Bubble braids, a simple ponytail, pulled back into a bun…While a basketball player’s hairstyle has a practical function, preventing hair from blocking the face, it is also a means of self-expression on the court.
But for Ava Hahn, hairstyle took on a deeper meaning during the Clippers’ last three games.
Hahn had pulled her locks into a simple bun when she set a new school single-game points record as the Clippers walloped Madelia on February 7, but back in Cleveland against Sibley East on February 10, she switched up her look to a pair of long braids.
The magic of the previous game was left in Madelia though, as Hahn was limited to just four points, the rest of the Clippers didn’t much show up either, and they fell hard in a winnable game 62-34.
Thinking the twin weaves somehow messed with her mojo, Hahn went back to the bun when the Clippers took on visiting Waterville-Elysian-Morristown just 24 hours later. While much of sports is mental and emotional…and confidence, for Hahn, switching back to the Madelia hairstyle somehow skewed fate to the positive as the Clippers pulled off a huge 65-63 upset while she led all players with 26 points.
“I’m not going to lie,” said the senior. “I’m really superstitious. I won’t be wearing those braids again.”
To put the game in perspective, the class 2A Bucs, with their 13-10 record, had beaten Maple River, Nicollet, Randolph and USC all teams in the Clipper loss column. The Clippers victory went down to the wire though, and the Clippers staged several comebacks to earn it.
With seven minutes remaining and the Clippers trailing 56-55, Lacey McCabe took a Hahn toss in for an uncontested layup. Following up, Hahn, cashing in on an Addi Holden pass, also ran in a basket. McCabe spun a long Hahn outlet pass in for a bucket, and with a Taylor McCabe free shot, the Clippers were up 62-56 with a little over three minutes remaining.
Shorthanded, especially in the second half, the Clippers were rapidly running out of gas, and the Bucs took advantage with a pair of twos and then a three. But Taylor McCabe made a free shot and an inside basket to hang on to the Clipper lead.
It looked like the Clippers had the game wrapped up when Hahn stole, and all they had to do was drain the clock for the win…or wait for the foul, but nerves tightened, and they launched a shot that the Bucs rebounded with 12.7 seconds left.
“We designed the play to make them come out and foul,” head coach Joe Remiger said. “That’s not what we wanted to do.”
But after a timeout, the Clipper defense held, the Bucs threw up a prayer, and Hahn rebounded to secure the Clipper triumph.
Hahn didn’t attribute the win entirely to her hairstyle though.
“I think after Madelia, we kind of settled in with how we played, and we didn’t’ really come to play against Sibley East, but it really gave us the realization that we still do have to come to play. So that’s what we did tonight as a team.”
After the Buccaneers turned on the scoreboard with a free throw, Taylor McCabe took a Hahn toss in for a basket, Hahn stole and ran in a layup, Kaitlyn Flowers scored inside, and McCabe hit another layup for an 8-1 Clipper advantage.
With Mollie Bowman sidelined with an injury and Brooke Bosse out with an illness, the Clippers were shorthanded, but they came out with an intense defense, even switching to man-to-man at times.
The Bucs scored the next eight points though, and after Lacey McCabe spun in for a bucket, they dumped in a pair of threes to take the lead. Later, with seven Taylor McCabe points, including a triple, and a couple of Hahn baskets, the Clippers deadlocked the score 22-22, and with an Emma Kortuem basket from just inside the arc, the Clippers again tied the game, this time 28-28.
But the Bucs posted the next seven points. Lacey McCabe sank a pair of foul shots, and Hahn put an inbounds pass in for a bucket, but the Bucs closed out the half with a basket to take a 37-32 lead into the locker room.
As they played in both halves of the JV game, eighth graders Kortuem and Harper Rutz were eligible to play only in one half of the varsity game, and Remiger took them both off the bench in the first half.
“We had something we needed to talk about, so I put them, but I felt in putting them in, we gave Lacey, Ava and Taylor all good breaks. We got the breaks we needed. We’re only down by five, and I could tell in the locker room they felt good about that. Now I’ve got three full time outs to burn in the second half.”
With a couple of threes and a drive for a bucket, Hahn came out strong to start the second half. Holden also added a triple, but the Bucs kept pace. Later, with a Flowers drive for a basket, the Clippers caught back up, 53-53. After the Bucs retook the lead, Hahn made a pair of free shots, but the Bucs made a free throw to go ahead 56-55 before the Clippers went on a seven-point spurt.
Hahn put in five two-point baskets in the first half and a pair of triples, three two pointers and four free throws in the second.
Taylor McCabe made five twos, a three and a free throw in the first half and totaled 22 points. Lacey McCabe contributed eight points. Flowers had a basket in each half for four points. Holden made a three-pointer in the second half, and Kortuem chipped in a basket.
“Kaitlyn starting tonight…there was a point she got hurt a little bit and hand to sit, but she played really good D with rebounds and made some drives to the bucket to keep them honest,” Remiger said. “We got Lacey the ball a couple of times for some nice layups. She had some nice moves. Addi set some nice screens. Even the bench was cheering for everybody. It was definitely a team effort.”
The Clippers sank four threes and made nine of 14 free throws. The Bucs made eight triples and nine of 17 foul shots. The Clippers had 39 rebounds and 18 turnovers while WEM pulled down 43 rebounds and gave up 15 turnovers.
“I wasn’t too happy with our rebounding in the first half, and even in the second,” Remiger said. “It was the one thing we sacrificed. They were getting six or seven rebounds, and eventually they are going to make a shot, but towards the end of the game, we were getting the rebounds we needed.”
Hahn had eight rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals. Lacey McCabe had five rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Flowers had 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Holden had five rebounds and one assist. Taylor McCabe had five rebounds, one assist and one steal. Kortuem had one rebound and one block. Rutz had one rebound and one steal.
The win sets up a section playoff game for the Clippers tonight (Thursday). Seeded 15th, they host 3-23 Mountain Lake at 6:00 p.m.
Sibley East 62, Cleveland 34
The Wolverines took an early 9-2 lead and later went in front 23-10. The Clippers managed to get their offense out of first gear before the break, but the Wolverines put an exclamation mark on the half with a steal and a resulting three to take a 33-20 lead into the locker room.
“If they don’t come out with intensity, we’re going to have issues,” Remiger said. “And we did.”
In the second half, Lacey McCabe put in a three and a two, and Rutz and Holden each made a two-point bucket, but other than five free baskets, that was it for Clipper offense, and the Wolverines outscored the Clippers to 29-14 in the second half to cruise to the win.
No Clipper reached double figures. Lacey McCabe totaled eight points, including the Clippers’ only three in 19 attempts.
Holden had three first-half baskets and one in the second half for eight points. All of Hahn’s four points came from foul shots. Rutz also had three points as did Flowers.
The Clippers shot a dismal 18 percent from the floor and were lackluster from the foul line too, where they made 13 of 24 attempts. The Wolverines put in five triples and seven of 15 free throws.
Sibley East had 56 rebounds and 15 turnovers. The Clippers had 43 rebounds and 17 turnovers.
Flowers had four rebounds, one assist and one steal. Hahn had eight rebounds and two steals. Ava Kluntz had one rebound. Rutz had one rebound. Lacey McCabe had 10 rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block. Taylor McCabe had three rebounds, two assists and two seals. Holden had seven rebounds. Taylor Wolf had one rebound. Kortuem had two rebounds. Bosse had one rebound. Bowman had four rebounds.
While everyone has an off game occasionally, Hahn said hers should have been that off.
“It was not fun. I haven’t played that badly all year.”
The Clippers’ scheduled game against JWP was canceled. The Winner of Cleveland vs. Mountain Lake takes on second-seeded BOLD in Bird Island on Monday.
Above: The Clippers celebrate their upset win over WEM. They are Taylor McCabe, Ava Hahn, Addi Holden, Lacey McCabe and Kaitlyn Flowers. The quintet started and finished the game.
A Sibley East defender chases Lacey McCabe down court.
