Wolverines sweep Knights to end short playoff drought
With the playoffs at stake, no one wanted to go home — so Clear Falls and Clear Brook went to one overtime, then two.
Then the Wolverines decided they’d had enough.
Down 13 early and trailing most of the way, Clear Brook finally seized control on the glass and at the freethrow line, where it sealed a 69-63 victory Tuesday at home that clinched the school’s first playoff trip since 2017.
“It’s huge for our kids because they’ve worked their tails off,” said Clear Brook coach Nathan Janak, who has his team in the postseason for the first time. “Kids like Brandon Andrews, Luke Cline, Shane Porter, Gage Whiteman, Jordan Baker — all of our seniors played with tremendous effort.”
Clear Brook (25-10, 7-5) clinched third in District 24-6A with the season sweep of Clear Falls (20-11, 5-7), which could have forced a playoff tiebreaker with a win but instead left brokenhearted.
“I’m already replaying things I wish I would have done differently and thinking about how to be there for the three seniors … and how to use this as something that’s going to help them someday,” Clear Falls coach Blake Joy said. “But I definitely should have done something different … because that situation got away there at the end.”
The Knights jumped out to a 15-2 lead in the first quarter fueled by Von Wells, who supplied eight points during a 10-0 run and scored 11 in the quarter, including three 3-pointers. After Clear Brook used a 7-0 run late in the second to climb back in the game, tying it at 27, Quinn Bowen drained a trey with 12 seconds left for a 30-27 advantage at halftime.
The 3s continued to be the difference in the thkird.
The Wolverines pulled within two, then David Loerch hit consecutive 3s for a 39-31 lead that helped Clear Falls keep Clear Brook playing catch-up the rest of the third. Finally, after tying the score three times in the fourth, the Wolverines secured their first lead at 49-48 on a corner 3 by freshman Zyon Little.
But they couldn’t hang on.
The two teams went to overtime tied at 52, followed by a second OT at 56all before Clear Brook pulled away at the line.
“(I saw) tons of heart, tons of passion, and tons of relentless effort from our kids,” Janak said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Andrews finished with a game-high 23 points to go with four rebounds and four steals.
Little added 22 points and sophomore Ke’Mauri Millender had 14 points and seven boards while holding speedy Clear Falls guard Orlando Horton (14 points) to only five points in the second half and the overtimes.
Clear Brook shot 22-of-61 from the field and outrebounded Clear Falls 55-42.
“It’s still Clear Falls, and they kept us out (of the playoffs) last year, so we wanted to get the win,” Janak said. “We wanted to get in the playoffs, and do it (Tuesday), and our seniors played great, and our freshmen were great off the bench.”
Wells supplied 14 points for Clear Falls, and Loerch and Bowen added nine points apiece.
Clear Falls shot 20-of-68 from the floor and 15-of-20 from the line, where Clear Brook missed its first seven attempts in the fourth before turning things around in the two OT periods. The Wolverines finished hitting 22-of-35 free throws.
“They played hard, and they made plays, and made free throws when they had to,” Joy said.