Clarke kept digging itself out of a hole here on Feb. 12 in the regular season finale against Interstate 35, battling in a 76-74 loss to the Roadrunners in a preview of the Class 2A district opener.
Unfortunately for the Indians, that didn’t translate over to Monday’s district opener.
After leading 13-11 after the first quarter of Monday’s district opener, the Indians couldn’t get anything going over the final three periods. Interstate 35 ended the first half on an 13-0 run for a 31-19 halftime lead.
The Roadrunners then closed out the third quarter with a 12-0 run to build a 51-28 lead, before ending Clarke’s season with a 67-37 win.
Interstate 35 now advances to tonight’s Class 2A District 14 semifinal in Truro against Pride of Iowa Conference rival Central Decatur.
Clarke’s season comes to an end with a mark of 2-19.
Preview
The preview of Monday’s district game had a much different feel to it.
Interstate 35 built an early 19-11 lead through one quarter, as Jaylan White scored 11 points for the Roadrunners and Brandyne Olin netted nine points for Clarke.
When Cole Daniels sank a 3-pointer in the second quarter, Interstate 35 grabbed a 10-point lead, and held that margin through halftime.
That lead grew to as much as 14 in the third quarter, but Clarke answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Troy Morgan and senior Carlos Tamayo to cut it down to eight.
After a Daniels layup, Clarke cut the lead to five points at 57-52 on a Grant Wishon bucket and a 3-pointer by Tamayo.
The Roadrunners took a 13-point lead to start the fourth quarter, but Clarke fought back once again.
“It’s kind of a habit we have to get rid of,” Clarke head coach James Larson said. “We have a tendency to get down early and then come back, but if we can figure out how to play that way for a full four quarters, I think we’ll be all right. We just dig ourselves too many holes.”
Back-to-back Tamayo 3-pointers cut the lead to nine and then Wishon got an offensive rebound and putback to make it seven.
Daniel Kennedy got a layup, and then Morgan drilled a 3-pointer. On the next possession, Morgan was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and made all three free throws to cut the lead to 69-66.
Interstate 35 responded with a 6-0 run to take a nine-point lead.
Olin eventually hit a halfcourt buzzer-beater, but it wasn’t enough as Interstate 35 held on for the 76-74 win.
“You know what, they’re a two and whatever team, but they’re really good for what their record shows,” Interstate 35 head coach Nate Rankin said. “They’re in a tough conference. They competed their hearts out and I’m just happy to get a win this late in the season like that.”
Olin led four Clarke players in double figures with 21 points to go with seven rebounds. Tamayo, one of two seniors honored pregame in a senior night ceremony, scored 16 points. Wishon added 15 points with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots for a double-double. Morgan netted 14 points with seven assists. Gabe Crawford scored eight points with eight rebounds.
Bowan Ellis, Clarke’s only other senior, finished with two rebounds.
“Came hard every day, worked hard,” Larson said about his seniors. “Carlos is one of our better defenders we’ve had this year and the past couple of years I’ve been here. Can always count on him to go guard their best player.
“Bowan, he had a rough stretch where he was ineligible, but he came to practice every day with a tough attitude. He stuck with practice. He made Grant Wishon better. He made Gabe Crawford better. He made all those guys better by coming in and playing hard.”
White scored 27 points to lead Interstate 35. Zach Goering added 15 points and Lucas Ealy had 14 points. Daniels finished with eight points, while Kennedy had six. Seth Fineran scored three points.