Sports

TIFFIN– The opening tip-off of the 2020-2021 season finally arrived for the Clear Creek Amana (CCA) High School varsity girls’ basketball team as they hosted their WaMaC East rivals, the Solon Lady Spartans, Friday, Dec. 4.
Solon (No. 14 in Class 3A) entered the contest with a 1-1 record after having knocked off Center Point-Urbana in their opener on Nov. 24, and falling to Central DeWitt on Dec. 1. The Clippers (No. 14 in Class 4A) however, were kept off the court until after Thanksgiving due to the CCA school district having moved to all online learning due to COVID-19.

TIFFIN– The Clear Creek Amana (CCA) Clipper varsity girls’ basketball team opened its season, following a delay due to online learning courtesy of the pandemic, at CCA High School and soaked the visiting Lady Spartans, 63-44, on Friday, Dec. 4.
There was no rust evident in the Clippers’ performance as they capitalized on their height mismatch which Solon attempted to combat by defending the lane, allowing the Boats to paddle their way to a 15-2 lead over Solon at the end of the first quarter, dropping four shots from beyond the arc.

SOLON– Solon’s varsity wrestlers took a one-point thriller against Williamsburg to open the season.
And then took a drubbing from powerhouse Lisbon.
“We knew coming in this would be a young team, a lot of new faces,” explained head co-coach T.J. Bevans. “We lost 500 varsity wins last year in three guys. That’s a lot.”
2020’s 2A state champion Jax Flynn (170 pounds), as well as Zeb Gnida (152) and Seamus Poynton (182) graduated after helping the Spartans to a fourth-place finish in Des Moines.

NORTH LIBERTY– For now, the Bolts are benched.
Tuesday, Dec. 1, would’ve been the season opener for the Liberty High varsity boys’ basketball team, with a visit from non-conference competitor Washington (Iowa).
However, the Iowa City Community School District extended its 100 percent off-site learning through Friday, Dec. 11, due to continued high COVID-19 positivity rates in Johnson County, and all extracurricular activities, including athletics, are on-hold for the duration.

SOLON– Head Coach Jared Galpin inherited an experienced boys basketball team.
The Spartans were scheduled to open the 2020-21 season against the Sabers of Central DeWitt Monday, Nov. 30, in DeWitt with a senior-heavy lineup.
“We return a lot of experience and scoring from last year’s team,” Galpin noted.
Solon returns its five top scorers from last year– seniors David Bluder, Carson Shive, Ben Cusick, Bo Janssen and junior Jake Quillin– but will have to make up for the graduation of Cam Miller, who led the team in assists (62) and was second in rebounds (80) a season ago.