Win over Alden-Conger equals varsity effort over the last two seasons

Raining down a dozen threes, the varsity boys downed visiting Alden-Conger 62-48.

With two wins already in the season, the total of last year and 2021 combined, the Clippers’ stock continues to rise.

“It’s fun to get the first win here,” said head coach Mike Meyer. “I hope it is the first of many this month. We’re here all the rest of December.”

The Clippers, coming off an 89-61 loss to host Cedar Mountain on Saturday, got out of the gate with four threes, each by a different player: Jorden Rossow, Carson Lyons (above), Blake Lyons and Brennan Kortuem. With a 12-4 lead, they never trailed after.

Each team hit a dry spell late in the first half. The Knights put followed a two-point basket with a three at the buzzer, but the Clippers still led by a point, 23-22 at the break.

“We struggled for a little bit there, at least on the defensive side,” Meyer said. “We let them get quite a few offensive rebounds, but at the same time, this game was a lot of fun because we saw a lot of growth within the game. Right away we were giving up a lot of post touches, and then we started to catch on on making sure we pinched down and helped on that. With our offense, there were a lot of opportunities for a high-low offense. We didn’t get it right away, but throughout the game the guys started working that pretty well. We didn’t always convert on it, but they did a good job of seeing it.”

Carson Lyons’s three was the first basket of the second half. Kortuem quickly added two more, and the Clippers widened their lead to nine.

Kortuem and Carson Lyons had a three-point contest the rest of the half, but it ended in a tie with each totaling four. Bode Bartell arced in a three for good measure, and the Clipper sailed to the triumph.

Meyer said he is pleased to have the depth this year to rotate players. Last year at home, they lost to Alden-Conger 60-19 with six players who saw the floor, and Blake Lyons fouled out.

Kortuem racked up 25 points, two thirds of them from three-point country. Carson Lyons contributed 20 points with 15 points coming from threes.

"They were going in, so I just kept shooting," said the freshman.

Carter Barto was six for six in foul shooting for six points. Blake Lyons put in a three and a pair of free shots for five points. Bartell and Rossow both added a three-point basket.

Successful in 15 of 20 attempts, the Clippers had another good night in free throw shooting. The Knights dropped in four threes and were four of 15 from the foul line.

In Morgan, the Clippers trailed 44-33 at the break.

Kortuem led the Clippers with 22 points. Three of his baskets were from outside the arc. Carson Lyons had 13 points, including one three-point basket. In his first game back this season after an almost year-long recovery from a knee injury, Barto added nine points. Rossow had two three-point baskets and one basket from the floor for eight points. Blake Lyons made four of four free-throw attempts for four total points. Bartell had two points, and Gabe Sullivan had one point.

The Clippers were 15 of 20 in free-throw shooting. Cedar Mountain put in 10 threes and were nine of 15 from the foul line.

Meyer knew the Cougars were going to be a good team because they lost to Mankato Loyola in the section championship last year by only a couple of points.

“Watching some film on them we knew they had really good guard play, and we had to come in ready to protect the ball. Right away it was jitters for us. They are a good shooting team, and they got hot right away, and it took most of the first half for us to realize we could play with them, and at one point we chopped their lead down to seven in the first half. We were also trying to grow in game. They picked our zone pretty well though and knew how to work the high-low. We just weren’t ready for it, but it was a really good game for us to have.”

The Clippers host Martin County West on Monday. In Valley play, the Mavericks lost to LCWM but beat Nicollet.