With five seniors on the varsity boys team, picking a starting lineup for Cleveland vs. visiting New Ulm Cathedral for Tuesday’s Senior Night was an easy task for head coach Mike Meyer.
And the quintet came through. Alex Kortuem (center in the photo above) put in 11 points, Bode Bartell (left) added eight, Mason Kluntz (second from left) scored four points, Gavin Struck (right) and Killian Kunkel (second from right) each put in a basket, and the Clippers ran away with an 83-54 win over the Greyhounds.
“We started five seniors, and it was great to see them get acknowledged by that. We had fun with it.” said head coach Mike Meyer. “But the seniors make such a big impact. Sometimes they don’t even realize it. The amount of effort they put in...It’s tough. You wait and wait for your turn, but they continued to show up, continued to give effort and continued to bring energy every day. Just watching them grow over the years has been incredible. I was really happy we showed up tonight and got the win for our seniors.”
As their season winds down, the Clippers are hitting their stride. The win, their fifth in the last six outings, evens their record at 12-12 and sets up a showdown with visiting Mayer Lutheran today (Thursday). Their last scheduled game in the regular season—although word is the Clippers may add another— the outcome will certainly have a bearing on how they are seeded in the section.
Carson Lyons contributed 16 points in the first half, but hanging around, the Greyhounds only trailed by four, 36-32 at the break.
“New Ulm has a really good player (sophomore Eli Anderson),” Meyers said. “He had our number in the first half.
The second half was all orange & black though with the Clippers outscoring the Greyhound 47-20.
“We came out in the second half and knew who we were and played like the team we should play like going into the playoffs,” Meyers said. “Our defense stepped up. Again, we went through the bench and got guys in.”
Lyons finished the night with 18 points. Braeden Smith had 13 points. Garrett Heldberg and Miles Tomaszewski each had eight points. Jack Mons had four points. Charlie Perkins had three points, and Luke Heldberg had two points.
Kortuem tossed in a hat trick of threes. Bartell and Tomaszewski each made a pair of threes. Perkins and Lyons each bagged one three. The Clippers made only three trips to the foul line and were two of five from there.
Cathedral made eight threes and seven of 11 free throw shots. Anderson, who surpassed 1000 career points in the game, totaled 29 points, including five threes, but the Clippers limited him to seven points in the second half.
Mayer Lutheran is coming in with a 17-7 record after a narrow 57-54 road win against Sleepy Eye. In other games in common with the Clippers, they beat Cathedral 63-62, beat Lester Prairie 80-48 and lost to Le Sueur-Henderson 72-66. The Clippers fell to Lester Prairie and LS-H.
Killian Kunkel readies to launch a shot. It made its way through the net.
The five seniors were recognized after the game with a tribute speech by head coach Mike Meyer and gift baskets from their teammates. Here, Braeden Smith has a gift basket for Bode Bartell. Just before the game, the five were announced by their respective fathers as members of the starting lineup.