Knights End Patriot Season
By: Makenna Held, a junior at Leigh High School
The Clarkson-Leigh boys’ basketball team was ready to put up a fight and make a post-season run as the boys’ sub-districts began on Tuesday, February 22.
Subdistricts were held at top-seeded Oakland-Craig, and the first game for the Patriots was against the Wisner-Pilger Gators. The Gators came into subdistricts with a record of 8-14, while the Patriots entered the game 12-9.
The Patriots were ready to dominate on both ends of the court. The first quarter was close, ending with the Patriots just ahead by 2. By the end of the second quarter, the Patriots had widened their lead to 10. Offensively they were putting back rebounds and getting easy buckets off of boards.
After halftime, another great defensive quarter helped the Patriots increase their lead to 13 going into the final quarter. The Patriots allowed the Gators 10 points, but the Gators couldn’t come back after the Patriots’ offensive show, and the Gators’ season was ended after the first round.
Mason Whitmore, sophomore at Leigh, said, “This game was a great win. We played well, crashed the boards offensively, and defeated our first opponent of subs.”
After a big win for Clarkson-Leigh, they were ready to put up their best fight against the Oakland-Craig Knights. The Knights came into subdistricts with a 17-8 record, but the Patriots were confident they could take them down.
The first quarter started out slow, but towards the end, the Patriots got down by three behind the Knights. After the second quarter, the Patriots found themselves trailing with a 9-point deficit, but they were ready to give it their all no matter the circumstances.
The third quarter was even between both opponents. Each team put up 10 points, and the Patriots had good defense trying to stop the enemy. But they just couldn’t generate enough offense and lost 45-53.
“Going into the second round, we knew it was going to be tough,” Whitmore said, “but I felt we still put up a good fight. This season has been memorable, and I am sad to see it end. We will definitely miss our seniors. We can’t wait to get back at it and work hard in the offseason.”
Jeff Bachman, head boys’ basketball coach said, “We played a great defensive game against Wisner and earned a huge victory. This was a very important win for our program. Against Oakland, we made too many mistakes. Missed lay-ups, missed box outs and turnovers really cost us—you can't make those mistakes against a good team in a big game and expect to win. This was a great season for us. We took a big step as a program. I was very proud how we conquered adversity all season.”
This was the final game for seniors Trevor Zulkoski, Lance Paprocki, and Tommy McEvoy (out due to injury). They will all be missed! Great job to the boys’ basketball team on a great year. We are looking forward to watching our Patriots next season!
Game Stats vs. Wisner-Pilger:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
C-L 11 15 14 12 52
W-P 9 7 11 10 37
Individual Stats: (points, rebounds, assists, steals)
Lance Paprocki––3, 6, 3, 0; Eli Hays––4, 3, 0, 0; Kyle Kasik––10, 5, 7, 1; Mason Whitmore––5, 3, 1, 2; Trevor Zulkoski––10, 6, 1, 2; Carter Hanel––18, 11, 0, 0; Mitch Beeson––2, 1, 0, 0
Game Stats vs. Oakland-Craig:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
C-L 9 6 10 20 45
O-C 13 11 10 19 53
Individual Stats: (points, rebounds, assists, steals)
Lance Paprocki––10, 5, 1, 3; Eli Hays––15, 5, 1, 4; Kyle Kasik––7, 5, 1, 1; Mason Whitmore––0, 1, 0, 0; Trevor Zulkoski––6, 4, 2, 0; Carter Hanel––7, 11, 2, 0; Mitch Beeson––0, 2, 0, 0