After a rough outing in the TVL tournament, the Clifton-Clyde girls basketball team picked up two impressive wins with victories over Onaga and Canton-Galva.
Versus Onaga, the Eagles won 50-21.
The first quarter opened to a defensive battle, with Onaga making the first basket with 5:40 on the clock, with Sevy Wurtz immediately responding with a layup of her own to get the Eagles on the board. A Paige Joy jumper and an Ellie Wurtz free throw and putback would put the Eagles up 7-6, and it would be the last time the Eagles trailed in the game as the Eagles took the lead into the second quarter.
Clifon-Clyde’s offense found its footing in the second quarter, opening with a 6-0 spurt. The Eagle defense made things difficult for the Buffaloes, but a layup got them their first basket of the quarter. After an Onaga three with 3:31 left in the half, the Eagles closed with two more baskets to lead 22-11 at halftime.
The Eagles would pull away in the second half. After back-to-back Onaga layups to open the second half, Clifton-Clyde would go on a 16-0 run, with 12 coming from Sevy Wurtz and four from Joy, which would put the Eagles up 38-15 entering the fourth quarter.
Onaga broke their scoring drought with an opening possession layup, but Calyn Baker and Sevy Wurtz putbacks kept the momentum with the Eagles. The Eagles closed the game outscoring Onaga 12-6 and taking the 50-21 victory.
Sevy Wurtz led in scoring with 29 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and a block.
Paige Joy had 10 points, four rebounds and a steal.
Ellie Wurtz had six points, three rebounds and two steals.
Versus Canton-Galva, Clifton-Clyde won 51-48.
The Eagles had a strong start to the game, opening up on a 7-2 run that gave Clifton-Clyde the early momentum. Canton-Galva would fight back with a run of its own; a 10-6 spurt made it 13-12 Clifton-Clyde with under a minute to go. A layup at the buzzer gave Canton-Galva a 14-13 lead to end the first quarter.
After an opening three for Canton-Galva, Clifton-Clyde took over in the second quarter. Taking the lead on a Sevy Wurtz three, Clifton-Clyde went on a 13-0 run thanks to strong interior defense and took a 26-17 halftime lead.
Canton-Galva opened the second half by breaking their scoring drought and going on a 8-2 run to make it a three-point game. Clifton-Clyde retaliated with a three of their own to break the run, and both teams would go back and forth for the quarter, with Clifton-Clyde taking a critical 42-32 lead entering the fourth quarter.
A 6-0 Canton-Galva run made it a 42-38 Clifton-Clyde lead, with two Paige Joy free throws with 4:13 remaining finally getting Clifton-Clyde on the board. Clifton-Clyde was able to keep Canton-Galva just at arm’s reach, but a Canton-Galva three made it a 47-45 game with 32 seconds to go.
Forced to foul, Canton-Galva sent Wurtz to the free-throw line, who made both free throws to push the lead to 49-45. Canton-Galva hit a quick layup to make it 49-47 with 24 seconds to go and forced a Clifton-Clyde turnover on the inbounds, with Clifton-Clyde forcing a turnover to get the ball right back. Forced to foul once again, Wurtz was sent to the line where she made both free throws to make it a two-possession game, with Canton-Galva making a free throw with 10 seconds to make it 51-48, with Clifton-Clyde able to beat the trap and run out the clock to take the 51-48 victory to break a three-game losing streak.
Wurtz led in scoring with 26 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks.
Joy had 17 points, seven rebounds and a steal.
Eden Close had six points, three rebounds and an assist.
