Trailing New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva by 19 late in the first half, the varsity Clippers made a gigantic comeback after the break to defeat the Panthers 82-70 in MSU,M’s Bresnan Arena on Saturday.
The game was a Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser.
“I think we put our foot in the ground and played defense, and defense created offense, and everyone bought in,” said Carson Lyons, who led all players with 30 points.
Trailing 37-18 with two and a half minutes before halftime, the Clippers, who were coming off a 67-48 win over visiting Martin County West the day before and went on to beat visiting USC 73-55 on Monday, finally showed signs of life after a sloppy start when they surged for the last nine points of the half.
“I think we were still sleeping before that because it was not a school day,” Lyons said. “But we decided to step up our defense.”
The run started with a Lyons basket. From there Mason Kluntz hauled in a defensive rebound and scored, Lyons launched a three from the corner, and Bode Bartell stole and ran in a layup to narrow the Clipper deficit to 10, 37-27 at the break.
The Panthers made a free throw for the first point of the second half. The next free throw caromed off the iron, but the Panthers were there for the rebound and buried a three for a four-point play.
Miles Tomaszewski reversed three of them when he bagged a basket from behind the arc, but the next two buckets went to NRHEG, and the Clippers still trailed by 15.
But with a drive for a basket with an and-one tacked on, Bartell started what would be a 23-point campaign.
Following up, Lyons parked a three, and Garrett Heldberg put in a pair free baskets and a three, but still leading 53-41, the Panthers had no answer for Bartell, who—excluding a Braeden Smith layup on a Lyons assist—ran in layups and bagged a pair of threes for the next 16 Clipper points.
The Bartell show trimmed the Clipper deficit to four, 63-59, and after Lyons made a layup and the ensuing free shot, Smith, with 5:40 to go, cashed in on a Lyons assist for the Clippers’ first lead.
The Panthers quickly responded with a three, but Lyons echoed it, and the Clippers were never behind from there.
After absorbing a foul during a defensive rebound, Lyons made a pair of free shots and then stole and assisted a Smith bucket. The Panthers stole and made a layup and then added another two pointer with 3:17 remaining, but stunned after that, they never scored again.
From there, Bartell scooped up a loose ball and ran it in for a bucket, Smith plunged a three, and Lyons and Bartell each went 2-2 on the foul line to put the finishing touches on the triumph.
Lyons finished the night with four baskets from three-point country. He was eight of eight from the foul line. Bartell had 28 points, a dozen from behind the arc. He was five for five in free throw shooting. Smith added 11 points, including one three. Tomaszewski added six points, including one three. Heldberg had five points, including one three. Kluntz had two points.
The Clippers totaled 11 threes and made 15 of 21 free throws. NRHEG put in seven threes and three of eight foul shots.
Cleveland 67, MCW 48.
Gavin Struck took the jump ball up and in for a three to set the tone. The Mavericks, whose only two wins so far this season are against USC and Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons, responded with a layup, but with a three, a two-point jumper and four of four freebies, Lyons posted the next nine points.
Tomaszewski dropped in a three, but the Mavericks, with a pair of threes in their mix, rallied from there to go in front 19-17.
After Kluntz made a pair of free shots to deadlock the game at 19, Jack Mons bagged a pair of jump shots, and Smith ran in a Tomaszewski toss.
After a pair of Maverick free baskets, Alex Kortuem made a three, Lyons put in a jump shot, and Clippers, who had topped the Mavericks 75-61 back on January 8, lead 30-23 at the break.
“After the strong start, we didn’t make a lot of baskets, but our defense kept us in it,” said head coach Mike Meyer.
With threes off the hands of Sam Ternes, Bartell, Heldberg, Mons and Tomaszewski and five baskets and a pair of free throws from Smith, the Clippers outscored MCW 37-25 in the second half to cruise to the victory.
“That was a scrappy game for us,” said Meyer. “But that was good for us because the refs let a lot go, but Martin County had to play through it too. Kudos to the refs. They did a great job. Come to playoff time, we’re going to have to get used to it because it is a lot more physical, and so it was good for us to get a feel for that tonight.”
Lyons had 17 points. Smith had 14 points. Tomaszewski put in a pair of threes for six total points. Kortuem had eight points, including one three. Ternes, Bartell and Heldberg each added a three-point basket. Kluntz made a pair of free shots, Charlie Perkins made one free shot.
“Our rebounding was better in the second half,” Meyer said. “We were able to get some guys in with good minutes. We were going through nine guys in the first half, which is great. Carson is such a great player, but he has been used to having to muscle through the whole game and getting gassed. Now he is able to get a few minutes rest here and there, and that is great for his end-of game play. Sam came in and Gavin came in and played well. They haven’t had a ton of minutes, but I thought they did well with their minutes tonight.”
The Clippers were 10 of 19 from the foul line. MCW made six threes and 16 of 21 free throws.
“We had great effort, plays, great defense. I’m pretty happy with tonight. MCW is what its recordwise, but they still play tough. They have guys who battle, and if you don’t show up, they going to beat you.”
Meyer was also pleased with the enthusiasm in the packed Clipper side of the stands.
“It makes it so much more fun to coach in and play in when you get fans behind you. We were a little stagnant there for a while, and then we finally went on a 10-point run, and getting the crowd back into it…I think they had fallen asleep at that point…then it gets our guys into it. Then our bench gets into it. It’s so fun to play in that atmosphere, especially if you can give them a win.”
Cleveland 73, USC 55
Behind threes by Lyons and Tomaszewski, Bartell drives and a pair Mons baskets from the floor and two free throws, the Clippers jumped out to a 26-3 start. With a trio of threes, a couple of two-point baskets and six free throws, the Rebels posted 19 points in the first half, but with three Smith layups, a trio of Bartell inside buckets and twos by Heldberg and Kluntz, the Clippers were in front 34-19 at the break.
The Rebels, who have beaten some solid teams but lost to some teams they probably should have beaten, Meyer said, scored 36 points in the second half, but with a hattrick of Kortuem threes in their repertoire, the Clippers never really lost control.
“We came out and did our job,” Meyer said. “When we were up in the second half, we tried to throw in something new we have been working on to have ready for playoffs, but that didn’t go very good, and that was kind of ugly because we were scrambling defensively and giving up some shots, but the rest of the game was good. We started off making some mistakes in the first half. We weren’t very good help side, but we corrected them as we went. I was pretty impressed with our guys all the way through.”
Lyons ended the night with 18 points, including one three. Smith added a dozen points. Ternes put in a three and a pair of two-point baskets in the second half for seven total points. Bartell, Mons and Heldberg each contributed six points. Tomaszewski had five points, including one three. Kluntz put in a bucket in each half.
The Clippers were seven of 16 from the foul line. The Rebels, who fell to 3-17 with the loss, made five threes, one fewer than the Clippers, and 18 of 20 free throws.
Lester Prairie 85, Cleveland 56
On February 2, the Clippers were hoping to avenge last year’s season-ending loss to Lester Prairie but trailed the 5-12 host Bulldogs 43-29 at the half.
Lyons totaled 16 points in the effort, 10 of them in the first half. Bartell had a dozen points. Smith had nine points. Tomaszewski had six points. Mons, Struck and Kluntz each had three points. Heldberg and Tony Hollerich each had two points.
Bartell, Smith, Mons, Struck and Tomaszewski each put in a three. The Clippers were 15 of 22 from the foul line. The Bulldogs made eight threes in the first half and seven more in the second and put in 10 of 15 free shots.
Today (Thursday), the 10-11 Clippers host 11-9 Class 2A St. James Area. Jump ball is at 7:15 p.m.
Above: The varsity Clippers after their win over NRHEG: They are, from L-R: Coach Andy Schmidt, coach Travis Mons, Killian Kunkel, Jack Mons, Miles Tomaszewski, Carson Lyons, Luke Heldberg, Wyatt Krenik, Braeden Smith, Sam Ternes, Mason Kluntz, Tony Hollerich, Garrett Heldberg, Gavin Struck, Alex Kortuem, Charlie Perkins, Jack Anderson, Bode Bartell, Coach Mike Meyer and coach Jaylon Holmes.
Bode Bartell went on roll in the second half against NRHEG.
Braeden Smith goes up for a layup on the MSU,M court.
Miles Tomaszewski pulls down a rebound during the game against MCW.
Alex Kortuem runs the ball down court during the game against MCW.
Garrett Heldberg scoops up a loose ball from the floor during the game against MCW.
Gavin Struck takes the ball down court during the MCW game.
Youth line up to greet the varsity players as they take the floor before the MCW game.
It was blackout night in the student section on Friday.
Senior Vivian Hilfer sang the National Anthem before the boys game against MCW.
Casey Olson (social studies) and Allissa Gibbs (technology) were selling vintage Clipper basketball jerseys before the game. The price for any was a bargain $20.
Elementary students display their vintage jerseys.
C squad players Jake Mueller, Jeremy Miller, Pierce Lyons and Brayden Seeman model their newly purchased vintage warmups.
Vintage jerseys dotted the bleachers during the game against MCW.
Carson Lyons coils for a shot during the game against USC.
Mason Kluntz guides the ball toward the hoop as USC players keep watch.
Braeden Smith smashes his way to the hoop as a pair of USC defenders grab at the ball.
The pep band performed before the game against USC.
It was White Lies night during the USC game. Written on their T-shirts was a white lie about themselves; however, in this case, it was usually the polar opposite of the truth.