Boys basketball: Cloverleaf can't finish against Clearview

SHEFFIELD — The growing pains continued for the Cloverleaf boys basketball team. The Colts executed their game plan well for the first 29 minutes, leading to a one-point lead against speedy, athletic Clearview in a non-league game Thursday, but then the final 3 minutes were played. The Clippers held Cloverleaf to just a pair of field goals in the final 3:18 while pulling away for a 52-48 victory, dropping the sophomore-laden Colts to 1-6. "It's really a maturity thing for us," Colts coach Jack Banks said. "We get to a certain point and don't know how to close a game. We are all frustrated. We have to be able to get over the hump and be able to finish in the last few minutes." Clearview (5-2) forced 19 Cloverleaf turnovers — an issue all season — but the Colts withstood the miscues and led for most of the first 29 minutes by using their height advantage and sophomore guard Marty Moran to break the pressure and get into half-court sets. The turnovers on either side didn't lead to much in the way of scoring, as the Colts led 22-20 after the first 16 minutes after shooting 8-for-28 while the Cloverleaf defense held the Clippers to just 7-for-28. After sitting for a chunk of the second quarter with two fouls, 6-foot-8 Logan Forbes came out firing in the third quarter, netting 10 of his game-high 20 points, including a two-handed dunk. Despite nine straight points by Clearview's Ayden Cruz (15 points) late in the quarter, the Colts carried a 41-39 lead to the final 8 minutes after a Peyton McConnell 3-pointer with 38 seconds left. The fourth quarter came to a crawl, with the Clippers outscoring the Colts 4-3 over the first five minutes of the period. Clearview knotted the score twice on layins from Cruz and Keith Colvin, but Moran split a pair of free throws with 3:18 left to put his team up 44-43 before the Clippers took control. Colvin started a 9-2 run with a steal-and-score and then came down with a big rebound, setting up a Jai Walton baseline drive that made it 47-44. Forbes scored on a putback, but after whiffing on his previous 3-point attempt, the Clippers' Cy Christensen stuck a dagger in the Colts with a long three and two free throws that made it 52-46, equaling the largest lead of the night by either team. Forbes, who had a dozen rebounds, added the final points of the night on a short turnaround jumper with 25 seconds left. "Tonight was like an NBA game in the fact that all you had to do was watch the last few minutes to see that every possession counts," Banks said. "With us, we just couldn't make the right pass, the right shots or connect on the easy shots when we needed." Contact James Brady at sports@medina-gazette.com. Clearview 52, Cloverleaf 48 CLOVERLEAF &emsp;&emsp;9 13 19 7 — 48 CLEARVIEW&emsp;&emsp;8 12 19 13 — 52 Cloverleaf — Carter Whitehair 1-0-3, Zak Brownson 3-2-8, Logan Forbes 10-0-20, Ty Novak 1-0-2, Marty Moran 2-4-8, Avery Skelton 0-0-0, Cam Paladenic 1-0-2, Peyton McConnell 2-0-5. TOTALS: 20-6-48. Clearview — Malcolm Lane 1-0-2, Ayden Cruz 6-0-15, Najoih Wright 0-0-0, Keith Colvin 2-0-4, Dymias Seagers 0-0-0, Zavior Castillo 3-1-10, Toriano Goodwin 0-0-0, Ashton Noble 1-0-2, Cy Christensen 1-2-5, Jai Walton 5-4-14. TOTALS: 19-9-52. 3-point goals — Whitehair, McConnell, Castillo 3, Cruz, Christensen. Rebounds — Cloverleaf 44, Clearview 39. Records — Cloverleaf (1-6), Clearview (5-2). Junior varsity — Clearview 64, Cloverleaf 34.