Overcoming a ton of jump balls, the junior high girls downed visiting Medford in game one on Thursday 19-15.
Upping their game slightly, the same group kept Medford’s eighth-grade team just at arm’s length for a 28-26 triumph in the second contest.
With injuries and illness trimming the roster, the Clippers were operating as a skeleton crew of seven for both games.
Hadley Thompson made the second of a pair of free shots to open the scoring. The Tigers responded with back-to-back buckets and a free throw to go in front 5-1 but didn’t score again in the half.
Natalie Flowers stole, tossed in a layup and made the point-after basket too to start what would be a nine-point Clipper run. Thompson put up a shot from the paint for the Clippers’ next bucket. Flowers assisted.
After Harley’s Samuelson’s shot from a distance went through the net, Thompson took an inbounds pass up for a bucket, and the Clippers led game one 10-5 at the break.
The Tigers scored the first four points of the second half, but Samuelson put in another outside shot and Thompson scored from the baseline to cancel them.
On two free baskets and a basket on an inbounds play, Medford went on another four-point spurt to pull within one, 14-13, but Thompson sank a pair of free shots at the 2:40 mark and followed with two more. Not giving up, Medford rebounded and scored, but Flowers canned a free shot to put the finishing touches on the victory.
Thompson totaled 11 points. Samuelson and Flowers each had four points. The Clippers made half of their dozen free shots. The Tigers made three of nine free shots.
Thompson scored from the baseline for the first basket of game two. The Tigers replied with two baskets from outside, but Gretchen Heldberg scored from the baseline to deadlock the game at four.
Medford scored twice more, but Anistyn Dauk went to work for the next eight Clipper points, the first when she scored inside on a Flowers assist, the second on a jump shot, the third after she pulled down an offensive rebound and the fourth on another jumper.
After a pair of Flowers free shots, the Clippers led 14-12 at the break.
The Clippers scored out of the gate in the second half when Flowers assisted a Kylie Wobbrock jumper, but with a three and a free basket, the Tigers deadlocked the game at 16.
From there, Addison Sandhurst scored, and Dauk stole, drove from coast to coast and plopped in a layup. With a Wobbrock free basket, the Clippers led 22-18, but with the next two buckets, Medford knotted the game at 22.
Heldberg put in a free basket to put the Clippers in front 23-22, and they never trailed from there. The Tigers had plenty of chances to take the lead, including with 19 seconds left, but Thompson, who scored the last five Clipper points, stole and put in the second of two free throws to bag and tag the win.
With 10 points, Dauk led the effort. Thompson had seven points. Heldberg, Flowers and Wobbrock each had three points. Sandhurst chipped in a bucket.
The Clippers made six of 16 free throws. Successful in just three of 20 free shots, the Tigers lost the game on the foul line.
The junior high Clippers will look for another win when they play a make-up game at Madelia on Monday.
Above: Anistyn Dauk scored 10 points in game two to lead the Clippers.
