Taking the game over with five minutes left in the first half, the varsity Clippers downed visiting Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 69-57 on Monday.
“There’s always room for improvement, but we played well,” said Brennan Kortuem, who led the Clipper offensive effort.
The Jaguars went up 6-0 before Kortuem drove for a bucket, Carson Lyons put in a pair of free shots and Kortuem sashayed through the paint for another bucket.
After the Jaguars scored inside, Lyons parked a jumper and made a pair of freebies that put the Clippers in front 10-9.
The game see-sawed from there. The Jags scored from inside to get the lead back, but Lyons bombed in a three, and Kortuem scored on a layup and bagged a pair of free shots. The Jaguars responded with a three and a two, and after Lyons buried another three, made a pair of baskets from the floor to tie the Clippers to deadlock the game at 20.
But it was mostly Clippers from there. After Braeden Smith scored, Kortuem stole and assisted a Bode Bartell layup. From there, Kortuem bagged a pair of threes and drove for a basket. After a Smith block, Alex Kortuem punctuated the half with a three, and the Clippers went into the locker room up 35-23.
The younger Kortuem, a junior, is starting to come on to his own, making bigger contributions as the season progresses. And while it would be understandable if he still felt overshadowed by his brother, that’s not the case, he said.
“My teammates make it easy for me to take the load off of that. They encourage me at practice, and when I do well in games, they let me know it.”
Brennan Kortuem likes to have is brother on the court and said they have a special communication between them there.
“It’s exciting. I’ve played with him outside since I was a little kid. It’s nice to play with him on varsity. It’s fun to see him get time.”
The younger Kortuem feels the same way about playing with his older sibling.
“It’s going to be not so fun with out him next year, but we’ll manage.”
Brennan Kortuem had a hat trick of threes in the second half. and Lyons added two threes. With seven threes, the Jaguars kept pace, but the Jaguars had no answer for Brennan Kortuem, who ended the night with 31 points, including five threes, and the Clippers added another W to their record.
Lyons had four threes and 21 total points. Smith had six points. Bartell had a basket in each half for four total points. Alex Kortuem had three points. Kyle Connor and Kale Kelley each chipped in a second half bucket.
Cleveland totaled 10 threes and made nine of 13 free throws. The Jaguars had eight threes and made seven of 13 free throws.
Smith dominated the boards with 17 rebounds. He also had two blocks, three assists, and one steal. Kelley had five rebounds, one assist and one steal. Brennan Kortuem had seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Lyons had six rebounds. Connor had one steal. Bartell had five rebounds, four assists and one steal. Alex Kortuem had one rebound and one steal.
The Clippers, now 7-6, return to action tonight (Thursday) when they road trip to New Ulm for a 6:00 game at Cathedral. The Greyhounds are 6-11. Their one opponent in common with Cleveland is Mankato Loyola. NUC beat the Crusaders, a team the Clippers lost to twice, 69-66.
Last March, Cathedral beat the Clippers 72-59 in the first round of the sections.
Above: Youth basketball players formed a tunnel as the varsity players entered the court.
