Eagles’ Hoover has productive week
Cloverdale High School’s varsity boys and girls posted North Central League I wins over Middletown and Willits last week.
The varsity boys, despite a league-opening loss to Clear Lake, find themselves tied for first place in a tightly bunched NCL I just two weeks into the 2017 race as they chase a third straight league championship. Cloverdale is 3-1 and began the week tied with Kelseyville for the league lead, just a half-game ahead of Clear Lake, Fort Bragg and St. Helena, all 2-1, and a game ahead of Middletown (2-2).
The varsity girls squared their league record at 2-2 and face a key road test on Friday, Jan. 20 at Lower Lake against the Trojans, who began the week of Jan. 16-20 tied with Clear Lake for first place, both teams atop the standings at 3-0 followed by Kelseyville at 3-1.
Varsity boys
Cloverdale’s varsity boys posted their third straight league win with a 61-20 victory over a young and rebuilding Willits squad, a game that was over by halftime with the Eagles holding a commanding 42-13 advantage.
Gage Hoover’s 16 points led the way and the starting guard needed less than a quarter and a half to achieve that total as Cloverdale’s reserves spelled the starters early in this one.
The Eagles’ defense continued a solid run of strong defensive play by limiting the Wolverines to no points in the second quarter and only five in the third period.
“We played good defense and shot well,” Cloverdale coach Steve Bernardi said. “We had a 24-0 run in the second quarter that put the game away.”
In a league game Jan. 11 at Cloverdale, the Eagles put on a shooting clinic against the visiting Middletown Mustangs that they may have hard time duplicating any time soon.
Led by 22 points from Hoover and 15 from McMillian, the Eagles sank 13 of their 14 3-point field goals in the first half en route to a 79-39 victory.
Five of Cloverdale’s first six field goals were 3-pointers and it easily could have been six but McMillan was just over the line while hitting a long two-point shot as the Eagles raced out to a 20-1 lead.
Starters and reserves alike were on the mark through the first three quarters.
“It was incredible,” Bernardi said of the Eagles’ 14-for-19 shooting night from behind the 3-point arc.
The Eagles finished the game hitting a higher percentage of their 3-point shots (74 percent) than two-point shots (56 percent).
Cloverdale led 32-7 after one quarter, 52-23 at halftime and 78-26 through three quarters.
The Eagles did everything they could do to keep the game from getting even more out of hand in the fourth quarter when a running clock was used because of the lopsided score. Cloverdale held the ball and consumed most and sometimes all of the 35-second possession clock each time down the floor.
“We scored only one point in the quarter,” Bernardi said.
“I never try to embarrass anyone because I know what that’s like,” Bernardi said.
Even with his starters giving way to reserves early in the game, Bernardi said he was surprised how quickly the game got out of hand.
“We started out the game hot but I didn’t think we would stay that hot,” Bernardi said of the accurate shooting of both starters and reserves.
Eleven different Eagles scored at least one point and seven of them made at least one 3-pointer.
Luke Pope and Jordan Persons finished with eight points apiece.
Bernardi had high praise for Pope, the Eagles’ point guard, in both wins.
“If our point guard doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do, we’re not going to be as good as we can be,” Bernardi said. “Luke played great defensively and sets everything up for us.”
The Eagles were on the road Jan. 17 to play St. Helena and they return home Friday, Jan. 20 to host Lower Lake.
Varsity girls
After opening league play two weeks ago with losses to Clear Lake and Kelseyville, the Cloverdale Eagles bounced back strong with wins of 37-29 over Middletown and 51-39 over Willits.
Against Middletown, the two-time defending league champion that is in full-scale rebuilding mode this season, the Eagles outscored the Mustangs 14-6 in the fourth quarter after the two teams entered the final period tied at 23.
“It was a real physical game, both teams hampered by a lack of calls,” Cloverdale coach Rick Berry said. “It was kind of a messy game that way.”
Tehya Bird and Camryn Figueroa led the Eagles with 16 points apiece but Bird fouled out in the fourth quarter, leaving a big hole in the Cloverdale lineup that reserve Shaye Stewart filled more than adequately.
Stewart hit four crucial free throws down the stretch, scored a basket and registered assists on a pair of Paloma Santos baskets.
“Shaye played really well down the stretch for us,” Berry said.
The Eagles came back two days later to beat Willits, the Wolverines’ first league loss.
Figueroa and Bird led the way with 17 points apiece.
Unlike the Middletown game, Cloverdale entered halftime with a seemingly comfortable 28-12 halftime lead, but the Wolverines rallied with a 13-4 third quarter to make a game of it.
“We’ve had some bad third quarters this season,” Berry said. “Earlier in the year the third quarter was our nemesis. Willits came out with some vengeance. They were fired up.”
Cloverdale responded with a 19-14 fourth quarter to hold off the Wolverines.
“They’ve only got eight players but six of them are seniors,” Berry said of the Willits squad. “They’re scrappy and they shoot the ball fairly well.”
Berry said the NCL I has plenty of parity this season and there aren’t many easy games on the Eagles’ 14-game league schedule.
