contest, utilizing a punishing rebound advantage to build up a 14-point lead by halftime.

The Eagles started out with a 7-0 lead after two Harris baskets and a three from Bozell midway through the opening quarter.

Tayt Jackson hit a three to get Cloverdale on the board while Eli Kelley missed converting a three-point play though still cut the lead to 7-5.

Jumpers from Wyatt Mullin and Blake Witt gave the Eagles an 11-5 advantage at the end of the period.

Isaac Gardner and Houston Jobe traded threes to start the second quarter while Khalil Jefferson had a basket answered by Noah Betz.

South Putnam made its move from there, going on a 14-2 run as Drew Hill hit a treble of triples after a jumper while Bozell added a fourth three to help the visitors to a 30-12 lead.

Jackson and Kelley scored late baskets to reduce the deficit to 30-16 entering halftime, one in which the hosts were outrebounded 20-4, including an 11-0 deficit on the offensive glass.

“We looked really good in the first half,” Estridge said. “Our defensive game plan was to make things hard for Betz and Jobe

“Everything we did made things difficult for them and we finished with defensive rebounds. Offensively, we did what we wanted to do, which was to attack, have good ball movement and put pressure on (Cloverdale’s) defense.”

Cloverdale came out of the break forcing South Putnam into uncomfortable spots and cut the lead to 11 on a Zach Thomas three but a flagrant foul allowed the visitors to pushed the lead back out to 15 at 34-19.

A Hill three saw the lead extended back out to 18 while a Jefferson putback saw the lead reach its largest at 41-22.

The Clovers finished the quarter with an 8-2 run as Kelley was 1-of-2 at the line, Betz scored off a steal, Thomas hit a three and Jackson scored for the final points of the period to trim the lead to 43-30.

South Putnam started the final eight minutes with a Harris three and layup from Hill, though the latter score was followed by a technical foul against the senior.

Betz hit one of the two free shots before the senior and Jackson scored off steals to cut the gap to 48-35.

Foul trouble soon engulfed the Eagles as Mullin fouled out and the Clovers were in the bonus just 2:36 into the period with the hosts hitting 5-of-8 foul shots in the final frame.

“We made an intentional effort in the second half to attack the basket, get to the line and shoot free throws,” Turk noted. “We got (South Putnam) to five fouls quickly in both quarters.

“You hope to get them to fall, though we were 9-of-17 for the game, but it also helps set the defense and the guys did a good job of executing and getting on the same page.”

“It was a factor a little bit; the way the game was called changed from the first half to the second half,” Estridge noted on the foul count, which jumped from five in the first half to 14 in the second half. “At the end of the day, we need to be able to adjust to that, something we talked about in timeouts.”

A layup from Trey Schabel made it a 10-point game before Kelley hit two free throws and Jobe scored off a Betz steal to make it 48-42.

“The steals were mostly on the ball, one-one-one defensive plays as we decided to guard our man, something we didn’t do in the first half,” Turk said about getting eight steals in the final period. “Getting that to translate for four quarters is an intrinsic thing.

“We gave an impassioned talk after the game, hitting on some sentimental things for the future, but so much is determined by intrinsic motivation.”

Jobe then drained consecutive threes with two minutes to play, tying the game at 48-48.

On the following possession, Bozell answered with a three of his own to break the 18-0 run before Harris, covered by two defenders, hit a long jumper to push South Putnam back in front by five.

Betz scored off a steal but the Eagles would get a pair of free throws to keep the Clovers at bay in the closing seconds to win their second game on the bounce and keep Cloverdale out of the win column.

“Those shots were definitely needed,” Estridge said about Bozell's and Harris’ baskets. “I was standing there thinking, ‘We need to hit a shot,’ and Cam stepped up to hit that three.

“He was very confident and that was what gave us the momentum to finish the game. Parker’s was icing on the cake. He was confident and that’s the way we want to play.”

Scoring

South Putnam (12-31 2FG; 9-21 3 FG; 4-10 FT) — Hill 17, Bozell 12, Harris 9, Garner 5, Jefferson 4, Witt 4, Mullin 2, Cline 2

Cloverdale (12-22 2FG; 6-12 3FG; 9-17 FT) — Betz 11, Jobe 11, Jackson 11, Kelley 9, Thomas 7, Schabel 2

Statistics