South Putnam Eagles | Archive | March, 2009

Reprinted courtesy of:
Greencastle Banner Graphic

 Wednesday, March 4, 2009
By DAN SHELTON Sports Writer

Kevin Dean powers through the Eagles paint defense for the easy basket in Tuesday’s sectional game. [Order this photo]

It only took them the first half and five minutes into the third
quarter, but the Clovers got in front and stayed there; edging South
Putnam 46-40 for their first sectional game win of the tournament.

“This was a pressure game and I think you suspect that in this
tournament. South Putnam’s play did not surprise me at all,” CHS Coach
Pat Rady said. “Micah does a great job on coaching his team. They play
a good defense and had a patient offense and played smart basketball
and I think the Clovers did the same thing tonight.

“We had good patientce in our offense and we had some good defense too.
It was just two good county rivals playing each other tonight,” Rady
added.

Cloverdale trailed the entire first half and was able to cut the
Eagles’ lead to one, 17-16 when Jordan Hayden sunk two freebies from
the charity stripe, then turned around, stole the ball and hit a long
three before the half expired.

Then it took the Clovers the first five minutes of the third quarter to
get in front. First Jacob Clark nailed a three at the top of the key,
knotting the score at 24. Then Hayden came back down and drained
another three for a 27-24 lead.

Cloverdale never trailed again.

“You never know and you can give reason for anything, and if I did I
would sell a book a be a millionaire because I have been at this for a
few years. But I think a lot of times ,this is the first time that some
of these kids are in the sectional and they are going to be nervous and
cold,” Rady said about his team’s slow start. “And I told my son in the
beginning that we have to work them through that.

“At the half, I told the team that the jitters are over with
and, we are within one, so let’s go out there and play Clover
basketball in the second half , and I thought we did,” Rady said.

The final nail in the Eagles’ coffin in the fourth quarter was the
Clovers’ foul shooting. They went 8-for-8 in the fourth quarter,
ensuring themselves a win.

“You just have to give their kids credit. They stepped up and hit the
shot when they needed,” SPHS Coach Micah Elliott said. “And when you
get more stops than the other team, you are going to win and we just
didn’t get enough stops.

“We played well. We gave ourselves a chance and it didn’t go that way
tonight,” Elliot said. “Give Coach Rady all the credit in the world. He
coached a great game.

Dayne Nelson soars over his Cloverdale defenders Tuesday night in game two of the opening round of the South Putnam Sectional. [Order this photo]

“We played probably played the best team defense we have played all
year long and I told them if you play that hard and you play that well
defensively you walk around with your head held high,” Elliot said.
“That was our best defense we played all year, we just couldn’t get our
shots to go in.”

The Eagles shot 42 percent from the floor in the second half going 8-for-19, but only shot 28 percent from downtown.

One thing is for sure, Rady is glad the first game is over for his Cloverdale team.

“When you get into the tournament the first night, is always the
jittery night and you have to get that night out of the way and get the
butterflies out of your stomach and be ready to play your best,” Rady
said.

At South Putnam Sectionals

Cloverdale (9-13, 3-3 WCC)

Moon 2-6 4-4 6, Clark 3-9 2-2 10, Strunk 0-0 0-0 0, Kukman 4-9 2-2 10,
Hayden 4-9 2-2 13, Dean 1-4 2-2 4, Salter 0-1 0-0 0, Lovins 1-3 1-2 3.
Totals 15-41 FG, 13-14 FT, 46 TP.

South Putnam (6-15, 0-6 WCC)

Nelson 1-2 0-3 2, Zimmerman 3-6 2-2 8, Cash 0-3 3-3 3, Freeman 0-0 0-0
0, Varvel 0-0 0-0 0, Frame 4-4 2-2 10, Welty 4-10 0-0 11, Dean 0-0 0-0
0, Boswell 1-3 0-1 2, Vickrey 2-5 0-1 4, Masters 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
15-33 FG, 7-12 FT, 40 TP.

3-pt. FG – C 5-21 (Moon 0-4, Clark 2-5, Kukman 0-2, Hayden 3-8, Dean
0-1, Salter 0-1), SP 3-11 (Zimmerman 0-2, Cash 0-1, Welty 3-8).
Rebounds – C 17 (Clark 4, Kukman 3, Hayden 3, Dean 4, Lovins 3), SP 20
(Nelson 2, Zimmerman 1, Cash 2, Welty 3, Dean 1, Boswell 7, Vickrey 2,
Masters 2). Blocks — C 3 (Lovins 3), SP 0. Assists — C 9 (Moon 4,
Clark 2, Strunk 1, Kukman 1, Hayden 1), SP 6 (Nelson 1, Zimmerman 1,
Frame 3, Masters 1). Steals — C 9 (Clark 2, Hayden 3, Dean 3, Salter
1), SP 7 (Nelson 1, Zimmerman 1, Cash 1, Frame 1, Welty 2, Vickrey 1).
Total fouls — C 16, SP 19. Fouled out — Nelson. Turnovers – C 16, SP
24.

Next game — The Clovers (9-13, 3-3 WCC) play Covenant Christian in the
first game of the semi-final round of the Class 2A, Sectional 46 at
South Putnam Friday night. The game will begin at 6:00.

[!] Flag as Inappropriate

Processing your request, Please wait....

Report as:	Violent or Repulsive Content|Hateful or Abusive Content|Harmful Dangerous Acts|Child Abuse|Spam|Infringes My Rights
Write in Words: (Optional)