Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – The fluffy snow that fell gently much of Monday afternoon in Tiffin continued right up until game time of the top-15 matchup between Clear Creek Amana and Vinton-Shellsburg.

Shortly after tip off Clear Creek Amana coach PJ Sweeney saw things beginning to snowball for his team and there was nothing gentle about it.

Class 3A No. 13 Vinton-Shellsburg forced 33 turnovers and held 4A No. 15 Clear Creek Amana to a season-low scoring output in a 60-36 win over the Clippers in a WAMAC West Division showdown in Tiffin.

“They got those turnovers early and then it just snowballed,” Sweeney said. “It snowballed where next thing you know one turnover was two, two was four, four was eight and we just could never recover from it.”

Clear Creek Amana committed seven of its season-high 33 turnovers in the opening quarter and had 15 in the first half while falling into a 28-17 hole it could never dig out of.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Clippers and dropped Clear Creek Amana to 13-4 on the season and 12-3 in WAMAC play.

“We just didn’t do a very good job of handling their pressure and that’s what it really comes down to,” Sweeney said. “Whether it was three quarter court, full court or half court they punched us in the mouth with a lot of pressure and we just didn’t handle it.”

The objective for the Clippers moving forward is to not let the snowball that started rolling early on Monday pick up any more speed.

Clear Creek Amana still controls its own destiny in the WAMAC West Division race and has a game lead in the loss column on Vinton-Shellsburg, Benton Community (12-4) and Center Point-Urbana (11-4).

The Clippers host Benton Community on Tuesday and Center Point-Urbana comes to Tiffin for a makeup game on Thursday.

“We still have the opportunity in front of us, all the goals placed before the season started are still right there,” Sweeney said. “The conference title still goes through Tiffin so we have big games in front of us.”

Vinton-Shellsburg (16-4, 12-4 WAMAC) shot 49 percent in the first three quarters and outscored Clear Creek Amana 17-6 at the free throw line while snapping a two-game losing skid.

The Vikettes played without leading scorer Lucy Howes-Vonstein but had five players with eight or more points on Monday led by sophomore guard Abby Davis with 14.

Sophomore Alyssa Griffith had 12 points and eight rebounds as Vinton-Shellsburg avenged a 59-56 loss to Clear Creek Amana back on January 12.

It was the constant pressure from the Vikettes that caused Clear Creek Amana problems all game.

Vinton-Shellsburg used a combination of a full court 1-2-2 press and half-court in-your-face man-to-man pressure to stymie the Clippers.

Clear Creek Amana shot 37 percent from the field on 14 fewer shots than the Vikettes and had at least seven turnovers in each quarter.

Calia Clubb had a game-high 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting but no other Clipper had more than five points.

“It was something that we was going to happen, that’s what they’ve done in the past is they are going to give you that 1-2-2 press and you have to be able to handle it,” Sweeney said. “We just didn’t do a very good job of it and maybe as coaches too we could do a better job of putting the girls in a situation to break it better.”

With a tough three-game week still lying ahead the key for Clear Creek Amana is to not let one loss turn into more.

Clear Creek Amana doesn’t have to wait long for an opportunity to get back on track with a Benton Community team that defeated the Clippers 53-39 last month up next.

“It’s a tough stretch so we are going to have to flush this and learn from it, it’s about the next game now,” Sweeney said. “When you have a game like that, what we saw tonight I just want to play again. As a coach I want to play and I think the kids want to get back out there too.”

Vinton-Shellsburg                 13  15  19  13 –  60

Clear Creek Amana               4   13  15   4  –  36

Vinton-Shellsburg (60) – Kayla Griffith 2-3 4-7 8, Abby Davis 6-10 0-0 14, Sophia Kreutner 1-5 0-0 3, Peytin Clemensen 0-2 0-0 0, Ashlie Meyer 4-6 0-0 8, Julia Johnson 0-3 1-2 1, Lexi Bunten 0-2 0-0 0, Keira Ott 0-3 0-0 0, Kallea Christy 0-1 0-0 0, Alyssa Griffith 4-9 4-6 12, Brylee Bruce 1-4 6-6 8, Kalie Burke 2-4 2-2 6, Totals 20-52 17-23 60.

Clear Creek Amana (36) – Whitney Traetow 1-5 0-0 2, Gabrielle Bedford 0-2 0-0 0, Kaylin Rotzoll 1-4 0-0 3, Olivia Miller 1-4 1-2 3, Bailey Olerich 0-0 0-1 0, Calia Clubb 6-7 5-6 17, Reese Stockman 2-4 0-0 5, Emily Sly 0-4 0-0 0, Ava Locklear 2-3 0-0 4, Morgan Etscheidt 1-5 0-3 2, Totals 14-38 6-12 36.

3-point field goals – CCA 2-8 (Traetow 0-2, Rotzoll 1-4, Stockman 1-2), V-S 3-11 (Davis 2-2, Kreutner 1-4, Clemensen 0-2, Meyer 0-1, Ott 0-2). Rebounds – CCA 34 (Clubb 6), V-S 28 (A. Griffith 8). Turnovers – CCA 33, V-S 15. Total fouls – CCA 15, V-S 15. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.