Coming off a victory over host Martin County West last Friday and a narrow defeat at Faribault BA the day before that, the varsity girls came into Nicollet on Tuesday playing some respectable basketball.
The Clippers started the game on the right foot, quickly jumping in front by 10 points, but got caught too many times with their hands in the cookie jar and fell hard to their Highway 99 rival, 67-43.
“At the end of the day, the foul trouble got us,” said head coach Joe Remiger. “We had three starters sitting on the bench, what do you do?”
Kaylee Karels (on the drive above) made a hat trick of threes, and Micah Peterson tossed in one more for a 14-4 Clipper advantage early, but the Raiders went on the steal for a 16-16 deadlock.
After that, Karels scored on an in-bounds pass and a couple of drives, and Sarena Remiger pulled down a defensive rebound and scored, but she picked up her third foul with 4:30 remaining until halftime.
Mariah McCabe hit a jumper for the last Clipper basket of the half before the Raiders scored the last five points for a 30-30 stalemate at the intermission.
With a pair of freebies and a basket from the floor, the Raiders posted the first four points of the second half. After Remiger made two of four free shots, and Karels knocked down another three, the Clippers were in front by two, 35-34, but the Raiders responded with a three.
Karels picked up her fourth foul at the 12:40 mark, and Remiger got her fourth a minute later. After 30 ticks, it was four on McCabe as well.
With the Clippers trailing by seven, 43-36, Greta Hahn sunk a three from the top of the arc, but the Raiders quickly canceled it with a three of their own. Karels rebounded and scored, but Nicollet replied with another three before Karels got red-carded on a charge call—one of a higher-than-normal amount assessed to both teams—at the 7:34 mark.
“You have to play with what they’re calling,” said Remiger.
The Clippers only managed a couple of free shots after that while the Raiders cruised to the victory.
“I’m super proud of them for keeping their heads up,” Remiger said. “I know they’re frustrated, but that’s life. I’d love to play it again, but we’ll get to play them again later at home.”
With 27 points, a dozen from three-point land, Karels led all scorers. Remiger had six points. Hahn and Peterson each had three points. Mariah McCabe had two points while sister Taylor McCabe added two points off the bench.
The Clippers were seven of 16 from the foul line. Nicollet had a trio of threes and was 16 of 25 in free-throw shooting.
In Trimont on Friday, the Clippers beat Martin County West 48-45. They led 24-19 at the half.
The Mavericks changed up their offense after the break, but the Clippers adapted, said assistant coach Chris Seely.
Karels had 18 points, two more than Remiger. Ava Hahn added six points. Greta Hahn contributed four points. Peterson had three points, and Mariah McCabe chipped in a free shot.
Greta Hahn and Peterson each put in a three. Karels sunk a trio of threes. The Clippers made seven of 17 foul shots. The Mavericks had one three and were eight of nine from the charity stripe.
“It was our best rebounding game this year,” Remiger said. “The girls worked well together. Ava did a great job limiting one of their best players to seven points. They put their best defender on Greta. I talked to Roger (Taylor, the MCW coach), and he said ‘she was nailing threes the last couple of games, and we weren’t going to let her do it,’ but that opened up other girls to step up. It was a team effort. Micah, Mariah. They said ‘yeah, I only hit one three-pointer,” but we won by three.”
At Bethlehem Academy, Remiger’s contested left-handed layup at the buzzer would have won the game for the Clippers, but it popped off the rim, and they fell to the Cardinals 50-49.
The Cardinals had lots of players to sub in, but the Clippers, running just six, maintained a lead for much of the game.
Once again, Karels paced the Clippers, this time with 19 points. Remiger had 14 points. Ava Hahn had seven points, while Greta Hahn had four points. Peterson had five points.
The Clippers could have won the game at the foul line but were six of 16. Karels had a pair of threes while Peterson had one three.
The Clippers host LCWM, 5-0 in the Valley, on Thursday. Jump ball is at 5:45.
Sarena Remiger looks for an open teammate.
Lacey McCabe sets for a shot.
Greta Hahn brings the ball down court.