By John Miller
Springfield, MO – The Clever Blue Jays started fast and didn’t slow down.
The Blue Division’s fifth-seed jumped on Aurora 16-4 in the first quarter and never let up, downing the Houn Dawgs 58-31 in the opening round of the Blue and Gold Tournament on Monday afternoon at Hammons Student Center.
Clever will now face fourth-seed Parkview at 11 a.m. on Tuesday in JQH Arena. Aurora will draw Willow Springs at 11 a.m. in Hammons Student Center.
“This is a really big tournament, and we were all eager to come out and show everybody what we can do,” said Clever guard Jared Sopok, who finished with a game-high 15 points, including eight in the first four minutes of the game.
Clever forced 14 turnovers in the first-half, rolling to a 34-6 lead at the break.
“I thought we came out and really keyed in defensively as to what we needed to do,” Clever coach Luke Brosius said. “We’ve had three or four days to practice and prepare for Aurora. We felt like if we could take away some opportunities inside, rebound, and get out and run, then we would have a good chance to take care of business. We did a really good job of all three of those things in the first half.”
An inexperienced Aurora team struggled to find traction against Clever, shooting just 34 percent from the floor (11 for 32). Missed shots and turnovers doomed the Houn Dawgs, who also gave the ball away 20 times.
Brosius credited the team’s point guard Devan Hampton for setting the tone at both ends of the floor.
“It starts with Devan,” Brosius said. “When he comes out focused, we feel our whole team is focused in defensively. He got a deflection on the very first possession. When we get the ball in his hands, he can break teams down really well in transition, and he did that.”
Hampton had 11 points for the Blue Jays and added six steals and four assists. Matt Christoffer also scored 11 points for Clever, who are aiming for another Cinderella run in the tournament. Last year, Clever reached the Gold Division semifinals before falling to Bolivar 60-55. In 2007, the program made a Gold Division title game appearance under current Glendale coach Brian McTague.
Needless to say, the Blue Jays have embraced the Blue and Gold Tournament with open arms in recent history.
“We love this tournament,” Brosius said. “Just the opportunity to play the bigger schools and a chance to put our names out there a little bit more. We’ve got some kids that can play a little bit.
“Last year was a lot of fun, and we hope to have a run like that again this year.”
Matt Miller led Aurora with 10 points.
Aurora 4 2 17 8 31
Clever 16 18 12 12 58
Aurora: Miller 10, Naylor 8, Hilton 5, Erickson 3, Shoemaker 2, Dunning 2, Cline 1
Clever: Jared Sopok 15, Matt Christoffer 11, Hampton 11, Partee 6, Park 5, Mark Christoffer 5, Derek Sopok 3, Wilson 2
