While the varsity boys hung with host Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton for the first 14 and a half minutes, the Bulldogs took the lead with 4 minutes left in the first half and never looked back in an 86-73 win.
“That’s one of the better teams in 2A basketball,” said head coach Mike Meyer. “It was another game we ran out of gas, kind of like the other night against Lake Crystal.”
The Bulldogs stepped in front of a Clipper pass and put up a three for the game’s first basket. Brennan Kortuem directly responded with a three for the Clippers, but the Bulldogs hit another three right after for a quick 6-3 lead.
But Carson Lyons (above) scored inside, and Blake Lyons hit back-to-back shots from three-point range, and the Clippers were in front 11-6.
Carson Lyons assisted Carter Barto for a basket, but the Bulldogs added two-points before and five points after to deadlock the game at 13.
Carson Lyons drove for a bucket and made the ensuing free throw, and Blake Lyons put in a pair of free shots as well and then cut through the lane for three baskets. Bode Bartell followed a Barto Basket with a three, and the Clippers were in front 29-22 with five minutes left until the break.
But the Bulldogs scored 12 of the next 14 points to go in front 35-31 before Carson Lyons put in an underhand shot.
“They started to run and gun on us, and our guys were sluggish to get back in transition, and that was the difference in this game,” Meyer said. “Our defense started to get sloppy, our passing started to get sloppy, and on offense we started to make some other dumb mistakes Defensively, I thought our man-to-man overall was pretty decent.”
From there, the Bulldogs scored 11 of the next 12 points, with nine of them coming on steals, to take a 46-35 lead into the locker room.
“We don’t have the luxury of going five guys off the bench,” Meyer said, “but that’s just an excuse. I told the guys at halftime that’s mental. They’ve got to be able to fight through that and find a way to make smart plays and come up with the ball when you are tired.”
Keeping their momentum going, the Bulldogs opened the second half with a three and scored 19 of the first 23 points. Barto put in a couple of buckets and a pair of free shots, and Carson Lyons put up an offensive rebound for a basket, but the Bulldogs scored six more points to go in front 70-41.
“Something we really struggled with last year was getting pressured, and this team did it probably the best last year,” Meyer said. “They showed us again tonight their pressure. They were in the passing lane. They’re up on the ball. We know how to counter that, but I think we fell short tonight. We didn’t have many cuts, backdoor cuts and deep cuts to get open. We just would kind of sit and wait for the ball. Those are all things our guys know how to do. They’ve just got to get better in game situations.”
With 10 points from Bartell, including a pair of threes, and a three, a two and a free basket from Kortuem, the Clippers were strong down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough to get back in business.
Carson Lyons led the Clippers with 17 points. Blake Lyons had a pair of threes, three twos and a pair of free throws in the first half and two free throws in the second half for 15 points. Barto had three baskets each half and a pair of free shots in the second half for 14 points. Kortuem put in two threes, two tows and a free shot for 11 points. Bartell put in a trio of threes and totaled 13 points. Jorden Rossow had a second-half basket.
The Clippers totaled seven threes and had a solid night from the free throw stripe, where they only missed three of 17 attempts. The Bulldogs had one more three than the Clippers and made 12 of 18 foul shots.
Carson Lyons also grabbed 13 rebounds, made six assists and stole three times. Kortuem had two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Blake Lyons had seven rebounds, one assist and one block. Barto had 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal and two blocks. Bartell had one rebound and a pair of steals. Kyle Connor had one steal and two rebounds. Kale Kelley had two rebounds and one assist.
The Clippers travel to Waterville today (Thursday) to take on the 10-12 Buccaneers.
Against teams the Clippers played in common, WEM fell to JWP 80-48 and 84-52 and suffered a narrow 49-44 lost to St. Clair. The Cyclones beat the Clippers 81-61.
Jorden Rossow knocks the ball away from a Bulldog guard.
With 13 points, Blake Lyons had a strong first half.
Brennan Kortuem drives the baseline.
Bode Bartell takes the ball inside the arc under pressure.
Carter Barto grabs a rebound.