Indians fall short in upset bid
The Clarke boys' basketball team nearly pulled off a major upset Monday night in the first round of postseason play. But as was the case many times this season, the Indian offense could not match the play of the defense in a 36-27 District loss at top seed Albia.
"Kind of the story of the year. We just weren't able to get consistent scoring," Clarke coach Jim Smith said. "You have to put yourself in position to win when you only give up 36 points.
"But it was a really good effort. The kids have played their hearts out down the stretch. And the seniors led that. They deserve credit for that."
Monday night was the last game for senior starters Joe Lampe, Jason Ehrhardt, Randy Scadden and Matt Mason.
The Indians finished the year with a 1-18 record.
The playoff game on Monday was a low-scoring slugfest, just the way the Indians needed it to be for a chance at the upset against a team that beat them by 34 in Osceola in late January.
It took the Indians four minutes to finally score in the game, when Ian Compton put back an offensive rebound. Compton scored again later in the first to cut Albia's lead to 6-4. It was an 8-6 Blue Demon lead at the end of the quarter.
Albia looked primed to blow the game out late in the first half when quick back-to-back baskets made it a 19-8 game. But Mike Kalk converted a three-point play and Ehrhardt drove the lane for a layup late in the half to make it a 19-13 Albia lead at the break.
Ehrhardt nailed a 3-pointer and added another layup in the third quarter to cut Albia's lead to three. Lampe scored with 3:15 left in the quarter to make it a 24-21 Albia advantage.
It appeared the two teams would head into the fourth quarter with that same score, but Albia's Kevin Wynn banked in a half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Blue Demons a little breathing room and a six-point lead.
Smith said he didn't think that shot deflated the team, but admitted it was big.
"I didn't sense it, but you can't talk around it," he said. "But we played that quarter even with them, even with that."
The Indians had several chances to cut into the lead in the fourth, but could not buy a basket. The Blue Demons finally put the first points in the quarter on the scoreboard with 4:30 left in the game. Albia began to pull away and led by 11 with 31 seconds left, when Ehrhardt hit another 3-pointer.
After Albia missed the front end of a one-and-one, Ehrhardt scored a layup after Scadden saved the ball from going out of bounds underneath Clarke's basket.
That bucket cut the lead to six, but Albia would convert three out of four free throws in the final seconds for the 36-27 victory.
Ehrhardt finished the final game of his career with 13 points, three rebounds and a steal. Compton added six points and grabbed six rebounds, while Lampe and Kalk had four points each. Kalk also had five rebounds and two steals, while Scadden had three rebounds and two steals. Lampe had three assists and three rebounds and Mason had two blocked shots and a pair of rebounds.
The Indians finished 0-10 in the South Central Conference with a 46-34 loss at Centerville Friday night.
Clarke led 19-17 at the half, but the Big Reds took a 35-30 lead into the fourth quarter and went on to the league victory. Compton had 16 points, Kalk added seven and Mason had four.
The night before in Truro, Clarke was handed a 60-38 loss to Interstate 35. It was a six-point I-35 lead heading into the fourth, where the Roadrunners outscored the Indians 23-7. Scadden and Lampe had 10 points each and Ehrhardt added seven.
