Tyler Smith prepares to shoot a free throw in the third quarter against Cloverdale on March 12. Photo by Ryan Tincher.
GREENFIELD, Ind. – A chance at Saturday’s regional championship may have been in doubt at halftime, but by the end the the third quarter the Northeastern boys basketball team was closing in on the opportunity for the first time in school history.
Tyler Smith scored 20 of his career-high 41 points in the third period as he led the fourth-ranked Knights to a 94-74 victory over Cloverdale in the opener of the Class 2A regional at Greenfield-Central.
“Tyler had a great game,” Northeastern Head Coach Brent Ross said. “He played within himself. He moved the basketball. He shot the basketball well.”
With the win, the Knights (22-4) will face Indianapolis Howe (21-7) on Saturday night at 8 p.m. Howe defeated Indianapolis Broad Ripple 64-52 in the other semifinal contest. Kip Warren led the Hornets with 18 points in the win.
After Cloverdale’s Cooper Neese nailed a 3-pointer from over half-court to cut Northeastern’s advantage to 42-40 at the intermission.
“That was an amazing shot and amazing play,” Ross said. “They played a great half.”
Northeastern’s answer was an 9-0 run by the Smith brothers to begin the second half.
Robert Smith, who sat on the bench in the second quarter with a pair of fouls, scored three straight times to put the Knights on top 48-40.
“We need Robert on the floor,” Ross said. “We were struggling a little bit. He’s got to stay out of foul trouble.”
Finishing with 17 points, Robert Smith agreed.
“My team needs me to be big every game,” he said. “If I get dumb fouls, I can’t be out there.”
Tyler Smith followed with a basket at the 6:26 mark of the third and then he converted a free throw and Northeastern led 51-40.
Despite holding the slim lead at the half, Ross was pleased with the pace of the contest.
“We came out and ran our break and continue the pace and and I thought they got a little tired,” Ross said.
After Jacob Wilkes scored for the Clovers to cut their deficit to 59-47 at 4:18, Tyler Smith then took over.
“Tyler gets buckets,” Robert Smith said of his younger sibling. “We just play so much like a team, we don’t realize who is scoring. We just go out there and get the ball where it needs to be.”
Tyler Smith scored the next 10 points and the Knights were in command at 69-47 with 2:40 left.
“Attack, Attack, Attack the whole time,” Tyler Smith said of his team’s plan heading into the third quarter.
“We talked about before the game that they weren’t very good at help defense,” he said. “I knew if I could beat my man and get to the basket their help defense was going to foul or I was going to score.”
The Defense
Neese, who has verbally committed to Butler, led the Clovers (19-8) with 35 points. Jalen Moore added 25 points.
“They were hard to figure out what to do defensively,” Ross said. “Moore and Neese have so much freedom and they’ve got so much confidence.”
However, the Knights held Neese to just two points during the critical run in the third frame.
“Bailey Stewart’s defense at the end of the third quarter and through the fourth quarter really kind of stopped their momentum,” Ross said. “He did a great job on Cooper.”
By the end of the third quarter, the Knights were ahead 78-52 and not much would change over the final stanza.
Long Range Bombers
Nate Reynolds found his range early with a pair of treys as Northeastern would would a 27-20 lead after one period.
Reynolds ended with 19 points.
Stewart added seven points, while DaShawn Hampton tossed in six points, including an opening period 3-pointer.
Harrison Rice had four points as he led the Knights with seven rebounds.
A New Record
Tyler Smith also established Northeastern’s single-season scoring record as he passed his coach.
He now has 566 points to put himself at the top of the list. Ross had 530 points when he was senior in 1986-87.
On the career scoring list, Tyler Smith moved into second place with 1,243 points
Northeastern 1,000-Point Club
1. Cory Ryan (1995-1999) 1,445
2. Tyler Smith (2012-2015) 1,243
3. Daryl Lane (1967-1970) 1,239
4. Brent Ross (1983-1987) 1,116
5. Cory Ross (1999-2003) 1,106
6. Ryan Kaufman (1998-2002) 1,067
Box Score
CLOVERDALE (19-8) – Jalen Moore 9 4-7 25, Cooper Neese 11 9-9 35, Nicholas Winders 3 0-0 8, Brenan Hall 0 0-0 0, Jacob Pfaff 0 0-0 0, Jacob Wilkes 3 0-1 6, Robert Nally 0 0-0 0, Parker Watts 0 0-0 0, Bryce Blevins 0 0-0 0, Jaren Rossok 0 0-0 0. Team – 26 13-17 74.
NORTHEASTERN (23-4) – Tyler Smith 14 10-10 41, Bailey Stewart 3 1-2 7, Robert Smith 8 1-4 17, Nate Reynolds 6 2-2 19, DaShawn Hampton 2 1-2 6, Kaleb Mikesell 0 0-0 0, Austin Clay 0 0-0 0, Harrison Rice 2 0-0 4, Jalen Hillard 0 0-0 0, Quinton West 0 0-0 0, Alex Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Gabe Beatty 0 0-0 0. Team – 35 15-20 94.
Cloverdale 20 40 52 74
Northeastern 27 42 78 94
3-pointers – Cloverdale 9 (Neese 4, Moore 3, Winders 2), Northeastern 9 (N. Reynolds 5, T. Smith 3, Hampton 1). Rebounds – Cloverdale 29 (Moore 6, Neese 6), Northeastern 32 (Rice 7, T. Smith 6). Turnovers – Cloverdale 22, Northeastern 12. Fouls – Cloverdale 14, Northeastern 22.
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