Bending a few times but never breaking, the Clipper varsity girls picked up a home win over Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons on Tuesday.
They never trailed in the 85-55 victory.
It was the first game in a year and almost 11 months for Halle McCabe (above), who was away with family earlier in the season and missed all last season due to an injury. Applying her signature steals and drives to the net, she scored 14 points and was one of four Clippers in double figures.
“It felt pretty good,” said the senior, “but it will take me a little bit yet to get into the flow.”
With 23 Clipper fouls (13 of them in the first half) and 27 Knight infractions (16 of them in the first half), it was a rough and tumble 36 minutes. The Knights, still looking for their first win in 2021, applied a full-court press, but the Clippers didn’t have much trouble sashaying through it and scoring, although not always the way head coach Joe Remiger wanted to.
“To me, it seemed like we were up and down, choppy. Our plays, if we aren’t going to run them, and if we can go to the rim, we’re going to go to the rim. It worked out for us. But it never got flowing well. There were spurts of it, but it was kind of like we knew it was going to happen. Even though they have practiced, Sarena (Remiger) hasn’t been on the floor in a game this season and neither has Halle.”
Macey Ziebarth led all scorers with 31 points. Emily Kern dropped in 20 points. Mostly on penetrating drives, it seemed like Kaylee Karels added more than the dozen points she ended up with.
“Kaylee has turned into our floor general,” Remiger said. “She can go right; she can go left; she’s quick. Macey is a great scorer. I would love to see her work more off the ball.”
Kern scored the game’s first basket. McCabe, getting to work right away, made the first of several swipes and drives to the iron and then took a third Clipper offensive rebound in for the score for a 6-3 Cleveland advantage.
Laci Hollerich stole and dribbled the ball down court for a basket, and Remiger, recovered from an injury, took a McCabe handoff in for a layup. Karels made a couple of steals in the Knight side of the court that resulted in a basket and one of two free shots to widen the Clipper lead.
It was turnover city for a while, but then the Knights hit a three, Ziebarth popped in a three for the Clippers and the Knights made another three.
With two more baskets from three-point land, AC/GE pulled within two, 24-22, but McCabe and Ziebarth drove the floor for layups, and Cleveland had a 42-30 advantage at the pause.
“The first half we came down and made one pass and shot the ball,” Remiger said. “Let’s get the offense to work a little more and make their defense work."
With players in off the bench, the Clippers missed chances and gave up points in the minute before half-time, but Remiger said that was ok.
"When we're up by like 12. With Sarena with four fouls and Kaylee with two and the last thing I want is Kern with foul trouble like she was in Granada on Thursday," Remiger said. "I'll give up four points here if she can play in the second half."
In the second half, the Knights pulled within nine, 58-49, but one of their starters fouled out, and their top scorer Abigail Theusch took a brief break with four fouls at the 8-minute mark.
Back in the game with 6:54 left, Theusch got tagged with an offensive infraction, and the Clippers went to town after, finally with B squanders taking the floor, including freshman Mariah McCabe, who, in her varsity debut, scored four points and also got game time with her older sister.
“I’m impressed in our first four games how much our bench has come on,” Remiger said. “It’s not like they give us a ton of scoring, but they come on, and defensively they do what they need to do, and rebounding…we get some rebounds from them, and so that has been huge for us. Laci, Emma (Treanor), Greta (Hahn). We had Lily (Draheim) come in in the first half.
Hahn fouled out for the Clippers. Remiger had four fouls in the first half but, gaining her sea legs, settled down in the second and stayed in the game.
The Thursday prior, the Clippers were up late in Granada against Truman/Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain but fell 43-40.
Karels led the effort with 20 points. Ziebarth added 13. In foul trouble most of the game, Kern was only on the floor for only 20 minutes and scored 2 points.
The Clippers host Martin County West on Friday.
Cleveland 42 43 85
Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons 30 25 55
Points 40 (Emily Kern 20, Macey Ziebarth 31, Kaylee Karels 12, Halle McCabe 14, Sarena Remiger 2, Mariah McCabe 4, Laci Hollerich 2)
Rebounds 53 (Kern 12, Ziebarth 5, Karels 7, Halle McCabe 13, Remiger 6, Hollerich 9, Hahn 1)
Assists 12 (Kern 2, Ziebarth 1, Karels 2, Halle McCabe 4, Hollerich 2, Hahn 1)
Steals 17 (Kern 4, Ziebarth 2, Karels 5, Halle McCabe 4, Hollerich 1, Hahn 1)
Blocks 5 (Kern 2, Ziebarth 1, Remiger 2)
2FG 31
3FG 2 (Ziebarth 2)
FT 17-33 (52%)
T/ML /GHEC 19 24 43
Cleveland 18 22 40
Points 40 (Emily Kern 2, Macey Ziebarth 13, Kaylee Karels 20, Greta Hahn 3, Laci Hollerich 2)
Rebounds 28 (Kern 5. Ziebarth 9, Karels 4, Hollerich 6, Emma Treanor 1, Hahn 1, Lily Draheim 2)
Assists 9 (Ziebarth 1, Karels 4, Hahn 4)
Steals 13 (Ziebarth 2, Hollerich 5, Karels 3, Treanor 1, Hahn 3)
Blocks 1 (Kern 1)
2FG 9-27 (33%)
3FG 6-11 (55%) (Ziebarth 2, Karels 3, Hahn 1)
FT 4-8 (50%)
Macey Ziebarth weaves her way down court against Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons.
Kaylee Karels goes up for a shot after a steal during the Clippers' win over the Knights.
Freshman Mariah McCabe scored four points in her varsity debut.
Emily Kern makes her way to the net at home against Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons.