Clarinda Girls Basketball
Clarinda senior Addison Wagoner (center, with poster) is recognized for breaking the program record for career points after the Cardinals' home win Tuesday, Jan. 13, over Atlantic.
Clarinda senior Kylie Meier sends a pass down the floor Friday, Jan. 16, during a home win over Shenandoah.
Clarinda senior Maddie Cole looks to find space on the baseline against Shenandoah's Brynlee Cullin Friday, Jan. 16, during a Cardinal win over the Fillies.
Clarinda senior Ellie Cole runs the point for the Cardinals during a home win Tuesday, Jan. 13, over Atlantic.
Clarinda freshman Aylah Johnson runs the court during the Cardinals' home win Tuesday, Jan. 13, over Atlantic.
Clarinda senior Carsen Wellhausen moves the ball around the perimeter Tuesday, Jan. 13, during a home win over Atlantic.
CLARINDA — The Clarinda girls basketball won a thriller and did it on a historic night for the program Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Kylie Meier knocked down the game-winning 3-pointer in the game’s final minute on a night when Addison Wagoner broke the program record for career points in a 37-35 Cardinal home win over Atlantic.
“That’s obviously a huge win for us,” Clarinda head coach Jacob Privia said after the game. “We lost to them last time and I’m glad we could respond and come away with the win.”
Wagoner came in needing nine points to break Jenny Bair’s 12-year career scoring record of 840 points and Wagoner scored inside on the opening possession of the second half to take down the mark.
“It’s crazy because I never thought I would do this in basketball,” Wagoner said, “because volleyball is my favorite. It’s truly a blessing and I have been working on basketball since third grade.”
Wagoner ended the night with a game-high 11 points while adding five rebounds and two assists.
“It’s super cool,” Privia said on Wagoner setting the program record. “Getting to know her the last three years has been awesome. She’s a heck of a player and our leader.”
Meier didn’t have a field goal until she hit from deep with 52 seconds to play giving the Cardinals the lead in what ended up being the final margin.
“I knew I had to hit that shot,” Meier said, “and I was going to do anything to do that.”
Meier hadn’t scored much because she had been on the bench more than she would have liked due to foul trouble.
“Kylie is our point guard and our main ball handler,” Privia said, “and it was tough to lose her. We have been battling through her being in foul trouble the last couple of games so we’re working through that with our other guards. I trust them to go make plays.”
The triple by Meier came after Clarinda had given up a 14-4 run that gave the Trojans their first lead of the night at 35-34 on a Madison McLaren 3-pointer at the 1:49 mark.
“It’s a little frustrating that we let them back in it,” Privia said, “but they ran some good stuff, and we didn’t quite follow our fundamentals to get out of that. But we responded in a huge way and I’m really proud of the girls for being resilient.”
A win over an Atlantic team that Clarinda had beaten just once in the Bound era came just four days after the Cardinals beat a Lewis Central team that they hadn’t beaten in the Bound era.
“It’s a huge win,” Wagoner said. “It’s another one under our belt. We beat a really good team last week and came out and started this week with a win. We have Shenandoah Friday and it would be amazing for our team to get two wins this week. “We’re going up right now, on a high and we just have to keep going up.”
“We know we haven’t done our best against Atlantic during our high school career,” Meier added, “and to come out strong and set the tone in the beginning, I felt we had control the whole game.”
Clarinda scored the game’s first four points and led 9-6 after the first quarter. A Maddie Cole 3-pointer and a free throw by Meier built the lead to seven, a margin the Cardinals enjoyed a few different times in the second quarter. They led by four at halftime. They built the lead to eight in the third quarter and then to nine on a Miley Wagoner layup in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.
The final quarter was wild. Atlantic scored seven straight points after Miley Wagoner’s layup only for Cole to hit from outside to push the margin back to five at the 4:40 mark. Atlantic came right back with baskets by Katrina Williams and Makenna Schroeder to cut the lead to 33-32.
Carsen Wellhausen made a free throw prior to McLaren’s triple to give the Trojans the lead. The time between then at the end of the game featured multiple moments which had the crowd and sideline on either side upset but Meier’s 3-pointer were the only points scored.
Miley Wagoner finished with nine points for Clarinda, adding six rebounds. Cole ended with six points and three rebounds. Wellhausen finished with five points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. Meier ended the night with four points and four rebounds and Aylah Johnson contributed two points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists. Kelby Gray added three rebounds.
Clarinda vs. Shenandoah
For the third time in as many games the Clarinda girls basketball team earned a victory over a Hawkeye 10 Conference foe that the program isn’t used to winning against.
Friday, Jan. 16, on their home floor, the Cardinals not only beat Shenandoah, avenging a loss from earlier this season, but did it in resounding fashion 73-42.
For the Cardinals, it was just the second win over Shenandoah in the past 27 times the two have matched up, dating back 12 years.
And for a Clarinda group that boasts six seniors, it adds to a fun week that also saw the Cardinals beat Atlantic and Lewis Central since the previous Friday to run their record to 8-6 on the season.
“It shows how much we have grown from the start of the season until now, “Clarinda senior Maddie Cole said, “and our culture at Clarinda really is growing. We hadn’t beat Lewis Central in the Bound era and then, I call it our revenge tour this week beating Atlantic and Shenandoah. It shows how much we wanted it and I think it can really go up from here.”
Maddie’s sister Ellie is also part of that senior group and said being a senior does make this even a bigger deal.
“All six of us realized this is our last week playing Lewis Central, Shenandoah and Atlantic,” Ellie Cole said. “It’s our last regular season of games against them so it’s all or nothing.”
Shenandoah came in with a 10-4 record and boasted a two-point win over the Cardinals last month in the meeting between the two Hawkeye 10 Conference rivals that counted in the conference standings. Shenandoah head coach Jon Weinrich said Friday was just one of those games where nothing went well.
“We ran into a buzzsaw, and they played really well and we did the opposite,” Weinrich said. “You just forget that one as fast as you can and build toward the next one. We have done a lot of good things this season and probably knew there would be some bumps along the way. They played better, they coached better and we have to put our kids in better positions to succeed.”
While 73 points is the most the Cardinals have scored in a game this season, their defense led the way holding Shenandoah’s Kalyn Scamman, the leading scorer in Class 3A to just seven points.
“Last time we played them, we fouled a lot,” Clarinda head coach Jacob Privia said. “This time, we kept our hands straight out. Kylie did a phenomenal job all night, and Addy, Miley, whoever else may have guarded (Scamman) and the back side of our zone as well.”
“We got this defense a couple days ago,” Maddie Cole said, “and we just really bought into what Coach Privia wanted us to do. We were supposed to fly around and not let Scamman score and it flowed really well.”
This isn’t the first time, and won’t be the last that a Shenandoah opponent tries to take Scamman away and Weinrich said the team didn’t do a good enough job helping her out.
“We probably could have been a little more aggressive,” Weinrich said, “and ultimately the other kids have to make more shots and do some things that sometimes they don’t have to do. Kalyn does a lot for us.”
Meanwhile, the Clarinda offense did a lot of good things as well, scoring 40 points to take an 18-point lead into halftime.
Addison Wagoner led Clarinda’ attack with 22 points, along with four assists, three rebounds and two steals, while Meier and Miley Wagoner scored 13 points each. Miley Wagoner collected four rebounds and two blocks. Meier distributed three assists.
“We all shared the ball equally and all the people that played scored,” Ellie Cole said. “We passed the ball around and we were patient, which is something we have been working on.”
After knocking down five 3-pointers in the first half, the Cardinals did much of their work inside and in transition in the second half, starting the half on a 7-1 run and not giving The Fillies even a hint of an idea that they may be able to get back in the game.
“We started running in transition a little bit late in the game,” Privia said. “It was good to see us get some transition opportunities there. It was a fun night of hitting shots and getting the ball inside.” We talked about starting the game well and we did that, and then did the same thing in the third quarter.”
Weinrich said his team simply struggled on the defensive end of the court but again credited the Cardinals.
“We had some mental lapses and gave them some easy shots,” Weinrich said. “You can’t give up easy hoops and then they started to get some run outs. We just need to do a better job slowing them down.”
Eight different Cardinals scored with Maddie Cole putting up eight points, along with five assists, two steals and two rebounds. Kelby Gray finished with six points and three rebounds and Carsen Wellhausen and Aylah Johnson scored four points each. Wellhausen added 12 rebounds, four blocks and four assists and Johnson ended with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Ellie Cole ended with three points and three rebounds.
Ava O’Rourke was the only Shenandoah player in double figures with 14 points, along with four rebounds. Scamman’s seven points were next. She added seven rebounds and four assists.
Addie Estes finished with four points, nine rebounds and two steals for Shenandoah. Sloane McGinnis, Callie Bebout, Abbey Dumler, Megan Bosley and Susie Babe added three points each and Joslyn Mather scored two. McGinnis added two assists and two rebounds.
