Girls’ and Boys’ Varsity Win at Pender
By: Natalie Brabec, a junior at Leigh High School
After their Friday night games were cancelled due to a blizzard, the Clarkson-Leigh girls’ and boys’ basketball team traveled to Pender on Saturday, January 16, picking up wins at the varsity level for both squads.
The JV teams started off the night. Unfortunately, the girls’ JV could not pull through, losing 12-29.
But the boys’ JV team won their match 37-29.
The Varsity girls followed in what was a very tough match for the undefeated Pats against the 12-3 Pendragons.
After a tight first quarter that ended with the Patriots up by 1, the Pats had an explosive second quarter, scoring 21 points to Pender’s 15.
But the second half was tough match-up, and the victory was the result of the girls making their free throws at the end. In the last two minutes of the game, as Pender fouled, the girls sunk 9 out of 10 free throws. The final score ended 59-52.
Senior Alissa Kasik had this take on the game: “We played an outstanding defensive game. This was an important conference win on the road against a well-coached Pender team.”
Kasik led the team with 16 points and junior Kennedy Settje also racked up 15 points.
This extends the Patriot girls’ record to 14-0.
The varsity boys were next up on the night. They came out strong as well, holding the Pendragons to just 7 points in the first half.
After only putting 16 points on the board themselves in the first half, the Patriot boys had a much better second half on offense, scoring 18 in the third and another 15 in the fourth to defeat Pender 49-22.
Senior Trevor Zulkoski lead the team with 12 points and sophomore Kyle Kasik added 9 points. Junior Carter Hanel pulled down 12 rebounds.
"We responded well to the intensity with great defense and offensive energy,” head coach Jeff Bachman said. “It was just what we needed right before entering the conference tournament."
This wins brings the Patriot boys’ record to 6-5.
Good Luck to both teams as they approach the Conference Tournament!
Girls’ Varsity Stats:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
C-L 10 21 12 16 59
Pender 9 15 11 17 52
(points, rebounds, assists, steals)
Chloe Hanel: 12, 7, 1, 1; Kennedy Settje: 15, 3, 0, 0; Faith Indra: 2, 3, 0, 0; Bailey Lemburg: 0, 1, 1, 0; Cassidy Hoffman: 6, 9, 3, 0; Alissa Kasik: 16, 3, 1, 1; Kayden Schumacher: 8, 9, 1, 0
Boys’ Varsity Stats:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
C-L Boys 9 7 18 15 49
Pender 3 4 8 7 22
(points, rebounds, assists, steals)
Lance Paprocki: 7, 5, 4, 1; Eli Hays: 6, 2, 2, 1; Kyle Kasik: 9, 2, 4, 0; Jacob Eisenmann: 0, 0, 0, 0; Mason Whitmore: 5, 2, 1, 0; Gavin Novotny: 0, 1, 0, 0; Kyle Holmberg: 2, 2, 0, 0; Trevor Zulkoski: 12, 4, 0, 0; Carter Hanel: 5, 12, 0, 2; Logan Schroeder : 0, 1, 1, 1; Kyan Schnelle: 2, 0, 0, 0; Mitch Beeson : 1, 1, 2, 0