The Clarkson/Leigh Boys Basketball Team went 1-1 in their final two games last week, upending Stanton 60-57 at home Thursday night before losing 75-32 at home to Wisner-Pilger Friday night.
The Patriots jumped out to a 20-3 lead at the end of one before the Mustangs outscored Clarkson/Leigh 25-16 in the 2nd quarter to make it a 36-28 game at halftime.
Stanton outscored the Patriots 16-11 in the 3rd quarter to make it a 47-44 game at the end of three.
Both teams scored 13 points in the 4th quarter.
Daniel Beller had 17 points and 12 rebounds, good enough for a double-double. Tommy McEvoy added 16 points while Haden Held and Anthony Bruhn notched 9 and 8, respectively. Garrett Schroeder registered 11.
Wisner-Pilger led the Patriots 19-8 after one, and outscored Clarkson/Leigh 18-7 in the 2nd quarter to take a 37-15 lead into the locker room.
The Gators outscored the Patriots 28-10 in the 3rd quarter to go up 65-25 at the end of three.
Wisner-Pilger won the 4th quarter 10-7.
Jacob Gall had a team-high 12 points while McEvoy and Held tallied 8 points each. Schroeder chipped in 7 rebounds.
Great win for Clarkson/Leigh Thursday night. It didn't transfer over to Friday night's game though, unfortunately.
The Patriots (4-16) round out the regular season at David City (8-13) Friday night.
The Scouts have lost 4 in a row, including a 55-51 decision at Wilber-Clatonia this past Friday night.
This figures to be a difficult game for Clarkson/Leigh seeing as David City is a C-1 school.
This game is a nice little tune up before sub-districts I would say.
The Patriots have Walthill Tuesday night in the D1-4 Sub-District at Wisner-Pilger, and I'm smelling upset in that district.
I think the Blujays are very beatable, and feel any of the 4 teams in the Sub-District can win the sub-district.
Clarkson/Leigh has to come into Friday night's game and Tuesday night's game sky high with confidence.
I know the Patriots had a tough loss to the Gators, but Clarkson/Leigh has been playing better basketball in the second half of the season overall I would say.
The Patriots have to be optimistic and believe in their chances of picking up a win Friday night and again on Tuesday.
Anything can happen this time of year, and Clarkson/Leigh has to believe that they're a team of destiny.
The Patriots have to play with a spark and fire that no other team plays with it.
Clarkson/Leigh has to discover a whole new level of play, and make it their own.
The Patriots have to get fired up and be ready to win and take names Friday night and Tuesday.
Clarkson/Leigh is definitely capable of doing anything they put their minds to.
I think it's simply a matter of the Patriots playing their game and letting the rest take care of itself.
Clarkson/Leigh plays a tough schedule, and I think that's only going to help them against Walthill.
I feel the Patriots can be very competitive in the postseason and even on Friday perhaps.
Clarkson/Leigh just has to be committed to smart and aggressive play on both ends of the floor.
The Patriots also have to play with mental and physical toughness, grit, tenacity, passion, and pride.
The Clarkson/Leigh Girls Basketball Team stumbled at the end of the regular season, losing 31-30 at home to Stanton Thursday night, and 43-37 at home to Wisner-Pilger Friday night before winning 55-48 over Pender in the D1-4 Sub-District Semifinals at Wisner-Pilger Tuesday night in action heard on 107.9 the Bull.
The Mustangs led the Patriots 5-4 at the end of one before outscoring them 11-2 in the 2nd quarter to take a 16-6 lead into the locker room.
Stanton won the 3rd quarter 11-10 to go up 27-16 at the end of three.
Clarkson/Leigh outscored the Mustangs 14-4 in the 4th quarter.
Ashlynn Novotny had 11 points and 14 rebounds, good enough for a double-double. Kaegan Held added 9 points.
Clarkson/Leigh led Pender 18-5 after the first quarter, but the Pendragons cut the deficit to 27-24 at halftime.
The third quarter belonged to Pender, as they scored 17 points and led 43-38 at the end of the third. The Patriots started the fourth quarter on a 6-0 scoring run, and would eventually win the game.
Head Coach Matt Murren's girls outscored the Pendragons 17 to 5 in the final quarter. "We're a better team when we can get out in transition, when we can just fly around. And it's one of those things where we don't have to think in the half court, and we can just go. We've got kids who can make plays."
Halee Steffensmeier scored 20 points, including four three pointers for Clarkson/Leigh. Novotny and Held each added 10.
Murren adds it was a hard fought win. "They battled back, they made a couple 3's. The talk at half was they had 10 points from the free throw line. And this last week we had struggled, we lost games because we gave up points from the free throw line. So we really kind of talked about that at halftime. And then we were trying to figure out what we were going to do against that diamond and one. We had some things in place that weren't working. And we just told the girls you got to keep fighting, keep grinding. And the second half got a little dicey there, but I'll tell you what, they battled."
Mighty GACC (18-6) and Clarkson/Leigh (14-9) will face off in the D1-4 Sub-District Finals Thursday night at 7:00 p.m., with the game also being broadcast on 107.9 The Bull.
The Bluejays won 74-47 over Walthill in the Semifinals Tuesday night.
This is it for the Patriots. This is what Clarkson/Leigh has been working for all season.
A chance to knock off mighty GACC and advance to a district final and eventually state.
About a week ago it was looking like the Patriots would be able to earn a wildcard to state.
Well that's not in the cards for Clarkson/Leigh now.
It's win or go home...do or die time for the Patriots.
It's now or never for Clarkson/Leigh.
The Patriots have one shot and one shot only the rest of the way to get to state.
Clarkson/Leigh has to play their best game of the season to come out on top.
The Patriots have to be suffocating and relentless on defense, trying to limit and slow down the likes of Lexis Haase.
Clarkson/Leigh has to defend the perimeter and rebound well.
The Bluejays have some size and length, and I think that could be problematic for the Patriots.
That just means Clarkson/Leigh has to work extra hard to make up for any height and size advantage GACC might have.
The Patriots must also handle the Bluejays' defensive pressure.
This is why you play the game and put the time in.
This game and teams like GACC are who you play to beat and what you work year round for.
All the 6:00 a.m. alarm clocks during the summer, and the late nights at the gym are all for this moment.
It comes down to this game, this one game, that will ultimately decide the fate of the Patriots this season.
Clarkson/Leigh can definitely win, they just have to play harder, smarter, and flat out want it more than the Bluejays.
There is no tomorrow for the Patriots if they lose, and that my friend is a very, very powerful thing Clarkson/Leigh has working for them right now.
GACC, on the other hand, appears to have a good shot at wildcard, win or lose.
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