The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Clippers rely on defense to remain unbeaten
Todd scores 15 points and Paschel adds 14 as Clearview beats Keystone
It wasn’t easy, but Clearview remained perfect after a 63-51 win at Patriot Athletic Conference foe Keystone on Jan. 9. The Clippers (8-0, 7-0) outscored the Wildcats, 35-26, in the second half and used a heavy dose of half-court traps to disrupt Keystone’s offense.
Javon Todd led the Clippers with 15 points, Jaylen Paschel added 14 and Josiah Hitchens chipped in with 13 — 11 in the fourth quarter.
Clearview forced 20 turnovers and displayed a balanced scoring attack.
“I got off to a bad start, so I had to change my shoes and I started playing way better,” Paschel said, who scored 10 in the second half. “Our defense is the key to our success right now and we have to keep it going to win.”
Keystone (6-4, 3-3) lost its third straight game, but hung tough most of the way. The Wildcats trailed by only three at halftime, and guard Brody Kuhl had 14 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Ethan Sokolowski had a game-high 16 points. Clearview had 16 offensive rebounds.
“Over the course of the game, we couldn’t keep them off the glass,” Kuhl said. “For us, that’s what we had to do better, coach stressed it and we didn’t do it. A lot of these little things win these basketball games and
tonight they showed they were the better team. As soon as we start boxing out, things will turn. I would say our offensive game is fine. We’re doing the little things on that end, but on the defensive end and boxing out, need to change. Right now our back is against the wall and we have some work to do and I know we have the guys to do it.”
Up, 37-35, with 2:30 in the third quarter, Clearview had a key stretch to close the quarter going on a 8-2 run, aided by baskets from Paschel and Anthony Terry.
In the fourth, Clearview forced a turnover and Todd drove it in for a layup to extend the lead to 51-39, and Hitchens had a stretch where he converted four layups to seal the deal.
Clearview made seven 3-pointers — including three from Paschel, and knocked down 26 of 43 field goals. Clippers coach John Szalay acknowledged things turned in their favor in the second half with their defense.
“We ran a zone press and they (Keystone) did a nice job,” Szalay said. “So we changed it to a man-toman press with a zone look, and I thought we were able to get more pressure on the ball that way. We got them to hurry a bit — they’re a methodical team that likes to control the tempo. In the second half, I thought we did that.”
In a tight first half, Keystone used exactly that — long possessions and efficient scoring to stay within striking distance. But it was the “little things” that the Wildcats failed to do that will keep coach Jeff Holzhauer awake at night.
“They went on a couple runs and we tried stopping their momentum,” he said. “They went up seven and we had a hard time to just make plays. They’re offensive rebounds just killed us. I told them we have a great group of kids, but we just don’t do the little things to win basketball games right now. We’re not boxing out and being physical, but we’re not good enough to beat teams like Clearview when we’re not physical and fundamental. I thought this group can do it, but we’re just not right now.”
For Clearview, the undefeated train keeps moving, but Szalay isn’t getting too carried away with the spotless record just yet.
“It’s awesome, but we just want to look at the next game,” he added. “You can’t do anything about the previous games and can’t do anything down the road. But we’ve got some good teams coming up like Bay and Lorain. We’re just trying to concentrate one game at a time.”