Hadley Thompson brought the ball down court, pulled up just in front of the paint and banked in a shot with 35 seconds left to give the sixth-grade Clippers a 20-19 win over visiting Loyola on Friday.
Afterwards, the seventh-grade girls rolled over the Crusader 36-11 to take their winning streak to seven.
The sixth-grade Clippers were leading 16-9 in the second half when the Crusaders, taking advantage of Clipper passes that slipped out of bounds, worked inside for three baskets to pull within a point.
Cleveland added a little padding when Thompson stole and then dished off to Natalie Flowers under the basket for a two-point assist, but after the Clippers didn’t connect on another high-low pass, Loyola pulled down a pair of offensive rebounds and put the ball back up for baskets—the second one after two missed foul shots—to go up front 19-18 with 2:50 remaining.
After Thompson bagged the winning bucket, the Crusaders sent the ball behind the backboard with 17 seconds left, and the Clippers held on.
The Clippers were behind 4-2 in the first half when Flowers made her second basket. She followed with a layup for a 6-4 Clipper advantage.
Later, Harley Samuelson scored inside, and Kylie Wobbrock took an in-bounds pass up for a bucket and a 10-9 Clipper lead at the intermission.
Addie Sandhurst buried a jumper for the first points of the second half. Thompson snared a pair of foul shots, and Samuelson grabbed her own rebound and sent it back up to give the Clippers a 16-9 advantage before the Crusaders went on the six-point spurt.
Flowers paced the Clippers with eight points. Samuelson and Thompson each contributed four points. Wobbrock and Sandhurst each added a basket.
With six baskets from the floor for a dozen total points, Brooke Bosse paced the seventh-grade Clippers. Harper Rutz put in three, three twos and a pair of freebies for 11 points. Emma Kortuem added seven points. Charlotte Meyer made two free baskets for two points.
The seventh-grade girls return to action on Monday when they take on Martin County West in Sherburn at 4:30 pm. On Saturday the Clippers host a conference tournament.
The sixth-grade girls played in a Community Education tournament in Cleveland on Saturday. Outside of Community Ed., they likely will next play at home against GHEC-Truman on January 2.
Above: Hadley Thompson leads a convoy of Clippers down court in the first half.
Natalie Flowers takes aim in the first half.
Harley Samuelson pivots inside.
Under the watchful eye of coach Myrriah Rutz, Gretchen Heldberg pulls the ball away from a Crusader defender.
Kylie Wobbrock takes the ball through the lane for a shot.