Senior Brennan Kortuem was recognized as the boys basketball team’s Most Valuable Player at the Clippers’ awards banquet, which was held in the school commons on March 27.
“Not only has he excelled in his individual performance, he set an example for his teammates,” said assistant coach Carter Kopet. “He pushed everyone to be their best. He expected a lot out of himself, but he expected the same, with compassion, out of his teammates as well. He was willing to not only score, but he was willing to run the length of the floor for a block. He was willing to get on the floor. He was willing to do anything for our team to win. Outside of that, he loved team bonding and genuinely cared for those around him. He made an incredible impact not only on our season but also on the younger generation.”
The Clippers also picked Kortuem as the team’s Offensive Player of the Year.
“He can score from about anywhere in the gym, but the one thing people don’t realize is he saw one of the opponent’s best defenders every night,” Kopet said. “Every night he got a different look because they were trying to figure out a way to stop him and slow him down from scoring 40 points. He adjusted every single night and continually looked to contribute to his other teammates.”
Korteum also set a school record for the most points in a game: 44 against visiting Nicollet, and, with a career 1,415 points, he was inducted into the Clippers’ 1000-Point Club as its ninth member. As 321 points carried over from his time at Blackduck School, he still had over 1000 points at Cleveland.
“That’s a pretty remarkable deal,” said Kopet, who is also a member of the 1000-Point Club. “It takes some skill. It takes some luck staying healthy. It takes a lot of dedication and good teammates around you.”
Kortuem was also one of two Clippers who earned an All-Conference Award, an achievement more difficult than ever starting this year, head coach Mike Meyer said, since the Valley joined with the Tomahawk, and the criteria are much more stringent.
As chosen by the coaches, Kortuem was also chosen as the first ever Valley-Tomahawk All-Conference Player of the Year, an especially prestigious honor considering the group consists of 16 teams.
“It was a no-brainer for us that he deserved that award,” Meyer said. “I was nervous going into the meeting but happy when the rest of the conference coaches agreed with me.”
Sophomore Carson Lyons was the other Clipper All-Conference recipient and received the team’s Mr. All-Around award.
“It goes to a player who does everything, offense, defense, attitude,” said Kopet. “Carson put in a ton of effort to contribute, whether it be on the court or off the court.
Lyons led the Clippers in shooting percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, assists, steals and was second in points scored and three pointers made.
Lyons was also the Clippers’ Defensive Player of the Year.
“He knew what to do and made big time plays no matter what position we had him in,” Meyer said. “What he does against the guy dribbling is incredible. It’s almost unteachable; it’s something you know how to do. But our defense depends upon the guy not guarding the ball as much as if not more than on the guy guarding the ball, especially with all the screens and different offenses the teams have. If we don’t have players in the right position, it becomes easy for the other teams to score, and that’s where Carson thrives. Not only was he great on the ball, but I don’t think I ever had to yell at him to get in the right position when he was off the ball. Carson just understands and knows where to be, and it is a huge asset for our team on defense.”
Lyons was picked by his teammates to win the Players’ Choice Award.
“This kind of goes to putting your athletic ability aside, and it embodies what it truly means to be a great teammate,” Kopet said. “It’s for someone who puts the work in, supports others, always puts the team first no matter the situation. It’s for someone who never makes excuses.”
Sophomore Braeden Smith took earned the 6th Man award.
“He stepped up and embraced the role, whether it was a block, a dunk, changing the tempo in transition or just bringing in competitive energy,” said Kopet.
With 118 points, 29 steals, 22 assists, 125 rebounds, the second most for the Clippers and the team leader in blocks with 27, Smith was also named the Rookie of the Year.
“Braeden made huge strides for us from his freshman year to be a huge part of this year’s varsity team,” Meyer said.
A new award this year, Coach on the Court, went home with senior Kyle Connor.
“He didn’t realize how valuable and rare it was to have a player on numerous occasions tell us what to do, what strategies to use in a game or in practice and actually have an impact,” Meyer said. “In one game, he even told us to sub him out because it was better to have in a better free throw shooter.”
Kale Kelley earned the Most Improved Player award.
In the prior season, Kelley scored 12 points, made 27 percent of his free throws, seven percent of his three-point shots, 22 percent in two-point shots and had 29 rebounds, eight assists and two steals.
As a senior this season, he scored 147 points, made 60 percent of his free throws, 29 percent of his three-point shots, 41 percent two-point attempts and had 108 rebounds, 48 assists and 30 steals.
“Kale was a huge factor for us this year,” Meyer said. “He has been a constant leader for his team as a three-year captain. He never failed to give us stats that we needed and kept situations light when we needed it as well. He certainly will be missed, and he leaves some big shoes to fill”
The “Together” Award went to senior Alex Johnson.
“Our team motto is ‘Together,’” Meyer explained. “Not only do we try to play together as one on the court, but everything we do we try to do as one unit, whether that’s team bonding, the effort we do at practice, bringing others to practice in the offseason. AJ did all of those things. He has been a constant for us for four years. Between him and Bode (Bartell) they were the first to stay after practice to put in more work. I know that AJ wanted more, but he never once did he let that affect what he brought. He has come to me more than anyone else and asked what he can work on. In every sprint in practice, he ran as hard as he could, and all of us coaches noticed that. He busted it every single time. I loved coaching AJ, and he has been valuable to the success of this team. We’re really going to miss him.”
Next year’s captains will include Lyons and Bartell.
“Bode has done absolutely everything he could to push our program in the right direction,” Kopet said. “He not only showed massive strides on the court physically and mentally, he guarded positions one through five. He could score at all levels. He was way more confident and had a team first mindset right away. But where I think he grew the most was that he got a lot more comfortable in his own skin, at practice, in the locker room. He had a pretty competitive edge that a lot of people looked up to.”
While Kopet recognized the leadership of captains Kortuem, Kelley and Lyons, Meyer acknowledged departing seniors Connor, Kelley, Johnson and Kortuem.
“Three of them have been with me since I started coaching four years ago. They went through a lot of ups and downs, especially downs the first two years. But they continued to come back, continued to get better. Outside of Blake Lyons getting hurt, we haven’t lost a member of this class. For the role models they have been, our program is way better than it could have been just because these guys are in the gym.”
Letter winners included Lyons, Connor, Johnson, Kelley, Smith, Bartell, Brennan Kortuem, Alex Kortuem, Tanner Simonette, Dominic Anderson, Gavin Karels, Killian Kunkel, Mason Kluntz and Sam Ternes.
With a GPA of over 3.75 during the season, Kluntz, Lyons and Connor earned All-Conference Academic awards.
The Clippers ended their season with a 10-15 record and were third in the Valley Conference behind Madelia and Mankato Loyola.
“During the exit interviews, the consensus was we could have done better, but we did a lot of things really well,” Meyer said.
Meyer thanked scorebook keeper Greg Davis; his assistant coaches: Kopet, Travis Mons and Andy Schmidt; the coaches’ wives; the younger player for their energy in the stands at games; parents and this author.
This summer, the Clipper Bethany League dates are June 12, 20 and 26 for varsity and JV. The coaches also plan on taking part in three varsity tournaments and have a goal to get one of them at Cleveland. The Clippers will go to Wisconsin Dells on July 6. The coaches can also arrange an open gym.
Fundraising for the basketball program are Kwik-Trip card sales, fire starter sales and spring yard cleaning.
Above: Award winners were Carson Lyons, Alex Johnson, Bode Bartell, Braden Smith, Brennan Kortuem, Kyle Connor and Kale Kelley.
