Second-half Surge Not Enough as Clear Creek Amana Falls to 3A Top-ranked Mount Vernon
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
CORALVILLE – There wasn’t much that went right for Clear Creek Amana in the opening half against Class 3A top-ranked Mount Vernon on Tuesday night.
The second half left the Clippers with something to build on going forward.
Class 4A No. 12 Clear Creek Amana trimmed an 18-point first-half deficit to eight but a second-half surge came up short in a 61-42 loss to Mount Vernon in a WAMAC Conference cross-divisional showdown at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
“In the second half we started to compete and we started to fight a little bit,” Clear Creek Amana coach PJ Sweeney said. “We didn’t have a very good showing that first half and we wanted to come back and show that we were going to compete and get after it and get some stops and they showed us that.”
Mount Vernon never trailed on Tuesday while improving to 20-1 with its 19th consecutive win.
The Mustangs had three players in double figures led by senior guard Sydney Huber with 17 points.
Taylor Franck had 14 points and 6-foot-3 senior Chloe Meester had 14 points and 16 rebounds as Mount Vernon held a 40-29 rebounding edge.
“They can do pretty much everything I feel like,” Clear Creek Amana junior Lena Evans said. “They have tall people, they have shooters, they can drive and they are quick.”
Mount Vernon scored the first eight points of the game and made 10-of-15 first-quarter field goal attempts while jumping to a 23-10 lead.
The Mustangs shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half while building a 38-20 halftime lead.
Clear Creek Amana came out firing after halftime.
The Clippers opened the second half on an 8-2 run and closed the lead to 44-33 on an Averie Lower 3-pointer with 24 seconds left in the third quarter.
“The first half we had a hard time keep in the dribble drive out in front and boxing out and rebounding and we just kind of challenged them a little bit at halftime,” Sweeney said. “They responded in a big way.”
Lower had 16 of her team-high 18 points in the second half including eight in the third quarter.
A 3-pointer by Lower less than 30 seconds into the fourth quarter cut the Mustang lead to 44-36.
Clear Creek Amana had three shots on its next possession while trailing by single digits but missed a pair of open looks from 15 feet and a 3-pointer.
“We got it down to eight with the ball and had a couple of opportunities and if a shot goes in and its five or a six point game maybe it’s a little different,” Sweeney said. “I don’t know how it goes but they competed and showed me a lot in the second half.”
Mount Vernon responded with a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach.
“Mount Vernon is the best team we’ve seen and we’ve seen some good teams,” Sweeney said. “We haven’t seen a better team than Mount Vernon all year.”
Evans had 10 points to go with 18 from Lower who also grabbed nine rebounds.
Clear Creek Amana (13-7), which had a four-game winning streak snapped with the loss, hosts Marion on Friday to close out the regular season.
“I think this will prepare us for the next couple of games and get us ready for the postseason,” Evans said. “This is good competition and that’s going to help us.”
Mount Vernon 23 15 6 17 – 61
Clear Creek Amana 10 10 13 9 – 42
Mount Vernon (61) – Eryn Jackson 0-3 0-0 0, Savanna Wright 2-8 2-2 7, Taylor Franck 6-13 1-2 14, Chloe Meester 7-9 0-0 14, Courtney Franck 3-9 0-0 7, Sydney Huber 5-11 5-6 17, Rylee Rasmussen 0-0 2-2 2, Totals 23-53 10-12 61.
Clear Creek Amana (42) – Alex Schrage 2-4 0-0 4, Averie Lower 7-15 1-1 18, Lena Evans 4-14 0-0 10, Kennedy Stratton 1-11 0-0 2, Nakia Tangang 1-5 2-2 4, Brooklyn Lee 1-7 0-0 3, Kelsey Leathers 0-1 1-2 1, Totals 16-57 4-5 42.
3-point field goals – Mount Vernon 5-18 (Jackson 0-2, Wright 1-5, T. Franck 1-3, C. Franck 1-1, Huber 2-7), CCA 6-29 (Schrage 0-2, Lower 3-11, Evans 2-6, Stratton 0-3, Lee 1-6, Leathers 0-1). Rebounds – Mount Vernon 40 (Meester 16), Clear Creek Amana 29 (Lower 9). Total fouls – Mount Vernon 4, Clear Creek Amana 8. Turnovers – Mount Vernon 10, Clear Creek Amana 11. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
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