“Why Not Us?” Clear Creek Amana Takes Aim at Top-ranked North Scott in State Tournament Debut
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
TIFFIN – It was a regional final upset of second-ranked and defending 4A runner-up Marion that secured the first state tournament trip ever for Clear Creek Amana.
However, it was a game with Center Point-Urbana that changed the season and coined a catch phrase for the Clippers.
And its not even the game against the defending 3A champion Stormin’ Pointers that most people think that caused a shift in mindset for state-bound Clear Creek Amana.
Following a 14-point home loss to Center Point-Urbana in its final game of 2019 Clear Creek Amana senior lead Karsyn Stratton spent her days off over the holiday break studying the rest of the schedule for the Clippers.
When Stratton returned to practice a few days after Christmas she had a question for the rest of the team?
“Why not us?” Stratton asked.
“After we lost to Center Point the first time at home I looked through the schedule and I said there are going to be close games with everyone we play from here on out but we have a chance to do something that has never been done before,” Stratton explained. “After Center Point I was like why not us?”
Why not?
Clear Creek Amana won its first nine games in 2020 and after a two-point home loss to Maquoketa on February 7 rattled off five straight wins to reach the state tournament for the first time in program history.
Class 4A No. 15 Clear Creek Amana avenged December losses to then third-ranked Center Point-Urbana and second-ranked Marion during its current five-game winning streak.
On Tuesday the Clippers will make their state tournament debut against top-ranked North Scott (23-0) at 11:45 a.m. in a Class 4A quarterfinal matchup at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
“We knocked off the number three ranked team, we knocked off the number two ranked team why can’t we knock off the number one ranked team?,” Clear Creek Amana coach PJ Sweeney said. “That’s the mentality we are going into it with is why not us?”
Why not us?
That’s what Stratton asked her teammates before the regional final against Marion.
Clear Creek Amana answered with a convincing 66-49 win to avenge a 29-point regular season loss to the Indians.
The underdog Clippers were relaxed yet confident in their win over Marion, shooting 46 percent from the field and going 26-of-37 at the free throw line.
“We all played super relaxed and we were so loose the other night and that’s something that is really important,” Stratton said. “I always tell them we play the best when we have fun so lets just have some fun. It’s fun to see everyone doing their thing now and they are really comfortable with any situation against anyone.”
Riding high after two wins over top-three teams in its past three games the stakes and the rise to another level on Tuesday against defending state champion North Scott.
The Lancers feature one of the top players in the state in Northern Iowa recruit Grace Boffeli.
A 6-foot-1 senior, Boffeli ranks second in the state in scoring at 29.4 points per game and fifth with 12.2 rebounds per game while shooting 70.2 percent from the floor.
“She is physical, she is a presence in there,” Sweeney said of Boffeli. “She is shooting 70 percent from the field, she can step back and a hit a 3 she is a high percentage shooter at the foul line she’s going to be a load. We are trying to game plan to stop her a little bit but we have some size and some girls that I think can bang with her a little bit.”
Boffeli is the only Lancer scoring in double figures though senior point guard Presley Case averages 8.8 points per game and junior Samantha Scott is adding 8.3 per game.
Clear Creek Amana has its own high-scoring senior in Karsyn Stratton who enters averaging 21.2 points per game while senior Meagan Harvey adds 9.3 points per game and sophomore Calia Clubb averages 9.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest.
“You can’t measure confidence,” Sweeney said. “You can’t measure it and right now one through 14 all those girls have a lot of confidence and it’s showing.”
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