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By Scott Vanscoy
Crane, MO – SWCL foes Clever and Crane met up on Tuesday night in what became a game of scoring binges. The Clever Blue Jays jumped out early on the Crane Pirates, only to see the Pirates mount a comeback in the third quarter to put the game within a possession. The Blue Jays made their free throws down the stretch and used a strong defensive effort to win the game, 56-44.
The Blue Jays got off to a fast start, outscoring the Pirates 16-3 in the first quarter. The Pirates had no answer for the Jays, as they dominated the boards offensively and defensively. The second quarter was almost as lopsided, except the Pirates managed to stop the bleeding and went in at halftime trailing 28-14.
At the half, Pirates head coach Craig Campbell told his team that they had nothing to lose.
“We are 6-6 and just have to go out and play hard and play our game,” said Campbell.
In the third quarter, Crane started to click, forcing turnovers and getting second shots. The 14-point deficit was erased and with less than a minute to go in the third, the Crane Pirates were within one point, 35-34. Crane could not get the bucket that would give them the lead.
“We came out in the third quarter and started to play our game, but we just couldn’t get over that hump,” said Campbell. “We were down 14 at halftime and got back within a possession three different times and never could get over that hump. We were within one on that one free throw but they hit a three to put them up four.”
During Crane’s run, Clever coach Luke Brosius told his team to stay calm and not panic.
“There in the third quarter I just told them to calm down, keep their composure,” said Brosius. “I reminded them that Crane was whooping and hollering but still behind; all that energy would be wasted if we just maintained our composure and took care of the basketball. We just needed to stay calm.”
The fourth quarter started off with Crane trailing by just three, 37-34. The Blue Jays came out and knocked down their first two shots to quickly put them up seven. Clever forced Crane to take shots they didn’t want and turn the ball over.
With 3:53 left in the game, Crane stepped up their defense and tried to ice the game.
“We weren’t necessary fouling, we just didn’t want them to run the clock out on us,” said Campbell.
Clever’s junior Devan Hampton went 5-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Hampton led the Blue Jays in scoring with 17.
“My free throws hadn’t been looking good lately so I’ve really been practicing,” said Hampton. “Tonight we came out ready to execute offensively; moving the ball, getting guys good looks and making sure we were flowing. When they made their run on us, Coach told us to make sure we were locking down number one (Dalton Hayes) and to keep moving on offense. We were forcing a lot of shots up. Our defense held them off at the end.”
Crane went almost two minutes in the fourth quarter without scoring, while Clever was knocking down free throws to increase their lead, 54-41. A desperation three with twenty seconds left put the Pirates down 10 but it was too little, too late. The Blue Jays walked away with a 56-44 win.
“A lot of those times you need a guy that will step up and hit that big shot,” said Campbell. “Tonight we didn’t have a guy do that but we’ve got guys on the team that are capable of doing that. It was a three or four point ballgame but going over three minutes without scoring, that hurt us. To be honest, we went most of the first quarter without scoring. Those two added together, that hurts.”
Clever, who remains undefeated in the conference, won their tenth game tonight.
“I was really proud of the way we came out,” said Brosius. “We did a really good job of guarding the whole night. During the third quarter we got a little lethargic offensively, kind of stood around a little bit waiting for somebody else to do things. We didn’t attack with purpose, we were attacking kind of scared and that led to turnovers. I think we had about 16 turnovers. It was great to see how we responded when Crane made their run in the third quarter and how we answered in the fourth. I am proud of our kids.”
Clever 16 12 9 19 -56
Crane 3 11 20 10 -44
Clever—Matthew Christoffer-5, Caleb Peck-5, Mark Christoffer-8, Jared Sopok-2, Devan Hampton-17, Derek Sopok-7, Jakob Partee-12
Crane—Tyler Campbell-6, Dalton Hayes-13, Wyatt Vaught-11, Braydon Cook-3, Deven White-4, Colton Elder-7
