Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – The seniors on the Clear Creek Amana basketball added quite a chapter to the program’s history book over the past four seasons.

That recent phase includes 79 wins, three trips to the state tournament and a state title.

The Clipper seniors just didn’t get the storybook ending they wanted.

Fifth-ranked Clear Creek Amana shot just 31 percent from the floor in a 58-44 loss to fifth-ranked Carlisle in a Class 4A state quarterfinal on Tuesday at Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

“It didn’t end amazing at the end but I am very grateful that I got to be here three of the four years,” Clear Creek Amana senior Averie Lower. “I’m grateful I got to do it with the people I got to do it with.”

Lower and fellow senior Lena Evans were both pivotal parts of the most successful stretch in program history the past four seasons.

Lower had a game-high 18 points and Evans added 13 on Tuesday but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Carlisle which shot 47 percent from the floor.

“I’ll just remember the team, the team working together, being family, chemistry,” Evans said. “It’s not the way we wanted it to end but it’s going to happen to someone at some point.”

It wasn’t just Lower and Evans that helped Clear Creek Amana to a 20-3 season.

First-year head coach Matt Hoeppner credited all the seniors, a list that includes starters, Alex Schrage and Kennedy Stratton along with bench pieces like Kendyl Malli, Nakia Tangang, Brooklyn Lee and Gretchen Kruse.

“It’s the leadership, it’s not just on the floor, it’s in everything they do,” Hoeppner said. “They are making sure the freshmen are included in what we do, it’s everything they do and that chemistry on this team is really why we were able to do what we did this season.”

Clear Creek Amana took an early 7-4 lead on a 3-pointer by Evans with 2:21 remaining in the opening quarter.

Carlisle (24-1) closed the quarter on a 7-0 run over the final 1:40 to take a 11-7 lead it would never give up.

Clear Creek Amana got as close as 23-20 on a 3-pointer by Lydia Keller but Carlisle closed the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 29-20 halftime lead.

The Clippers never got closer than seven in the second half.

“There are things you would say we will correct in practice tomorrow but there isn’t one,” Hoeppner said. “They caught us in a bad defensive night, a bad rebounding night and an uncharacteristic turnover night and now we lost and sometimes that’s the way it is.”

Carlisle had four players in double figures led by Mallie Stoner who had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Iowa State recruit Macy Comito had 13 points, more than seven below her season average of 20.3) but had five assists and no turnovers.

“She’s a heck of a player,” Evans said of Comito. “She’s really strong with the ball and she’s really confident.”

Clear Creek Amana limited Comito to four points in the first three quarters but the Wildcats had other players step up offensively.

Sophomore Kami Clark had 12 points and senior Ella Smith had 10 points as Carlisle shot 47 percent from the floor.

“She does a lot for them and their other kids stepped up when we tried to put a little bit of a stop to her,” Hoeppner said. “When we did kind of take her away a little bit their kids stepped up.”

Carlisle will play top-ranked Sioux City Heelan (24-0) in the Class 4A semifinals on Thursday at 6:45 p.m.

Carlisle                                   11  18  13  16  – 58

Clear Creek Amana             7   13  12  12  – 44

Carlisle (58) – Kami Clark 4-8 4-6 12, Mallie Stoner 7-9 0-0 16, Taylor Thomas 1-5 0-0 3, Macy Comito 4-12 5-8 13, Ella Smith 4-8 2-2 10, Alyvia Freeman 2-5 0-0 4, Emily Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 22-47 11-16 58.

Clear Creek Amana (44) – Alex Schrage 0-2 2-2 2, Averie Lower 5-12 6-8 18, Lena Evans 6-16 0-0 13, Kennedy Stratton 2-7 0-0 5, Lydia Keller 1-5 1-2 4, Carley Nash 0-1 2-2 2, Bailey Simpson 0-1 0-0 0, Brooklyn Lee 0-0 0-0 0, Nakia Tangan 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 14-44 11-14  44.

3-point field goal – CAR 3-12 (Clark 0-1, Stoner 2-3, Thomas 1-5, Comito 0-3), CCA 5-17 (Schrage 0-1, Lower 2-7, Evans 1-2, Stratton 1-4, Keller 1-3). Rebounds – CAR 32 (Stoner 10), CCA 29 (Lower 11). Assists – CAR 14 (Comito 5), CCA 7 (Tangang 3). Turnovers – CAR 11, CCA 13. Total fouls – CAR 16, CCA 16. Fouled out – CAR (Smith), CCA (Schrage). Technical fouls – None.

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