Cleveland 92, visiting Sleepy Eye 84 on Saturday afternoon was the result of big scoring and ultimately brought about by a deeper bench.
By the time the second half rolled around, the Indians were dragging, and the Clippers took advantage by hauling in rebounds and driving to the hoop.
“I think we wore them down defensively, keeping that full court pressure on,” said head coach Mike Meyer. “It makes the game go faster. We have been able to put in more and more guys off the bench, and that translates to points. You run five guys, and when someone gets tired, you put another guy in. It’s great to have that ability to have fresh legs to play defensively.”
Five seconds into the game, the Indians, who came in with a 13-10 record, including a win over Valley Conference champion Nicollet, made the first of two foul shots, but Braeden Smith, en route to 18 points, plopped in a jump shot, and Miles Tomaszewski, kicking off a career-high 25-point campaign, plunged a three.
The Clippers, coming off a loss to St. James Area a day earlier, never trailed from there.
After Sleepy Eye scored from inside, Bode Bartell bagged a three and then assisted a Mason Kluntz inside bucket. Jack Mons scored off the bench. Smith made a quick steal, was fouled on his way to the rim and put in both free throws, and Carson Lyons drove into the paint, held up and plopped in a jumper for a 19-11 Clipper advantage.
The Indians responded with a pair of threes, but Tomaszewski canceled the second one, and Lyons took a Kluntz handoff in for a basket. The Indians scored again from three-point range, but Lyons ducked inside and scored and followed up with a jumper for a 28-20 Clipper lead.
Smith tossed in a turn-around jump shot, but the Indians scored twice from behind the arc and ran in a layup to pull within a basket, 30-28.
Cushioning the Clipper lead, Gavin Struck twisted in a basket. The Indians took a long outlet pass in for a layup, but Smith went to work for the next three baskets, and after a Lyons layup, the Clippers were in front 40-34 at the intermission.
The Indians came out of the locker room with a three, but the Clippers, spurred on by their defense and rebounding, scored the next 10 points, including a pair of Tomaszewski threes and a Lyons three.
“We rebounded well in the second half,” Meyer said. “We also did well in the first half, but it seemed like there was a lot of standing around watching. They didn’t really send guys in to get rebounds. If we would have had that ambition to go inside…that’s what we said at halftime: ‘get on the boards. Get as many second chances as we can get.’”
Later, the Indians parked a couple of threes in a 10-point spurt to pull within five, 54-49, but Struck splashed a three to break up the run.
The Indians, although tiring, hung around, and after Tomaszewski drilled his sixth three, burst for seven points to cut their deficit to seven with a minute left, but Tomaszewski sprinted for a layup, and the Clippers made their free throws to put the finishing touches on the triumph.
“We have to get better on our closeouts,” Meyer said. “We still gave up 84 points, but to score 92 points…this team has struggled to put the ball in the hole. We picked up our defense, so it is nice to see our offense come alive. Miles had a heck of a game…Braeden. Lots of guys had a good game defensively, even the guys who were not scoring. I’m just really impressed with them all around.”
Lyons totaled 24 points, including one three and a seven-for-seven effort from the foul stripe. Bartell had nine points. Mons ended the afternoon with six points. Stuck totaled five. Kluntz made a first half basket while Garrett Heldberg added a basket in the second half. Alex Kortuem put in a free basket.
“It was really fun in the first half, and it got even better in the second half,” Smith said. “Everyone kept scoring. Sleepy Eye has some great players, and they shoot the heck out of the ball, so it was just a great game in general. We have 10 guys that can play every minute of every game, and we’re just ready for everything.”
The Clippers totaled nine threes and were a solid 15 of 19 in free throw shooting. The Indians scored 36 points from behind the arc and were 16 of 20 in foul shooting.
With 24 rebounds under their net and 29 under Sleepy Eye’s, the Clippers really cleaned up on the glass. The Indians had 18 defensive rebounds and only four offensive rebounds.
With 13 rebounds, Lyons had a double-double. He also assisted eight baskets and stole twice. Bartell had three rebounds, four assists and one steal. Kluntz had five rebounds, two assists and one steal. Kortuem had six rebounds, one assist and one steal. Tomaszewski had nine rebounds and one steal. Smith had nine rebounds and three steals. Heldberg had three rebounds. Mons and Struck each had one rebound.
St. James Area 69, Cleveland 51
Against visiting St. James Area on Thursday, the Clippers trailed 33-22 at halftime and couldn’t overcome the difference in the second half.
After a pair of Lyons free baskets, the Clippers missed shots early and trailed 6-2. Lyons drove the baseline for a basket, and Smith pulled down an offensive board and kicked it out to Bartell, who cashed in with a three, and Smith followed with another Clipper three, but the Saints, who came in with a 11-9 record, plopped in a pair of threes in an eight-point run to lead 16-10.
Mons scored from a distance as did Kortuem with a three that pulled the Clippers within a point, and later Tomaszewski hit a three, but the Saints added five threes and a two-point basket for an 11-point advantage at the half.
With five Smith baskets, three more from Lyons and a pair of Kortuem threes, the Clippers kept pace for most of the second half.
Lyons sprinted in a layup and leaped for a bucket to pull his team within six, 44-49, with four and a half minutes left, but the Saints scored 14 of the remaining 16 points, including a pair of threes early in the run, to cruise to the win.
“It could have gone either way at that point, but they hit some big shots,” Meyer said. “There are definitely some mistakes we need to fix. They got some easy baskets, but that is a good 2A school to play looking forward to payoffs. Things are starting to come together, so overall I’m pretty happy with the defense.”
With 13 points, including one three, Smith led the Clipper effort. Lyons added a dozen points. Kortuem’s nine points all came from beyond the arc. Bartell had seven points, including one three. Tomaszewski had one three and a pair of freebies for five total points. Kluntz had three points, and Mons scored two points.
Under their basket, the Clippers totaled 13 rebounds while the SJA grabbed 32 of them. Below the SJA bucket, the Clippers clutched 28 rebounds while the Saints pulled down a dozen.
With 11 rebounds, Smith completed a double-double. He also had one steal and one block. Lyons had five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Bartell had two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Kluntz had three rebounds. Hedberg had three rebounds and a pair of assists. Kortuem had three rebounds, one assist and one steal. Tomaszewski had four rebounds and one block. Killian Kunkel had two rebounds. Mons had one assist. Sam Ternes had one rebound.
The Clippers turned the ball over 14 times, six more than SJA.
“That was a good battle,” Meyer said. “I’m proud of our team tonight.
The win over Sleepy Eye puts the Clippers one over last year’s 10 triumphs. They close out their regular season this week when they host 7-6 New Ulm Cathedral on Tuesday and 16-7 Mayer Lutheran on Thursday.
For common opponents, Cathedral split with Sleepy Eye and Lester Prairie and lost to Loyola and Nicollet and beat GHEC/T/ML. They also lost to Mayer Lutheran.
Above: Braeden Smith winds up for a shot during the Sleepy Eye game.
All alone, Jack Mons winds up for a shot during the game against Sleepy Eye.
Carson Lyons protects a pass inside before stretching to the bucket during the game against Sleepy Eye.
Miles Tomaszewski ducks inside a pair of Sleepy Eye defenders.
Gavin Struck launches a three-point basket.
Bode Bartell extends for a basket as a Sleepy Eye defender reaches for a block.
Defending Garrett Heldberg, a Sleepy Eye defender knocks the ball out of bounds.
Covered by a pair of St. James Area defenders, Carson Lyons winds up for a shot.
Bode Bartell leaps to grab a pass during the game against SJA.
Construction was Thursday’s student section theme. In neon safety vests are Judd Gibbs, Tanner Simonette, Caleb Connor and Carsyn Ryg.