Visiting Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther pulled in front of the Clippers just before the break and held on to win 52-38 on Friday in Valley Conference boys basketball action.
Despite the loss, it was another excellent effort by the Clippers, who are accelerating their improvement during each outing. While the Jaguars’ top player was recovering from an illness on the bench, the Clippers were missing their big inside force: Carter Barto.
“We’ve been running most of this season with six guys, and that’s pretty tough to do in itself, said head coach Mike Meyer. “But now we’re down to five guys, so where we were subbing before, now we are not. We had a couple of practices where we got a couple of our younger players up to speed, but it’s still very new to Nathan Strobel and some of the other guys who are coming off the bench.”
“It was a defensive battle, and the Clippers supported each other when the Jaguars were driving, Meyer said.
“We played like a team tonight, especially defensively. If they got beat, there was someone there to help right away. There were a couple of times where we closed out a little too much, but other than that we played good defense, and we’re really proud of it.”
With 19 points, Blake Lyons (on the drive above) led all scorers. He was a beast on both sides of the floor, diving for the ball and pounding his way through traffic.
“I do it for my teammates,” said the 5-11 sophomore. “With Carter Barto out, that just makes me play harder.”
Eight seconds in, Kale Kelley knocked down a three for the game’s first basket.
“Right away, Kale comes out and hits that three-point shot, and that got us going, and we held with them the whole first half,” Meyer said.
Lyons popped in a jumper, Jorden Rossow airmailed a basket from three-point land, and Kyle Connor spun a Gabe Sullivan handoff in for a basket and a 10-4 Clipper advantage.
But the Jaguars took the ball inside for four-straight baskets to pull ahead 12-10.
Connor arced in a three to put the Clippers back up by a point, but the Clippers suffered a trio of turnovers, and the Jaguars scored twice more from inside before Lyons made a pair of jumpers, the second a fadeaway from the baseline, for a 17-16 Cleveland lead.
The Jaguars scored again, but Lyons stole and drove from shore to shore for a layup to put his team out front 19-18 with 1:50 remaining.
But the Jaguars responded with a three and then a two to take the lead. Rossow had a shot at the buzzer, but it caromed off the rim, and the Clippers went into the locker room trailing 23-19.
The Jaguars scored the first five points after the break before Lyons drove for the first of five baskets from the floor he had in the second half. Kelley added two baskets, but the Jaguars outscored the Clippers 29-19 in the frame to cruise to the win.
“The second half we were running out of legs, and that press got to them,” Meyer said.
Kelley totaled seven points. Rossow and Connor each contributed five points. Strobel and Sullivan each made a free throw.
Rossow, Kelley and Connor each put in a three. The Clippers made a fourth of their 20 free shots. The Jags put in a pair of threes and were four of 17 from the foul line.
The varsity boys traveled to Lester Prairie for a non-conference game on Monday and will return to conference action when they road trip to Alden on Tuesday. With wins against Madelia and Nicollet, the Knights are 2-3 in the Valley.
Kyle Connor looks towards the net.
Jorden Rossow dribbles around a Jaguar defender.
Gabe Sullivan on the tie up.
The starting five on defense: Blake Lyons, Kale Kelley, Gabe Sullivan, Jorden Rossow and Kyle Connor.
Blake Lyons reaches for a loose ball.
In the student section, Greta Hahn, Emma Sweere, Ava Hahn, Harley Connor, Caitlyn McCarthy and Sarena Remiger…
…were joined by elementary students in the second half…and Henry Strobel earlier. “It was a good crowd here,” said head coach Mike Meyer.
The sixth graders showed off their basketball skills at halftime. Here, Brayden Seeman takes the ball down court.
Sixth grader Tony Hollerich looks for an open teammate.
Sixth grader Gauge Bock on the pass.
The sixth grade team: Front Row: Blake Stocker, Jarret Thoms, Pierce Lyons, Brayden Seeman, Gauge Bock, Graham Reinhardt, August Keltgen and Rowan Nelson. Back Row: Nolan Schlaak, Jeremy Miller, Lucas Kortuem, Jake Mueller, Tony Hollerich, Jack Mons and Ethan Lloyd. They are coached by Travis Mons, Joe Hollerich and Scott Thoms.