Down seven in the second quarter, Clear Creek Amana senior Lena Evans came away with a steal and ignited the fast break with a clear path to the basket during the Iowa high school girls state basketball tournament against Carlisle.
Evans rose for the easy two but couldn’t convert.
Moments after, Carlisle answered with a shot down low. Averie Lower then tried her luck on a fastbreak, only to be called for a travel that gave possession back to the Wildcats.
Those sequences were a microcosm of CCA’s struggles at Casey’s Center on Tuesday, March 3.
The Clippers got their state title ambition shattered in a 58-44 loss to the Wildcats (24-1) in the Class 4A state quarterfinals in Des Moines.
“One of the goals they talked about from the beginning was getting back to the state tournament, because some of these seniors have been there,” said CCA coach Matt Hoeppner. “They won the state title two years ago. And the biggest thing was, ‘How is everybody going to gel?’ because we had three that had been here. We had a bunch of newcomers, if you will, even though they’re not necessarily all freshmen.”
The No. 4 Clippers allowed the No. 5 Wildcats to get on a roll and never look back.
Carlisle earned a state tournament berth by beating Newton and ADM by 29 points each in the regionals stage — a hot streak that could’ve been even more disastrous for CCA. Not to mention that Carlisle senior Macy Comito, an Iowa State women’s basketball signee, averaged 20.3 points and 3.4 steals per game entering the March 3 contest.
The future Cyclone demanded attention — an assignment that the Clippers took extra notice of. The Clippers limited Comito to 13 points, but she did her real damage in transition and as a facilitator. A double-double by Mallie Stoner (16 points, 10 rebounds) also stung an inefficient CCA team that went 14-of-44 shooting.
“She’s tough,” Hoeppner said of Comito. “That was definitely the focal point. And I think, for quite a while, we did what we needed to do to keep her points down. Credit to them and the way they came through and got it done. But she does a lot for them, and their other kids stepped up when we tried to put a little stop to it.”
The Clippers trailed 11-7 by the end of the first quarter, a deficit that widened courtesy of a 7-0 run by Carlisle to close the opening frame.
They went ice cold at the start of the second frame until a step-back 3-pointer by Lower broke the dry spell with five minutes left in the quarter. They managed to convert four more field goals in the second frame and cut the deficit to 23-20, but the Wildcats rattled off six straight points before the halftime break to pad thier lead.
CCA showed life in the second half, but Carlisle snuffed out every rally. The Clippers went down double digits in quarter three — a deficit that they couldn’t shake in the final eight minutes.
CCA finished the season with a 20-3 record. Their three losses this season all came against state tournament qualifiers —Cedar Rapids Washington, Mount Vernon and Carlisle.
Not bad for a squad with a first-year head coach, Hoeppner, who served as the leader for a Clippers team that returned three players from their 2023 state title team — Lower, Evans and Kennedy Stratton.
Like a spin-off show featuring a familiar cast of characters, CCA was led by eight seniors — three wins away from their second state title in program history this season.
“This year, it’s everything,” Hoeppner said on the senior impact. “It’s extended down to when you watch people like Averie and Lena going to make sure that the freshmen are included in what we do and high fives here and there.
“We held open gym right after I was hired, and there’s 20 some kids there and … they made them feel like they were another senior on the team the entire season. And that’s really why the chemistry of this team (happened) and allowed us to be where we are now.”
Lower, an Arizona State commit, closed out her superb high school career with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. She went 5-for-12 shooting and converted two 3-pointers.
Evans played her tough brand of basketball against Carlisle, finishing with 13 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Two years after their ascent to state title supremacy, the Clippers dared to be great again.
Sure, they couldn’t complete the opening mile of the race, which is the state tournament. But based on their fight in the state quarterfinals, coupled with their hot streak in the regular season, they’ll have an even bigger appetite for greatness.
As much as the Clippers’ championship ambition was squandered in the state quarterfinals, respect is needed for the stellar 2025-26 run that they manufactured under a new regime.
Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Clear Creek Amana falls to Carlisle in girls basketball quarterfinals
Reporting by Marc Ray, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Iowa City Press-Citizen
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