Susan Harman

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – Clear Creek Amana scorched the home nets Saturday night in running away from Pella, 75-59, in a Class 4A regional semifinal. 

The Clippers blew the game open with a second and third quarter in which they made 17-of-23 shots and outscored the Little Dutch by 18.

Clipper star Karsyn Stratton had her usual outstanding game with 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting. But this time she had a partner in crime.

Clipper senior Meagan Harvey scored a career-high 26 points, making 8-of-11 3-pointers.

“I was so happy passing to her,” sophomore post Calia Clubb said. “I knew it would go in.”

“She was hitting; Meagan Harvey was on fire tonight,” Stratton said.

“Yeah I would argue that’s the best game I’ve had,” Harvey said. “I had more confidence in myself. It was a great win for the team, so it’s huge for all of us.”

With the game tied at 17 in the second quarter the Clippers scored on 10 of 11 possessions to take a 15-point lead.

“We needed to rebound better in our zone and get those boards and contest a little better,” Stratton said. “Then we pulled away after figuring that out.”

“Our defense got a lot better, and we started knocking down shots in that second quarter and just pulled away,” Harvey said. “We went on more runs than they did.”

Stratton was pretty excited to have that kind of firepower coming from her classmate.

“You bet it is (fun); it’s awesome,” she said.

The Clippers’ shooting was extraordinary. Overall they shot 64 percent from the field and 55 percent from 3-point range. It’s not like Pella wasn’t making shots. The Dutch made 23-of-42 field goal attempts and 8-of-18 threes. But the Clippers were just that much better.

Reserve senior guard Allie Rummelhart chipped in 10 points in the first half and helped the Clippers weather a few minutes with Stratton on the bench with two fouls.

To add insult to injury, Clubb sank a half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Clippers a 40-29 halftime lead.

“It looked like it was off and an air ball, actually,” Clubb said. “I got the steal and I saw 2 seconds on the clock, and I just took one dribble and I chucked it up.”

It was her only 3-pointer of the season.

The Clippers’ biggest lead was 25 in the fourth quarter.

Clear Creek Amana improved to 18-4, while the Dutch finished at 12-11.

The 15th-ranked Clippers play at No. 2-ranked Marion (21-1) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for a berth in the state tournament field.

Marion beat Clear Creek Amana, 59-30, on Dec. 13, but the Clippers have won 13 of their last 14 games.

“We’re a different team now, obviously,” Stratton said. “We just beat Center Point. Anybody can be beat, especially now.”

“Coming off CPU and then all of us having a great game today, I mean, we’re ready for Marion more than we ever have been in the past,” Harvey said.

Pella                            14  15  13  17  – 59

Clear Creek Amana   17  23  23  12  – 75

Pella (59) – Reagan Van Wyk 0-0 0-4 0, Faith Diers 11-13 0-0 26, Anna VanderWaal 1-1 2-2 5, Madison Naig 9-17 1-1 22, Annika Peterson 2-2 0-0 4, Courtney Thompson 0-2 0-0 0, Jasmine Namminga 0-2 2-4 2, Bailey Van Voorst 0-4 0-0 0, Kylie Tauke 0-1 0-1 0, Brynnlin Kroyman 0-0 0-0 0, Hailey Van Vark 0-0 0-0 0, Mia Warner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-42 5-12.

Clear Creek Amana (75) – Whitney Traetow 1-3 2-2 5, Calia Clubb 3-6 0-2 7, Karsyn Stratton 10-13 5-6 25, Meagan Harvey 9-12 0-0 26, Emily Sly 1-2 0-0 2, Morgan Etscheidt 0-1 0-0 0, Allie Rummelhart 4-5 1-2 10, Gracie Downes 0-0 0-1 0, Gabrielle Bedford 0-0 0-0 0, Kalin Rotzoll 0-0 0-0 0, Ainsley Schrock 0-0 0-0 0, Victoria Ciha 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-44 8-13.

3-point goals – Pella 8-18 (Diers 4-6, VanderWaal 1-1, Naig 3-9, Thompson 0-1, Namminga 0-1); CCA 11-20 (Traetow 1-3, Clubb 1-1, Stratton 0-2, Harvey 8-11, Sly 0-1, Rummelhart 1-2). Total fouls: Pella 13, CCA 15. Fouled out: None.

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