While Nicollet brought its A game when they hosted the Cleveland Varsity girls on Friday, marks on Clipper report card were somewhere below average, and they fell to the Raiders 67-33.
After three straight conference wins, it was the first loss in the Valley for the Clippers.
“It was a bit of a disappointment,” said Clipper head coach Myrriah Rutz. “I thought we were a harder match than we played tonight. A lot of our little layups and close shots didn’t fall. Their press seemed to spook us a little bit, and that surprises me, but at the end of the day, the energy was high around here, and sometimes it just gets you off your rhythm.”
The Raiders stole and scored on a layup for the game’s first basket and never looked in their rearview mirror. Taylor McCabe, who led the Clipper effort with 11 points, put in a free throw, a basket from the baseline and a layup, and Emma Kortuem stole and drove in a layup and then bagged a three, but the Raiders, leading 12-10, went on the warpath from there with the next 15 points.
Harper Rutz broke up the run, but the Raiders buried a trio of threes to widen their lead. Rutz hit a three from the corner, but with an inside basket and a well setup play for a three a few seconds before the buzzer, Nicollet led 43-17 at the intermission.
McCabe put in three baskets in the second half, Brooke Bosse put in a bucket from behind the arc, and Kortuem, Rutz and Mollie Bowman each made a two-point shot, but the Raiders outscored the Clippers 24-16 in the second half to cruise to the victory.
McCabe put in five two point baskets and a free basket. Kortuem added two two-point baskets, a three and three foul shots for 10 total points. Rutz put in a pair of twos and a three for seven points. Bosse made one three pointer. Bowman chipped in a basket.
The Clippers made four of 10 foul shots. Nicollet put in seven three-point baskets, four more than the Clippers, and 16 of 28 shots from the foul line. The Clippers coughed up the ball 20 times and made 13 steals.
McCabe hauled in six rebounds, Bowman pulled down five rebounds. Kortuem had four rebounds. Bosse had four rebounds. Ava Kluntz had six rebounds. Rutz had two rebounds. Kaitlyn Flowers had six rebounds. Taylor Wolf and Valentina Rohlfing each grabbed one rebound.
“I thought we moved the ball better in the second half,” Rutz said. “That got us some points, but ultimately, we were slow on defense and just couldn’t beat the press. We’ll get back in the gym and watch the film and see where our opportunities are for the next time.”
The Clippers headed to Granada tonight to take on Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther. The team to beat in the Valley, the Jaguars, coached by Rutz’s brother, have wins over Loyola and Nicollet.
Above: Emma Kortuem makes a drive down the baseline in the second half.
Brooke Bosse unleashes a three-point basket.
A pair of Nicollet defenders close in on Mollie Bowman as she takes the ball inside.
Emma Kortuem is closely guarded by her cousin, Jazmyn Goettlicher. Goettlicher, whose both parents are Cleveland grads, ended the night with 16 points, one less than Nicollet’s leading scorer. The cousins are both freshmen.