John Bohnenkamp

Your Prep Sports

FORT MADISON – It was a constant storm, it seemed, for Clear Creek Amana’s boys basketball team.

The Clippers, though, found a way to get through it.

The 66-60 win over eighth-ranked Fort Madison in Friday’s Class 3A substate semifinal was about survival.

And it was a lesson that might pay off in what comes next.

“This kind of weathers you as a team,” Clear Creek Amana coach Brandon Clubb said.

The Clippers (16-7) scored 13 consecutive points in the final 2 ½ minutes to advance to Monday’s substate final against Marion (18-5) in Muscatine.

“This gets you ready for the next round,” Clubb said.

The Clippers fell behind 17-4 early, let a third-quarter lead get away, and then closed out the Bloodhounds (18-5) with a furious run.

“This group, these seniors, they found a way to win tonight,” Clubb said.

Fort Madison led 57-51 with 2:20 to play when things unraveled for the Bloodhounds.

Gage Freeman’s two free throws cut the Bloodhound lead to four.

Fort Madison’s Miles Dear dribbled the ball off his leg on the ensuing possession, the beginning of a series of mistakes for the Bloodhounds.

Harrison Rosenberg got a steal and a layup for the Clippers to bring them to within 57-55.

Kyle Schrepfer scored on a layup on their next possession, then came up with a steal off the pressure defense.

Schrepfer passed the ball to Freeman, who drove for the layup and the lead.

CCA forced a jump ball on the Bloodhounds’ next possession, getting the ball back.

Rosenberg was fouled and made the first free throw, but missed the second.

Brody Clubb roared through for the offensive rebound and got the ball to Schrepfer, who was fouled.

He made both free throws, and the Clippers were up 62-57 with 40 seconds left.

When Fort Madison’s Tate Johnson missed a 3-point attempt, it was clear the Clippers had survived.

“We beat ourselves,” Fort Madison coach Ryan Wilson said.

Wilson ran through the entire sequence of the Clippers’ rally, then paused.

“Ball game,” he said.

Fort Madison’s Dayton Davis dominated the Clippers early. He had 10 of Fort Madison’s first 15 points, and 18 in the first half.

Davis would finish with 30 points, but CCA’s zone defense limited him for much of the third quarter.

“It helped us rebound a little bit better,” Brandon Clubb said. “It slowed them down, turned them into jump shooters. They were really getting downhill on us for a while.We got some miles out of that zone.”

“I think it just slowed us down,” Wilson said. “Slowed us down, made us think. We came out passive. It just slowed us down.”

Schrepfer led the Clippers with 20 points. Ben Swails had 17.

“I think our kids really fought through that hostile environment, the adversity,” Clubb said. “Obviously we were outnumbered here. This isn’t a Tuesday night in the WAMAC, that’s for sure.”

A Monday night to play for the state tournament is next.

“Making the plays we made, it’s something you can tell them, and it’s really hard to do,” Clubb said. “But they went out and did it.”

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