Young Clover boys’ basketball team finding its groove as post-holiday season picks up

The Clover boys’ basketball team is headed in the right direction following a slow start to the 2020-21 basketball campaign.

After beginning with a 1-3 mark, the Blue Eagles have won four of their last six games to even their record at 5-5. Included in that streak was a split with Gaffney in the first two region games of the year.

Clover, which finished 19-9 overall a year ago and made the playoffs, lost six seniors from last year’s squad. But that didn’t change any team expectations.

“We know what we always want in our program,” he added. “We will never vary from our expectations. We challenged our players to keep working, and they did. Some have had to learn the difference between varsity and JV. Our work ethic has been very good. We just need to keep focused.”

The Blue Eagles’ slow start was attributed to a couple of factors: Only a few players returned from last year’s outstanding team, and the COVID-19 restrictions took away a lot of time they could have used in the offseason to get the new players ready for this campaign.

Shamajay Poole and Garrett Ferguson, both of whom play the wing position, are the only two seniors on this year’s edition of the Blue Eagles. Veteran head coach Bailey Jackson says their leadership has been excellent.

“They both know what this program is built upon and what I want,” said Jackson. “They have set a good example on and off the floor.”

Poole is the leading scorer for the Blue Eagles with more than 12 points per game, but Jackson’s offense gets plenty of help from the other players on the floor. Jackson counts on eight or nine players each game to contribute on both ends of the floor.

Junior guard Dylan Rupert, who is the team’s top free throw shooter thus far at 85%, and sophomore wing Vincent Alexander also contribute to the offense. Junior center Lawrence Bartee and point guard Nicky Glenn, who came up from last year’s JV team, also figure in the offense.

Poole and Bartee have been the top rebounders thus far for Clover. The Blue Eagles’ defense features pressure on the ball and blocking out, which leads to some transition baskets.

“We start with defense and bring as much pressure as possible to force bad shots,” said Jackson. “On offense we do not rely on just one person to do all of the scoring. We have a balanced attack. That has been shown with the fact that we have had several different high scorers. We have gotten some points off the transition game, but we are very capable in the setup offense.”

‘On any given night, any team can win’ in Region 3-5A

Clover is in a new region this season. The team lost the rivalry with Northwestern and Rock Hill, and it added new region opponents in Gaffney and Boiling Springs to go along with Nation Ford and Fort Mill, both of whom were in the region last year.

“This region is very balanced,” Jackson said. “On any given night any team can win. Every team in this region is well coached, and there’s very little room for error. You better bring your ‘A’ game and be ready every night in this region because of the quality of play from top to bottom and the balance that exists.”

Clover opened its region slate with a 73-60 win over Gaffney last Tuesday, but dropped a 51-48 decision to the same team last Friday.

This week, the Blue Eagles play the Nation Ford Falcons twice. They travel to Nation Ford on Tuesday and host the Falcons on Friday. Following that, they have two region contests against both Fort Mill and Boiling Springs and non-region battles with Lancaster and Catawba Ridge.

“We are gradually getting the new players on this year’s varsity acclimated to being on this level,” he said. “Our few returning players have done very well. We are getting better every day as a team. It will take time, but I can see the improvement in our team as well as the potential we have moving forward.”