Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.
Northwestern forward Chris Belton said it's a word he and his Northwestern teammates heard at practice every day this week from coach Mike Gossett while preparing for Clover.
"Coach Gossett told us we had to communicate on defense, had to know where Clover's players were at all times because they are good shooters," Belton said.
"He told us it was important to cut off the shooting lane, and if we got caught out of position on defense for another player to step up and guard the guy. I thought we did a good job of that tonight when it counted."
The play Belton was referring to came with 18.7 seconds remaining in Northwestern's 50-47 Region 3-AAAA win over Clover on Friday. The Trojans led 47-44 and were fighting back a torrid late-game rally by the Blue Eagles. Clover's Alexander Wiley, the team's leading scorer, took a pass on the right wing and drove the lane to the basket. He put up a shot that fell through the net and the whistle blew. Clover fans sitting behind the Blue Eagles' bench rose and cheered, certain Wiley would complete the three-point play and tie the game. The cheers quickly turned to boos when a charging foul instead of a block, was called on Wiley.
"That's what coach Gossett was talking about," Belton said. "I was out of position and my man was open, but Drayton Wade moved over, held his ground and took the charge. That was the biggest play of the game."
Clover was out of options except to foul. They put Labris Adams on the line, and he hit the front end of a one-and-one that pushed the gap to four, 48-44. But Clover was far from done. The Blue Eagles rushed the ball down the court, and with 4.5 seconds left, Chris Lindsay drained a 3-pointer from the right wing. The Blue Eagles immediately fouled Adams on the inbound play, and this time he hit both shots of the double bonus. The free throws pushed the margin to 50-47 and with 3.4 seconds left, Clover had time to fire a desperation shot from half court.
Lindsay pulled up at the mid-court line and fired away. The ball was on line and appeared to have a chance, but it was about two feet short and fell to the court just as the buzzer sounded.
"We just didn't shoot the ball well tonight," Clover coach Dudley Lybrand said. "A lot of it was Northwestern's defense, but to me, it didn't look like we came ready to play. I mean, when you only score two points in the first quarter, that doesn't help.
"I told our kids in the locker room they could take this loss and grow up or put their heads back in their shells like turtles. We have to have our 'A' game every night."
Clover, No. 5 in Class AAAA, lost for only the second time this season, falling to 13-2 overall and 1-1 in the region. Northwestern improved to 10-5 and also is 1-1 in the region.
As Lybrand said, his Blue Eagles did little to help their cause as the game unfolded. Starting after the opening tap, Northwestern went on an 18-2 run that spilled into the second quarter. Clover's only basket came from R.J. Phillips, who was awarded two points because the Trojans were called for goaltending.
Northwestern had extreme dominance on the run and was red hot from the field. After Cordarrelle Patterson hit a layup on the break that extended the score to 18-12, the Trojans had hit 8-of-13 shots. They ended the half shooting 13-of-21 from the field. Clover, on the other hand, hit only 8-of-21 shots in the half.
Wiley agreed with Lybrand that the Blue Eagles waited too long to get started.
"That's what happens when you don't come ready to play," Wiley said. "The charge call at the end was tough to take, but plays like that go both ways. Some nights you get the call. Some nights the other guy gets the call. It was questionable, but you have to trust the referees and play the game."
Clover turned up its full-court press defense in the second and fourth quarters and climbed back into the game. Midway through the second and trailing by 15, the Blue Eagles scored 10 straight points and cut the score to 22-17. Northwestern outscored Clover 6-5 the rest of the half and led 28-22 at the break.
Patterson opened the final quarter with a layup for a comfortable Trojans' lead, 42-29. Once again, Clover rose to the occasion and went on a 15-5 run, cutting the score to 47-44 and setting up the final dramatic minute.
"We've got to find a ball-handling coach," Northwestern's Gossett said. "We can't play defense any better, but we panicked when they went to the press and started turning the ball over.
"When we went up 18-2, I knew this game was far from over. The difference tonight was we had one more run than they did."
