With strong second halves, the junior high girls took two from host Le Sueur-Henderson on Monday.
Game 1: Cleveland 28, LSH 10
The Giants put in the first two baskets. Brylee Kortuem made a free throw to light up the Clipper half of the scoreboard. The Giants put in a free throw too, but it was their last point of the half.
From there, Harley Samuelson took an inbounds pass up and in for a basket, Kenzie Kortuem ran in a layup to deadlock the game 5-5 before sinking a go-ahead free throw, and the Clippers never trailed from there.
Sophia Wasler hauled down an offensive rebound and put it up for a basket, Lily McMillen scored from under the net, and Kenzie Kortuem assisted a Blair Voit baseline drive for a bucket that put the Clippers in front 12-5 at the break.
Bella Baker fielded an inbounds pass and tossed it through the net for the first bucket of the second half. The Clipper offense struggled a bit from there, but Voit buried an outside shot for a 16-7 Clipper advantage.
Kenzie Kortuem fought for an offensive rebound and hoisted it back up for a basket and assisted Walser for an inside bucket for a 20-8 Clipper lead. After Brienna Groebner and Walser bagged an outside shots , the Giants put in a pair of free shots, but Brylee Kortuem and Walser drove for buckets to put the finishing touches in the triumph.
With eight points, Walser paced the Clippers. The Kortuems each added five points. Voit totaled four points. Contributing a basket were Samuelson, McMillen, Baker and Groebner.
The Clippers made two of 10 free shots while the Giants made four of eight free throws.
Game 2: Cleveland 30, LSH 11
Like in game 1, LSH posted the first four points. Voit stole and assisted a Brylee Kortuem layup for the first Clipper bucket, but the Giants dropped in an outside shot to lead 6-2. Groebner parked a jumper, but the Giants stole and scored to maintain a 4-point lead.
But the rest of the half was mostly Clippers. Brylee Kortuem pulled in an offensive rebound and scored, and, with four minutes until halftime, Voit cruised down the baseline for a bucket to stalemate the score 8-8.
The Giants managed a free throw, but down the stretch, Samuelson grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up for a basket and followed it up with an inside basket for a 12-9 Clipper lead at halftime.
The Clippers owned the second half. Out of the gate, Walser ran in a pair of layups as did Brylee Kortuem. Samuelson floated in a bucket that doubled the Giant score, 18-9.
Meanwhile, the Clipper defense forced turnovers, and the offense capitalized on them. Brylee Kortuem, Voit and Kenzie Kortuem ran in layups. Each assisting the others’ layups, Voit and her cousin Brylee traded gifts, down the stretch, and the Clippers cruised to the triumph.
With 10 points, Brylee Kortuem was the Clipper sparkplug. Samuelson and Voit each contributed six points. Walser added in four points, and Kenzie Kortuem and Groebner each chipped in a bucket.
The Clippers were 0-6 from the foul stripe while the Giants made one of six free shots.
The junior high girls return to action tomorrow (Thursday) when they travel to Alden for a 4:30 contest. On Saturday, they host tournaments for seventh-grade and eighth-grade teams.
Above: Brylee Kortuem breaks toward the lane.
Brienna Groebner takes the ball across the arc under pressure.
Lily McMillen runs in a layup.
Sophia Walser fights for a loose ball.
Blair Voit winds up for an outside shot.
Kenzie Kortuem looks for an open teammate.
Bella Baker eyes the bucket.
Emmy Miller fights her way to the lane.
Charlie Gair guides the ball toward the basket.