Clare girls claim three road victories

By BEN MURPHY

Cleaver Sports Writer

The Clare girls’ basketball team met every challenge thrown their way last week, winning all three of their road contests. The Lady Pioneers most recently won a road Jack Pine Conference game at St. Louis on Friday, 44-37.

“We really didn't have our best, but we pulled it out in the end,” head coach Shane Kelly said. “That was a game I think we may have ended up on the wrong end of the final score earlier in the year, but the girls keep battling and girls found a way to win.”

Clare played well enough in the first half to take a double-digit lead, 24-14. he Lady Sharks did trim that slightly in the third, but Clare was still in front after three, 37-29 and they did enough to finish things off from there.

The Pioneers were led by Kamara Cooper who had 18 points, eight steals, six rebounds and six assists, Amelia Ryzyk had 11 points and two rebounds, Kyley Wyman added five points, while adding four points apiece was Olivia Forsberg and Aleigha Finkbeiner. Syerra Mills chipped in with two points and Finkbeiner also led the team in rebounding with eight boards.

On Wednesday, Feb. 11, Clare won another road Jack Pine game in Gladwin, as they topped the Lady Flying G’s, 58-12.

“This game was an all-around good game for a lot of girls,” Kelly said. “The girls played with a lot of fire, had a lot of pressure and played great half-court defense.”

The Pioneers came out rolling on this night, cruising to a 23-3 lead after the first quarter. Things only got better from there as they pumped their advantage to 37-4 by the half and 54-7 entering the fourth.

The Pioneers had three reach double figures in the game, led by Ryzyk with 15 points, followed by Gabby Darland with 12 and Marlee Clark who had 11. A. Finkbeiner and Lena Renner had seven points apiece and adding two points apiece was Breez Yarger, Reese Finkbeiner and Cooper. Darland also had a team high eight rebounds, Cooper had four assists and Forsberg swiped away four steals.

Clare’s week began with a non-league road win at Beal City on Monday, Feb. 9, as they topped the Lady Aggies, 48-34.

“This was a great second half for us,” Kelly said. “We put a lot of pressure on them and attacked the basket really well.  Kamara was great for us down the stretch scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter to wrap up the victory.”

Beal City held the lead early on, including 10-9 after one and 21-15 at the half. The Pioneers used a 12-5 scoring edge in the third to lead 27-26 entering the fourth. Clare had its best offensive play in the final quarter, where they poured in 21 points.

Cooper had a big game for the Pioneers, getting 27 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. Ryzyk added nine points, four steals and two rebounds, Darland added seven points, she hit the glass to get four rebounds, and she also had three steals. Yarger finished with three points and four steals and A. Finkbeiner added two points and two rebounds.

Clare (13-5 overall, 10-4 Jack Pine) hosted Ogemaw Heights on Tuesday, they were at home against Pinconning on Wednesday and they’ll host their Jack Pine crossover game this coming Tuesday. They wrap up the regular season on Thursday, Feb. 26 with a road game down at Alma.