Back as a solo act after four seasons paired with Nicollet, a young, unaffiliated 6-6 Mankato Loyola girls team came to town on Friday and fell to the Clippers 42-27.
Emily Kern (above) put in a couple of baskets to start the scoring, but both teams went into a drought early.
“The first eight minutes we had a lot of shots but nothing was dropping, so we got a little shy about shooting from the outside,” said head coach Joe Remiger. “But the good thing that happened was for whomever was out there, they gave everything they had. There are some nights where the basketball won’t go in the hole, but defensively, and in rebounding, you’ve got to step it up.”
Emma Treanor buried the first of a pair of threes she would have in the half at the 8:13 mark. Kaylee Karels tossed in a three down the stretch, and, after a pair of Kern free shots, the Clippers led 23-8 at the intermission.
Greta Hahn made a pair of baskets from the floor to start the second half. Sarena Remiger scored for two, and the Clippers led 30-14. Later, Karels rained down with another three, but for most of the half, the Clippers were on the foul line, where they were eight of 23 in the half.
Big in the hustle department, Loyola kept up with the Clippers though with each team posting 19 points in the half.
“I looked for films, and they didn’t have much, but all of the stats showed that win or lose, they have been out rebounding,” Remiger said. “Obviously they’re going to be a scrappy, go-getter team.”
Kern and Karels each hit double figures with 10 points. Treanor had a good night off the bench with eight points. Remiger and Greta Hahn each scored five points. Ava Hahn and Ava LaFrance each had two points.
The Clippers made four three pointers and were 10 of 22 from the foul line. The Crusaders had one three and were eight of 21 in foul shooting.
“We threw in a new defense and had four days to work on it this week,” Remiger said. “We wanted it to run better, but it is part of the growing pains.”
The Crusaders were undefeated in the Valley Conference in 2017, when they were ranked in the state top 10 and finished with an outstanding 23-3 record. They will rejoin the Valley Conference next season.
There was no B game. The B and varsity Clippers host Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Monday. Behind St. Clair, the Knights are second in the conference.
Kaylee Karels goes up for a shot.
Greta Hahn takes the ball down court.
Lacey McCabe drives the baseline.
Ava LaFrance moves inside.