Alden-Conger avenged an earlier season loss when they beat the seventh-grade girls 31-24 in the new gym on Thursday.
It was only the third defeat the Clippers suffered this year.
With the teams stalemated 21-21, the Clippers pressed hard, but the Knights got the ball down the court for two baskets.
Sierra Lotspeich scored inside, but so did the Knights for a 27-23 lead. Emma Kortuem made the second of two foul shots, but that was as close as the Clippers would get, and the Knights made two baskets down the stretch to wrap up the win.
“We’ve got to work a little bit more on boxing out to get some more opportunities on the offensive side,” said coach Myrriah Rutz.
But she said the Clippers mostly needed to keep more players in motion when they had the ball.
“We needed to move more when we were without the ball. Once you move the ball round, you move the defense around and get opportunities, but I thought we just stood around.”
The lead swung back and forth for the first five minutes, but the Knights pulled ahead and kept the lead for most of the game.
After the Knights made a pair of free throws to start the scoring, Kortuem also put in two freebies. The Knights scored inside, but Brooke Bosse bagged a basket from the corner. The Knights put in a basket from the perimeter, but after a Harper Rutz steal, Allie Anderson assisted a Kortuem layup and then scored herself after grabbing an in-bounds pass for a 9-7 Clipper lead.
The Knights replied with a baseline drive for a bucket, but Bosse made an acrobatic layup. That would be it for the Clipper lead though as the Knights scored the next four baskets for a 17-11 advantage.
Clara Hilfer plopped in a jumper to break up the run, but the Clippers didn’t score a point on two trips to the foul line. Kortuem grabbed a defensive rebound and took it all the way down the for and in for a layup, and Rutz put in a running jump shot, but the Knights led 19-17 at the break.
Lotspeich put in a free throw for the first score of the second half. After the Knights put in a bucket, Rutz made the back side of two foul shots, and Bosse scored from the top of the lane to tie the game at 21.
With eight points, Bosse led the Clipper effort. Kortuem had seven points. Rutz posted three points. Hilfer and Lotspeich each had two points. Anderson chipped in a free shot.
“We had a lot of good shots, but they didn’t all fall,” Rutz said.
The Clippers made six of 18 shots from the charity stripe. The Knights were successful in three of eight free throw attempts.
The seventh-grade girls travel to Madelia on Tuesday and to Mankato Loyola on February 5 before they put the wraps on their season with a home game vs Martin County West on February 8.
Above: Harper Rutz looks inside as she runs the ball down court.
Charlotte Myer works her way around an Alden-Conger defender.
Emma Kortuem on the fast break.
Sierra Lotspeich pivots toward the lane.
Brooke Bosse winds up for an underhand layup.
