Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – Clear Creek Amana relied on its usual balanced offense for the better part of three quarters on Tuesday against Center Point-Urbana.

With the game on the line the Clippers turned to their two senior guards and Nick O’Connor and Tyler Schrepfer delivered.

Schrepfer and O’Connor combined to score 13 fourth-quarter points as Clear Creek Amana held off Center Point-Urbana in 66-64 in a WAMAC West Division thriller in Tiffin.

“The amount of threes that they made in their careers and the percentage they've shot they have earned the right to be where they are at,” Clear Creek Amana coach Brandon Clubb said of his senior backcourt. “Obviously they made the huge shots tonight.”

Schrepfer scored a game-high 20 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter to erase a three-point deficit.  

O’Connor closed it out, scoring the final four points for the Clippers including the go-ahead free throws with 8.9 seconds left after being fouled attempting a 3-pointer.  

Center Point-Urbana (12-5, 11-5) had a chance to win the game in the final seconds but Kole Tupa’s step-back 3-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer.

“It was a close game coming down the stretch and if it wasn’t going to be someone else I wanted it to be me that was put in that spot being a senior,” O’Connor said. “I just wanted to make those free throws and even though the last one didn’t go it worked out.”

The win was the fifth straight for Clear Creek Amana (13-4, 12-3) and avenged a 20-point loss to the Stormin’ Pointers on December 20.

Clear Creek Amana has won nine of its last 10 since that 57-37 loss in Center Point including an upset of Class 2A seventh-ranked Dyersville Beckman last week.

“Coach has been saying that we have a look in our eyes that we are coming out ready to compete in every game,” Schrepfer said. “These big wins are certainly helping to fuel the fire.”

Schrepfer had one of the best games of his four-year varsity career on Tuesday.

The senior point guard was 7-of-10 from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point range as Clear Creek Amana shot 59 percent from the field including 10-of-18 from beyond the 3-point arc.

“I was hitting them from way back in warmups and I was like ‘this is going to be a good game’,” Schrepfer said.

O’Connor was nearly as good, hitting 6-of-7 field goal attempts including 3-of-4 3-pointers and finishing with 18 points.

All of O’Connor’s seven fourth-quarter points came in the final five minutes.

“They came in, I think, with a great mindset tonight,” Clubb said of the senior guards. “They were going to shoot, they were going to hit shots, they had a ton of confidence and obviously they played that way.”

Center Point-Urbana used an 8-2 run to take a 13-5 lead less than five minutes into what turned out to be a game filled with runs.

Clear Creek Amana responded with a 16-0 spurt that spanned more than six minutes at the end of the first and start of the second quarters.

After leading by as many as 11 in the second quarter the Clippers took a 33-28 halftime lead when Schrepfer hit a deep 3-pointer that just beat the second quarter buzzer.   

“If it has to get up it has to get up and I’m just happy it went in,” Schrepfer said.

Center Point-Urbana closed the third quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 49-46 lead but it wouldn’t last.

Schrepfer tied the game with a 3-pointer 43 seconds into the fourth quarter and after Mike Potter hit two free throws Schrepfer canned his sixth triple of the game to put the Clippers up 54-49.

“He threw us on his back there,” Clubb said. “He was hitting shots that not very many kids hit with just no fear pulling the trigger. He was just hitting daggers tonight a lot of them were answers to runs that they had and I was super proud that he stepped up and answered those that was big.”

Clear Creek Amana scored the first 14 points of the fourth quarter and led 62-51 with under four minutes to play but Center Point-Urbana wouldn’t go away.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Alex Wade cut the lead to 62-59 with 2:29 left.

After O’Connor scored on a putback the Stormin’ Pointers scored five straight points pulling even at 64-all on a free throw by Caleb Andrews with 19 seconds left.

“We know CPU will fight until the buzzer so we never thought we had it we just wanted to keep the lead,” O’Connor said. “It was a battle.”

The Clippers found O’Connor wide open in the corner on the next possession and he was fouled attempting a 3-pointer.

Just minutes after missing the front end of a one-and-one O’Connor made the first two free throws to give CCA a 66-64 lead.  

“We drew up that last play knowing it was tied and we had Schrepfer in the mix, we had Christian in the mix and we Nick in the mix and we had options with all three of those guys,” Clubb said. “They made the right read and hit Nick in the corner and he stepped up and made the free throws.”

Brock Reade and Christian Withrow each finished with nine points for Clear Creek Amana while Potter had six and TJ Bollers four.

“We are great at being aware of who is hot,” O’Connor said. “Everyone has good court vision and will get the ball to whoever is hot.”

Tupa led three Center Point-Urbana players in double figures with 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds.  

“I think offensively we are clicking but what maybe goes a little unsung is our defense has been better and we’ve been able to win games that way,” Clubb said. “It’s great to score points but obviously defense travels every night and that’s been a priority for us down the stretch and they’ve bought in and really done a great job.”

Clear Creek Amana              13  20  13  20  –  66

Center Point-Urbana            13  15  21  15  –  64

Clear Creek Amana (66) – Brocke Reade 3-7 3-4 9, Nick O’Connor 6-7 3-5 18, Tyler Schrepfer 7-10 0-0 20, Christian Withrow 4-9 1-2 9, Mike Potter 1-3 3-4 6, TJ Bollers 2-3 0-3 4, Totals 23-39  10-18 66.

Center Point-Urbana (64) – Kole Tupa 6-9 5-7 18, Caleb Andrews 5-8 1-2 12, Grant Bryant 2-4 0-0 5, Ethan Sells 1-4 0-0 2, Keegan Koppedryer 1-4 0-0 3, Alex Wade 3-7 0-0 8, Trey Johannes 6-6 0-0 13, Reece Miller 1-2 0-0 3, Totals 25-44 6-9 64.

3-point field goals – CCA 10-18 (Reade 0-3, O’Connor 3-4, Schrepfer 6-9, Potter 1-2), CPU 8-20 (Tupa 1-3, Andrews 1-2, Bryant 1-2, Sells 0-3, Koppendryer 1-3, Wade 2-4, Johannes 1-1, Miller 1-2). Rebounds – CCA 21 (Withrow 6), CPU 20 (Tupa 9). Turnovers – CCA 11, CPU 10. Total fouls – CCA 11, CPU 16. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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