Boys basketball: Cloverleaf regroups, blows out Field

WESTFIELD TWP. — Few things are more humbling than a swift punch to the chin. Fresh off a 40-point loss to archrival Norton, no one pointed fingers on the Cloverleaf boys basketball team. The Colts instead looked in the mirror and got back to work, even if that meant two bloody noses. That was the tone set in practice on Monday and Tuesday, and the payoff came Wednesday when Cloverleaf imposed its will from the opening tipoff in a largely impressive 84-52 Metro Athletic Conference blowout of perpetually rebuilding Field, whose top two players were freshmen. Already Medina County's most up-and-down team, the inexperienced, banged-up Colts (3-3, 2-2), who will be without guards Kellen Price (elbow) and Zayne Trent (hamstring) until at least next month, began the first half on a 17-3 run and the second on a 10-0 spurt against the Falcons (1-5, 1-4). "We worked our butts off in practice," said wing Jackson James, who was instrumental in the quick start. "It was a rough two days. We were really physical. We got a few broken noses in that first practice (Justus Sohosky, Clayton Sewalish) because we got down to it. "We started off hot. We usually struggle at the beginning, but we definitely came out with energy today to prove we could play with these (MAC) teams again. After that Norton game, we were down." Isaac Smith once again was everywhere, as the three-year veteran guard finished with 31 points, nine rebounds, five assists, six steals and seven turnovers. Damien Reed continued his early-season trend of sharpshooting with 13 points and three 3-pointers, the steadily improving James added 11 points and football player/hustle man Jimmy Tolley posted nine points, four rebounds and three steals. Field, whose last winning season was 2014-15, got 20 points on 6-of-12 3-pointers from fearless freshman guard Mason Fulst and five points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals from fellow ninth-grader Paxson Silveus but couldn't get a stop to save its life against Cloverleaf, which had quarterly shooting efforts of 9-for-15, 7-for-16, 9-for-16 and 6-for-11 while making 9-of-21 3-pointers and 13-of-14 free throws overall. There were a few bumps in the road, as the Colts took brief naps in transition, especially after scoring, in the first and third quarters, allowing the Falcons to quickly cut into the lead, but a rugged week of practice paid off. "We shot a lot better than what we did against Norton," James said. "We were moving the ball. We had a few more backdoor (layups) because that's our game plan." Cloverleaf wasted no time taking control, and James was in the thick of it despite not scoring as he racked up three assists and two steals while also diving twice to keep loose balls in play. Smith scored the Colts' first seven points in just 72 seconds as Cloverleaf made 7-of-7 shots to take a 17-3 lead midway through the first quarter. Still learning how to balance playing aggressive defense without fouling or giving up easy backdoor layups, the Colts led 46-32 at halftime and blew open the game with a 10-0 run to begin the third. That allowed Smith to sit for large chunks of the second half, or the guard likely would have been able to reach 40 points. No one was worried about that, however. The night was all about atoning for a lackluster effort against Norton, and Cloverleaf felt it accomplished that goal. "Everyone came out with really good energy," Smith said. "We put that on the (pregame) board — come out with energy — and we did. We kind of spooked them a little bit." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Cloverleaf 84, Field 52 FIELD &emsp;&emsp;17 15 13 7 — 52 CLOVERLEAF &emsp;&emsp;25 21 23 15 — 84 Field — Joey Conroy 1-1-4, Sam Confer 3-1-7, Jackson Berlin 5-1-11, Mason Fulst 7-0-20, Paxson Silveus 2-1-5, Tyler Stezler 1-0-2, Colton Herchick 0-0-0, Brian Fox 1-0-2, Tristan Zeman 0-0-0, Caden Corbett 0-0-0, Tristan Hogan 0-0-0, Evan Pruszynski 0-1-1. TOTALS: 20-5-52. Cloverleaf — Damien Reed 5-0-13, Jimmy Tolley 3-3-9, Owen Brownson 1-2-4, Jackson James 4-2-11, Isaac Smith 11-6-31, Justus Sohosky 1-0-2, Reed Kilgore 1-0-2, Brody Adams 2-0-5, Matthew Jenkins 2-0-5, Grady Porter 1-0-2, Logan Jenkins 0-0-0. TOTALS: 31-13-84. 3-point goals — Fulst 6, Conroy, Smith 3, Reed 3, James, Adams, M. Jenkins. Rebounds — Field 29 (Confer, Herchick 7), Cloverleaf 27 (Smith 10). Assists — Field 12 (Silveus 4), Cloverleaf 15 (Smith 5). Records — Field (1-5, 1-4), Cloverleaf (3-3, 2-2). Junior varsity — Field 40, Cloverleaf 39.