Girls basketball: Execution on both ends of the court lifts Amboy to title at own tournament

AMBOY – A night after struggling a bit on offense in a semifinal win at the Amboy Holiday Tournament, the host Clippers were firing on all cylinders in Friday night’s championship game.

Amboy eclipsed its semifinal point total in the first half, and once again used a stingy zone defense to defeat Somonauk 56-22 to win the title, the Clippers’ first since 2019.

“It’s really nice to win this. After the last group of girls at Amboy did so good and won their title, it’s been a lot to live up to,” junior Maeve Larson said. “So we’re really happy tonight.”

Amboy (12-1) used its height advantage as much as possible early on, as Larson, Courtney Ortgiesen and Emily Sachs combined for 22 points in the first half. When Ortgiesen wasn’t fielding lob passes over the top from her guards, she was utilizing post-to-post passing to find Sachs open for a pair of layups in the Clippers’ 7-0 run to end the first half.

“We didn’t know they would help as much as they did and that would be wide open. So as soon as I saw it for the first time, I threw it to Emily and she got a couple of layups off that,” Ortgiesen said. “It was there every single time, it just worked every single time, so we kept doing it.”

Every player contributed for Amboy. Larson and Tyrah Vaessen made the hustle plays, Elly Jones and Addison Pertell hit from the perimeter, and the Clippers shot 12 for 23 for the first half, with nine assists on those 12 field goals.

Ortgiesen, Pertell, Larson and Jones all scored in a 15-0 first-quarter run, then Larson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer; Jones also hit a 3 at the third-quarter buzzer for the Clippers.

Ortgiesen scored on an inbounds pass underneath, then Vaessen hit a jumper after corralling an offensive rebound for a 22-6 lead less than three minutes into the second quarter.

“We knew that they had five guards playing, but we didn’t know if it would be easy to get it inside because they’re scrappy. But we tested it out, and eventually it worked,” Larson said. “Everyone does their part, we all communicate and work together, and that’s the only way we can do it.”

“It was relieving at the beginning to get that lead, because it’s always easier to play with a lead,” Ortgiesen added. “But we knew we still had to work, still had to score and work our best defense and offense that we could.”

Amboy also executed on the defensive end, cutting off dribble penetration and getting a hand in shooters’ faces to keep Somonauk (4-12) from getting anything going to the basket. The Bobcats shot 1 for 4 in the first quarter and turned the ball over six times, then were 3 for 9 in the second quarter with four turnovers.

“We weren’t really worried about the high post, which was nice; we could rotate better in our zone. We just knew we had to get out to shooters, because they could shoot it from outside,” Jones said. “Tonight our teamwork was really good on both ends of the court; on offense, our passes were really great. That was a definite confidence-boost; we’ve definitely been trying to make our passes better.”

Jones opened the third quarter with a runout layup off a steal at half court, then Larson scored on a pass from Ortgiesen before Ortgiesen scored another basket on an inbounds play under the basket for a 40-13 lead with 3:44 left in the third.

But Somonauk forced the Clippers to be a bit more patient in the second half, picking up the defense while also executing its own offense more efficiently.

Josie Rader went coast to coast off a steal, then scored a layup on a pretty cut down the lane and perfect feed from Brynn Pennington to get the Bobcats within 43-19 early in the fourth quarter. Rader then converted a three-point play on a drive to the basket to cut the deficit to 45-22 with 5:36 remaining.

“We definitely wanted to get it more in the middle, and we switched up our players who were in the middle to change things up and try to pass to the middle and then go back out. We tried to drive more, shoot more, just tried to change things up,” Rader said. “And on defense, we started switching when they set screens, and we applied a lot more ball pressure, too. I think it made them a little more timid with their passes inside and driving to the basket.”

But Kiera Karlson put back a miss, Jones drove for a bucket and Pertell dribbled around a screen and nailed a 3-pointer to give Amboy a 52-22 lead with 2:36 to go, and both teams emptied their benches soon after.

Ortgiesen had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Clippers, and Jones finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three steals. Larson stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, six rebounds, three steals and a block, and Pertell added eight points, four assists and two steals. Jones and Pertell were named to the all-tournament team.

Sachs scored seven points, Karlson scored four, and Vaessen chipped in two points, nine rebounds and five assists for Amboy, which shot 22 for 42 (52%) from the field, outrebounded the Bobcats 36-11, and outscored them 13-0 in second-chance points.

Rader led Somonauk with 10 points, three rebounds and three steals, and fellow all-tournament selection Haley McCoy added four points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Katelyn Curtis also scored four points as the Bobcats shot just 7 for 29 (24%), including 2 for 14 (14%) from 3-point range.

“We definitely improved tremendously with multiple skill-sets of the game this week, like rebounding. I think we’re getting a lot more confidence with our underclassmen; we have three freshmen who have been playing a lot, and they’ve definitely gained more confidence during these games,” Rader said. “The first half of the season wasn’t really the greatest, but now that we’ve started 2-1 in the second half and played for this tournament title, I definitely think we have a lot more confidence, so I’m excited to see where it goes.”

Third-place game

Hall 32, Newman 28: The Red Devils held off the pesky Comets in the third-place game, building a pair of nine-point leads in the fourth quarter to thwart Newman’s comeback attempts.

Leading 21-17 to start the fourth quarter, Hall scored five straight points, but missed free throws allowed the Comets to stick around. Newman got within 26-23 with a 6-0 run, but McKenna Christiansen hit a baseline floater and then drove to the basket as the Devils stretched the lead back to 32-23.

Jess Johns scored in the final minute, and Pyper TerBush hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.

Johns had a double-double with 12 points and 20 rebounds, and all-tournament selection Madison Duhon added 11 points, four rebounds and two steals. Lucy Oetting chipped in two points, six rebounds and two steals, and Amiya Rodriguez grabbed five rebounds for Newman.

Christiansen scored 13 points, and Jayden Jones added eight for Hall. Toni Newton scored six and Kennedy Wozniak finished with five; Newton and Promise Giacometti were named to the all-tournament team.

Other all-tournament selections were Mendota’s Katie Jenner, Serena’s Jenna Setchell and Makayla McNally, and Roanoke-Benson’s Lexi Weldon and Brianna Harms.