Jayleign Flood's offensive game has progressed enough that she's gone from being Clever's last option to shoot a year ago, at least in her mind, to now being the Lady Jays' best chance to score.
A late scoring burst by Flood Wednesday was nearly enough to help Clever knock off Aurora in regulation, before the Lady Jays fell in overtime 49-44.
Flood helped put Clever in position to bid for an upset by scoring nine of her 12 points in the fourth quarter.
The junior forward is averaging eight points a game and shooting a team-best 42 percent from the field, compared to her norm of six points a night and 31-percent field-goal shooting last year.
"Last year, I would be open, but would always try to make the extra pass to a teammate or figure out a way to get my teammates open," Flood said. "This year, I've been trying to focus on getting myself a few shots, too."
Clever coach Clark Satterlee is asking Flood and all the Lady Jays for that matter to pick up their offensive game in response to an injury to guard Ireland Jones. She's been out nearly two weeks since suffering a deep contusion to a lower leg upon landing on a teammate's foot at a practice.
Jones' averages through 19 games were 17.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.4 steals.
"The slimmest of slim chances. We're not assuming she will be back," Satterlee said of Jones' chances to come back for Districts. "She is probably out for the season."
Satterlee has promoted freshman Ella Newman and had her take over the team's point guard duties.
"She can handle the ball and make pretty good decisions," Satterlee said. "We're not asking her to do all the things Ireland was doing."
Newman and several other Lady Jays are gaining invaluable experience while assuming the ball-handling duties.
"The silver lining (of Jones' injury) is this will only help as far as getting some of those other girls developed more while they take on more responsibilities," Satterlee said.
Flood has reached double-figure scoring in four of Clever's last five games, as she becomes a complete player. An exceptional athlete, she long ago established herself as a top defender.
"Normally, my job is to lock up their best girl," Flood said. "I would definitely say my confidence (offensively) has grown. I've put in more work in the gym getting shots up. I can see the openings to attack toward the basket and take open shots when I'm open. I feel like I can get inside and make a basket or get a foul called.
"I can always kick it to a teammate or one thing we've been working on is the kick-down to the opposite block. That's something I've been doing really well."
"Last year, we would tell her, 'You've got to guard the other team's best player and whatever you get on offense is a plus,'" Satterlee said. "This year, we've told her, 'You've got to guard the best player and now be more aggressive (on offense), make plays and finish.' That's what we will need her to do come District time."
Flood worked well in the middle of Clever's offense against Aurora's 2-3 zone defense.
"We put her at the high post because she can make plays and go to the basket," Satterlee said. "She's got good court vision. We wanted her to be aggressive and she was. She also got some good kick-outs to our shooters."
Clever rallied from being eight points down to take a 42-40 lead on a 3-pointer by Mady Kime with :45 to play in regulation. Kime and Bailie McClanahan combined for six treys and 22 points.
But the Lady Jays couldn't keep pace with Aurora (15-6) in overtime. The Houn' Dawgs made 7-of-13 free throws in the extra period.
"They attacked the basket better than we did and got to the free-throw line, that was the difference," Satterlee said. "We were still trying to live on jump shots or a couple layups that we missed."
Earlier this week, Clever (11-11) received the No. 3 seed for Class 3 District 12. The Lady Jays are the defending District champs. Stockton (15-8) was voted No. 1, host Diamond (16-5) No. 2 and Lamar (11-10) No. 4.
"We haven't played anybody (in the District), so that made it hard (for voting)," Satterlee said. "I feel maybe we didn't get enough credit for our strength of schedule. And, with Ireland being out it was hard to see exactly where we are.
"(The top four seeds) are all fairly comparable," he added. "We've all had fairly solid seasons. You're going to have to beat two to win it, anyway, so it doesn't really matter on the seeds. I still think we have a decent shot to win the District. It's going to be tough. If we play like we did tonight, we'll compete."
Aurora 49, Clever 44 OT
AURORA (49) — Ernest 2 1-2 5, Hall 1 0-0 2, Burch 0 0-2 0, Creasley 7 5-8 22, Cope 2 3-4 7, Blevins 1 9-13 11.
CLEVER (44) — Hicks 3 0-0 8, Britton 1 0-0 2, Kime 3 0-0 9, Flood 4 4-6 12, McClanahan 5 0-0 13.
Aurora 21 7 8 6 7 - 49
Clever 17 5 8 12 2 - 44
3-point goals - Creasley 3, McClanahan 3, Kime 3.
