The Martin boys’ varsity basketball team broke into the win column Friday night with a 66-50 triumph on its home court. The Martin girls remained undefeated at 5-0 earlier in the evening with a 50-40 victory.
The verdict brought the Clippers boys’ season record to 1-3.
The winners took a slim 17-14 lead in the opening quarter and slowly widened the gap afterward.
“It is always nice to get a win, but also have the guys acknowledge that we are still going to learn from it,” said coach Brad Moelker. “We have a lot of little things to improve on and that was evident right away.
“Gobles started with a lead due to some lack of communication on our end. After clearing that up we were able to regain some control of the game. It still seemed like every time we would build a lead up to 15 or 16, we would have a lapse in our play and Gobles would chip the lead back down.”
Braeden Shanley led the Clippers with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 5 steals. Karter Ribble contributed 17 points and 3 steals and Gavin Meyers – 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.
“Braeden and Karter were both aggressive the entire night,” the coach said. “They each hit a couple of threes and really attacked the rim when they had the chance. I like them shooting the ball, but we were happy to see them both not settling for shots.
“Gavin Meyers had his best game. He shot the ball when he was open and did not shy away from that when he missed one or two. He also attacked the rebounds all night. That’s the type of player we need him to be.”
Moelker added, “On a side note, I was very proud of both teams’ play and maturity. Every player was going all out with effort, but it was one of the cleanest games as well. It is good to see two programs like that.”
Lady Clippers’ coach Ben Schipper also was very proud of his ballclub.
“I’m so proud of our girls and the way they battled last night. We were short handed with only seven players and were without both of our assistant coaches,” he said. “Cirsten Coburn set the tone right away scoring 7 of her 13 points in the first quarter. That was one of the best games I’ve seen Cirsten play. She was very aggressive offensively while being completely in control, and she played great defense tonight.”
Makala Goddard came up with four three-point field gaols to keep the Tigers at bay.
“It felt like any time Gobles had a little run, Makala came down and answered with a three, always taking the wind out of their sails< Schipper said. “Our defense was stingy all night, it was so strong in the half court. I would guess Gobles scored close to half of their points on fast break runouts off turnovers and offensive rebounds.
Goddard finished with 14 points, Coburn added 13 and Avery Jager counted an even dozen.
Avery Jager had 7 rebounds, Elizabeth Reinke 6 assists and 4 rebounds; Marybeth Ritchie 5 rebounds and 3 blocks Makala Goddard 4 rebounds, 4 assistsand 3 steals, and Cirsten Coburn 5 rebounds.
“We’ve had a great start to the year at 5-0,” the Martin coach commented. “But if we’re going to continue winning we have to take care of the ball better and finish possessions with rebounds.”
