By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
GREENCASTLE – In Indiana high school basketball, there is always a storyline. The first-round Class 2A Sectional 46 match-up at South Putnam March 2 between Monrovia and Cloverdale is a perfect example.
Neither of the teams is ranked among the state’s best. In fact, neither was a favorite to win this sectional. Nonetheless, it was a compelling battle.
The reason is because the Cloverdale bench was being run by the legendary Pat Rady, who recently won his 700th game in Indiana – the most among active coaches (Loogootee legend Jack Butcher holds the all-time mark with 806 victories). Monrovia was guided by veteran mentor Chris Sampson, now in his 15th year at the Morgan County school who was just two wins shy of 200 himself.
In short, this was a clash between two of the better-coached squads in all of Indiana that ended up going Monrovia’s way, 53-49.
Honestly, the game did not appear likely to live up to the billing in the early minutes. Cloverdale committed five first-quarter turnovers and went scoreless for the first four and a half minutes. Fortunately for Rady’s crew, Monrovia was cold from the field and built just a 5-0 cushion.
That advantage disappeared in less than 20 seconds when the Clovers hit back-to-back 3-pointers to take a brief 6-5 lead. The Bulldogs’ defense then stiffened again, and Monrovia (15-6) closed the period on a 7-0 run to be in command 12-6 after the first eight minutes.
There is a reason that Rady has won 700 games, and it became apparent in the second quarter. Cloverdale (11-11) employed a wide selection of zone looks to stymie the Monrovia offense. The Clovers quickly took advantage with a 10-2 run to again grab the lead at 19-16.
Their defensive mastery continued for the rest of the half, and Cloverdale went to intermission with a 25-21 lead.
Sampson had a few defensive tricks up his sleeve as well. The Bulldogs returned to the court with renewed intensity on that end and held Cloverdale to just five third-quarter points. Junior guard Brent McCleerey did the rest.
McCleerey was a one-man wrecking crew midway through the period. He scored 11 straight points for the Bulldogs in a 13-0 Monrovia run that gave the Dogs a nine point, 39-30 cushion at the end of three stanzas.
On most nights, the Monrovia barrage would have been a knockout blow, but not to Cloverdale on this night. The Clovers opened the fourth quarter with a 10-0 spurt of their own to retake the lead. From that point on, the game resembled a heavyweight bout with the combatants throwing haymakers.
Monrovia responded with a 9-2 run, highlighted by an old-fashioned three-point play from senior forward Zane Shuee (a game-high 15 points). Cloverdale came right back with five straight points of its own, and the contest entered its final two minutes with the Bulldogs holding a 48-47 lead.
The squads traded buckets before the unlikeliest of heroes emerged for Monrovia. With 18.7 seconds remaining, sophomore Grant Benefiel, who had been inserted moments before for defensive purposes, was fouled and sent to the line.
Benefiel never flinched in swishing the two charity tosses. Monrovia’s perimeter defense insured that Cloverdale did not get a good look in the closing seconds.
After the game, Sampson credited his team’s defense for the victory and also credited Rady for putting his troops in a position to pull the upset. Not surprisingly, Rady was equally complimentary of his coaching adversary. Their comments are in the player on this page.
Monrovia improves to 15-6 and sets its sights on a Friday night semifinal clash with Tri-West Hendricks (15-5), a 71-50 Game 2 winner over North Putnam (4-17). Junior James Hedrick led the victorious Bruins with 16 points, including 11 in the decisive first half when Tri-West pulled way with a 12-3 run, while Kyle Adams had 15.
The eight-team Sectional 46’s other first-round games will take place Wednesday, with Speedway (14-6) facing Cascade (3-17) and 12-7 Covenant Christian (Indianapolis) battling host South Putnam (3-17). The championship tilt is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET March 6.
The box score:
Cloverdale 6 19 5 19 – 49
Monrovia 12 9 18 14 – 53
Cloverdale: Moon 14, Hayden 9, Salter 8, Clark 8, Scisney 5, Williams 3, Dean 2. Totals: 15-40 FG, 13-20 FT 49
Monrovia: Shuee 15, McCleerey 13, Conner 10, Everett 7, Johnson 4, Benefiel 2, Watson 2. Totals: 18-45 FG, 12-21 FT 53
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