Cloverdale varsity boys overwhelm Middletown
A school with a long tradition of successful basketball added another impressive page to its history Wednesday night as the Cloverdale Eagles, two-time defending North Central League I varsity boys champions, made it look all too easy in a 79-39 victory over the Middletown Mustangs at Cloverdale High School.
Talk about your shooting displays. Cloverdale connected on 13 3-point field goals in the first half and went 14-for-19 for the game (74 percent) compared to 14-for-25 (56 percent) from the two-point range.
Cloverdale’s starters (many of whom played less than half the game because of its lopsided nature) and reserves alike got into the act. Eleven different Eagles scored at least one point and seven made at least one 3-pointer.
The Eagles did everything they could near the end of the game to keep the score down, using nearly all of the 35-second possession clock each time down the floor in the fourth quarter. Between that and a running clock prevented the game from being even more one-sided than it was – Cloverdale had just one point in the fourth quarter.
There was never any doubt which way this game was headed from the opening tip-off. Five of Cloverdale’s first six field goals were 3-pointers and it would have been 6-for-6 until Eagles center Jayson McMillan pulled up just across the 3-point line while burying a long 2-point shot.
The Eagles had a 20-1 lead before Middletown collected its first basket on a Thomas Cook drive inside with 2:41 left in the period. Cloverdale finished the quarter with a 32-7 lead after going 10-for-13 from the field with seven 3-pointers and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Middletown (1-2 league) tried to fight back with a 7-0 run to open the second quarter, but any momentum the Mustangs gained from that brief spree evaporated in seconds as reserves Eli Arreola and Emmit Lawson and starter Gage Hoover buried 3-pointers to spark a 9-2 Cloverdale run. The Eagles added three more 3-pointers in the quarter – Hoover had two and Brandon Grady one – while building a 52-23 halftime lead.
Hoover went on to lead the Eagles both in points (22) and 3-pointers (six). McMillan played less than half the game and still finished with 15 points as Cloverdale improved to 2-1 in the league standings. While no other Eagles reached double digits, it really didn’t matter given how many Cloverdale players scored. Starters Luke Pope and Jordan Persons finished with eight points apiece despite limited playing time.
Cloverdale finished the game shooting 64 percent from the field overall, a number that climbs to 72 percent if you throw out the fourth quarter.
The Eagles’ biggest lead of the game was 78-26 through three quarters. Middletown was led by Cook’s 14 points and 10 more from Jeff Morris. Ricardo Chaires added seven.
The Eagles played at Willits on Friday night and are on the road again Tuesday against the St. Helena Saints.
