With a frantic pace from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer, the Cleveland junior high girls downed visiting St. Clair 23-15 on Monday.
Carving up St. Clair’s defense, Harper Rutz (above) scored the first six points for the Clippers, including two from the foul stripe, but the Cyclones kept pace. Emma Kortuem tossed in a basket from the paint to put the Clippers in front 8-6.
The Cyclones responded with the next four points to pull ahead by two, but they wouldn’t lead again after Rutz’s reverse layup knotted the game at 10. Following up, Clara Hilfer assisted a Brooke Bosse bucket, and the Clippers never glanced backward.
The Cyclones put in a free throw with 2:25 left in the half, but Hilfer hauled down an offensive rebound and threw it back up for two points, and the Clippers were out front 14-11 at the intermission.
The Clippers added to their cushion in the second half. After Rutz bagged two points, Mattea Grandaw took a sixth grader Mackenzie Kortuem handoff in for a basket and a seven-point Orange & Black advantage.
The Cyclones managed a basket before Sierra Lotspeich buried the back end of a pair of free shots, and the Clippers led 19-13. Cashing in on an in-bounds pass, Allie Anderson kept the rally going.
A grinch Clipper defense allowed St. Clair only one more basket in the half. Bosse scored down the stretch to put the finishing touches on the triumph.
Rutz paced the Clippers with 10 points.
Coached by Myrriah Rutz and Brandi Grandaw, the junior high Clippers are an amalgamation of sixth and seventh graders although it was all upper classmen who scored against St. Clair.
When the group has a double header, the sixth graders will play the first game, and the seventh graders will compete in the second. For opponents that have just one team, like St. Clair, the Clippers alternate between two groups of sixth graders to complement the seventh graders; one sixth-grade platoon sits out every other night that there is just a single game.
All of Cleveland’s eighth-grade girls out for basketball this year play on the B-squad, so the junior high girls, whether together or split, will typically face more experienced competition.
The Clippers opened their season on December 1 with one game at Lake Crystal and lost. They will split into two teams for the first time this season when they travel to Truman on Thursday to take on GHEC-Truman.
Emma Kortuem takes the ball into the lane.
Charlotte Meyer eyes the basket.
Allie Anderson looks for a shot from the paint.