Stratton-led Clippers Ready to Make Long Awaited State Tournament Debut
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
TIFFIN – Karsyn Stratton couldn’t sleep.
Hours after Clear Creek Amana stunned second-ranked Marion to secure its first ever state tournament trip the senior guard was still buzzing from the biggest win in program history.
At her home in Tiffin, removed from the post-game celebration with friends, family and fans Stratton dug out her phone, skipped past the steady stream of congratulatory text message and began scrolling through photos.
After a few minutes of searching Stratton found what she was looking for, a photo from the fall of 2016 she had saved in her phone before ever playing a high school basketball game.
“When I was a freshman, before the season started, I took a picture with my phone and I drew a blue banner up on the wall and wrote ‘state’,” Stratton said. “I pulled that up on my phone the other night and just looked at it.”
As Stratton starred at the photo on her screen it finally began to set in what she and her Clear Creek Amana teammates had accomplished hours earlier.
“I got emotional looking at it,” Stratton said. “I just said, ‘we did it’.”
What Stratton and the Clippers did last Tuesday with its historic 66-49 win over defending 4A runner-up Marion sent shockwaves around the state.
The improbably emphatic 17-point win sent No. 15 Clear Creek Amana (19-4) to the state tournament for the first time and continued what has been a perfectly fitting senior season for Stratton who will end her prep career as the best to ever wear a Clipper uniform.
“Getting to state and playing on the biggest stage, in front of big crowds and people that aren’t typically going to see her, it’s awesome,” Clear Creek Amana coach PJ Sweeney said. “I think it’s fitting for her to end her career at state for sure.”
Stratton started going to the state tournament every year with her father Travis years ago.
She remembers, like most kids, telling her father she’d play at Wells Fargo arena one day.
“I remember the first time I went I told him I’m going to do this, I’m going to play here,” Stratton said. “I know kids always stays stuff like that but I really believed it.”
Individual success came immediately for Stratton.
She averaged 16 points per game as a freshman as Clear Creek Amana went from eight wins in the 2015-2016 season to 13-10 during her freshman year in 2016-2017.
“She has meant a lot to this program,” Sweeney said. “She’s a four-year starter and she is one of those girls that when she came in as a freshman she kind of helped set that foundation to get us on solid footing.”
Clear Creek Amana won 11 games each of the next two seasons falling in the regional semifinals both years.
Stratton never waivered in her belief that she would play at the state tournament.
Before her senior season began she sat down with her father and mapped out the schedule picking out potential wins and swing games.
“I knew last year we were only losing two players and this year everyone came back with a little more confidence and I knew we had a chance, I knew we did,” Stratton said. “My dad and I went through the schedule prior to the season and we were mapping it out and we’ve exceeded our expectations even and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Clear Creek Amana has set a school record for wins this season with Stratton leading the way.
The all-time leading scorer in program history Stratton enters state tournament play on Tuesday against top-ranked North Scott (23-0) with 1,671 career points.
“A lot of the younger kids really look up to her, she’s a great leader she works tremendously hard,” Sweeney said. “She is a competitor.”
In a career filled with individual achievements Stratton has saved her best for last.
The 5-foot-8 senior ranks 13th in the state and fourth in Class 4A in scoring at 21.2 points per game while shooting a career-best 55 percent from the field.
Stratton is averaging 5.7 rebounds and a career-high 2.3 assists per game.
The individual statistics mean little to Stratton, only the wins matter.
“This year everyone knows their role and we have all worked together to get this thing done,” Stratton said. “It’s great not having any jealousy or anything like that. We love each other, I love to see anyone else score, our team chemistry is wonderful. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had on a team.”
It has been no surprise to those that have followed her career that Stratton has been at her best this season in the biggest moments.
She has scored 20 or more points 15 times as a senior with 12 of those 20-point performances coming in the final 15 games of the season.
Stratton had 13 and 14 points respectively in December losses to Center Point-Urbana and Marion.
The Clippers avenged each of those losses last month with Stratton leading the way.
She had 28 points and seven rebounds in a win at then third-ranked Center Point-Urbana and had a game-high 24 points and four rebounds in the regional final win over Marion.
Stratton is shooting over 56 percent and averaging 24.5 points in her last four games.
“This year I’ve focused on remembering who I am and what I can do,” Stratton said. “It’s been all mental. You can’t be scared of the big dogs because you have to beat the big dogs to be the big dog. It’s been mental and I’ve been trying to play my best basketball lately.”
Growing up in Tiffin, Stratton knows the history of the Clear Creek Amana basketball program.
Her goal when she created the photo with the blue banner on the wall wasn’t just to play at the state tournament but to build the basketball program at Clear Creek Amana.
“I always wanted to be the first team to go to state and help them get there,” Stratton said. “We are starting to set the tone and hopefully we will become a basketball school now.”
Just as Stratton has embraced building the program at Clear Creek Amana the communities that make up the school district have embraced the Clippers.
A large contingent of fans made the trip to Marion last week and Stratton expects to be overwhelmed by the turnout on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
“The community has been amazing,” Stratton said. “The amount of people that were at Marion blew my mind. The community support is crazy, I feel so blessed to have all the people we have here. I’m excited to see our crowd on Tuesday.”
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