Overcoming a sluggish first half, where they missed easy inside shots, settled too often for low percentage attempts and allowed too many steals, the varsity girls did what they were supposed to do on Tuesday when they beat visiting Madelia in a 56-24 final.
“We had a lot of shots that didn’t go in,” said head coach Joe Remiger. “Layups, bunny shots. But we talked about that. When we have games like that, we want to get our defense ramped up even more, so we get more attempts.”
Over two minutes in, Greta Hahn (above) scored the game’s first basket when she looped into the lane for a jumper.
Kaylee Karels, who went on to lead all players with 15 points, sent in a basket from three-point range, Hahn hit another jumper, and Karels tossed a steal to Hahn, who flipped it back to Karels under the rim for a nifty sequence that put the Clippers in front 9-0 before Madelia managed to get on the scoreboard.
Sarena Remiger missed a pair of freebies, but quickly back to the line, she made two. The Clippers missed inside, but Ava Hahn pulled down the rebound and put it back up and in.
The Blackhawks put in a three in the mix and then added a pair of back-to-back baskets. Remiger made another pair of free throws, but Madelia hit a jumper to pull within four, 15-11.
Greta Hahn hit a jumper, and Remiger put in another free shot, but Madelia put in two to keep the Clippers in their sights.
But Remiger controlled the boards, and the Clipper defense kept the Blackhawks off balance.
Lacey McCabe scored on a Karels assist, and Greta Hahn grabbed an O rebound and scored after a McCabe steal to widen the Clipper lead. Karels stole and scored for the last Clipper bucket of the half. Madelia added another basket before the buzzer, but the Clippers managed to lead 24-15 at the break.
Remiger didn’t think his team played down to Madelia, 0-3 in the conference and, with a win over USC, 1-4 overall, but he was shuffling around the players on the floor, and it took them a bit to get accustomed.
“We’re trying to manage 14 players. It was like ‘Hey, let’s get them in,’ so they were playing with a bunch of different players. It was good to get some younger girls a few minutes on the varsity floor.”
The Clippers came out strong in the second half. Remiger drove inside for the first basket, and Greta Hahn stole and sprinted from shore to shore for a layup. After Madelia put in a bucket, Ava Hahn hit back-to-back threes. Later, she added another and Karels kept driving the ball inside. Delaney Thompson scored off the bench, and McCabe sunk a three for the last Clipper basket.
“You want to come out and dominate that second half. I don’t know if ‘dominate’ is the right word, but we did what we needed to, and I guess I am happy with it,” coach Remiger said. “Tonight, we wanted to play up defensively, especially the guards with a lot tighter D, but Madelia had players who could handle the ball pretty decently, so it was good that we could get some confidence that we could still play in their face.”
The Clippers had four players in double figures. The second game in a row that she dumped in a trio of threes, Ava Hahn contributed 13 points. Remiger had 11 points. Greta Hahn added 10 points.
McCabe had five points. Thompson chipped in a basket.
The Clippers totaled five threes and were successful in half of their 14 free-throw attempts. Madelia put in one three pointer and was nine of 17 from the foul line. With four infractions, Remiger was the only Clipper in foul trouble.
The Clippers head to Janesville on Thursday for a non-conference contest.
Kaylee Karels flies by the student section.
Ava Hahn worked the ball from inside and outside too.
Addi Holden faces a Madelia defender.
Lacey McCabe slips between two defenders.
Mariah McCabe takes the ball inside.
Mollie Bowman wrestles for the ball. Around her are Oliva Reinhardt and Delaney Thompson.