Patriots Pick Up Big Win, Close Loss Follows
The Clarkson-Leigh Patriot girls’ basketball team had a busy week with two games, starting with a strong showing against Wakefield on Saturday, Jan. 24, and finishing with a tough loss to Wisner-Pilger on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Clarkson-Leigh started strong in an away game against Wakefield and won 69-37. The Patriots led 21-9 after the first quarter and kept scoring to hold a big lead the rest of the game.
Seniors Ava Kasik and Elizabeth Hoffman led Clarkson-Leigh, with Kasik putting together a complete game of 25 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 6 steals, including an impressive 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range, Hoffman adding a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and junior Vylet Hollatz contributed 5 assists.
Senior Ava Kasik said, “Coming off a big win against the David City Scouts the following week, we came in confident and ready to play Wakefield. We started off with lots of energy in the press, which also fueled us to knock down shots. Overall, it was nice to get a few wins to build our confidence going into the end of the season.”
On Tuesday, the Patriots played Wisner-Pilger and lost 30-38. Clarkson-Leigh had an early lead of 11-7, but Wisner-Pilger scored more in the second and third quarters to take the lead. The Patriots tried to come back in the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t catch up.
Junior Reese Wietfeld said, “When the score wasn’t in our favor, we continued to encourage each other by staying positive and focused. We reminded ourselves to play together, trust one another, and to move on after mistakes. This mindset helps our team stay confident instead of overwhelmed by the score. We played physical and did get frustrated at times but we continued to encourage each other and try harder the next possession. We focus on doing our job and supporting each other, which helps us play better as a team!”
After these two games, Clarkson-Leigh’s record is 6-12, and the team is looking forward to their upcoming games.
Clarkson-Leigh vs. Wakefield
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CL 21 19 16 13 69
Wake 9 8 6 14 37
Individual Stats (points, rebounds, assists, steals):
Carmen Malena: 0, 2, 0, 1; Reese Wietfeld: 2, 4, 1, 3; Ava Kasik: 25, 4, 4, 6; Claire Holoubek: 4, 3, 1, 3; Maizie Stoklasa: 10, 5, 3, 3; Averi Clausen: 2, 2, 0, 1; Emersyn Urban: 0, 1, 0, 0; Vylet Hollatz: 9, 3, 5, 0; Nevaeh Zulkoski: 4, 5, 1, 3; Chole Indra: 0, 2, 0, 0; Jordyn Balzer: 2, 0, 0, 0; Elizabeth Hoffman: 11, 11, 0, 0.
Clarkson-Leigh vs. Wisner-Pilger
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CL 11 9 4 6 30
WP 7 12 13 6 38
Individual Stats (points, rebounds, assists, steals):
Reese Wietfeld: 5, 4, 2, 6; Ava Kasik: 8, 2, 1, 2; Claire Holoubek: 3, 5, 0, 3; Ella Baumert: 1, 0, 0, 2; Maizie Stoklasa: 4, 2, 2, 2; Vylet Hollatz: 0, 3, 0, 2; Nevaeh Zulkoski: 2, 2, 0, 0; Elizabeth Hoffman: 7, 5, 0, 0.