TIFFIN — The Solon girls and boys basketball teams traveled to Tiffin and faced a double-header against Cleer Creek Amana on Friday, Dec. 5. The Solon boys moved to 2-0 on the season with a dominating win, while the Lady Spartans were crushed in its first game of the season.
Both Solon teams saw newcomers lead their respective teams in scoring.
Solon girls
After a close battle to start the game, The Solon girls basketball team watched as Clear Creek Amana ran away with the 66-39 victory. Spartan freshman Tenley Levin led her team with 16 points, followed by senior Delainey Durr’s 13 points.
Levin scored eight of those points in the first quarter as Solon trailed Clear Creek Amana, 13-12, through the first eight minutes. The Clippers then opened the second quarter with a 13-0 run in which the Spartans never recovered from, and it entered halftime with a comfortable 31-21 lead.
“They did a good job on defense. They weren’t letting us get through,” said Solon girls head coach Jaime Smith. “They weren’t letting us get open threes. Getting to the paint and kicking the ball out, trying to get some open threes. But, you know, they bothered us.”
The Spartans cut the deficit to five midway through the third quarter, though the Clippers got out running and scored multiple buckets in transition to shoot it back up to double digits.
Still with a 10-point deficit entering the fourth quarter, Solon made a series of mistakes that Clear Creek Amana took advantage of. The Spartans’ three fourth quarter points all came at the free throw line as the Clippers cruised to the blowout win.
“If we’re gonna learn, let’s learn right at the beginning,” Smith said. “We got a big week [next week], three games next week, so we’ll be ready to play.”
Solon boys
Fresh off a 24-point victory over Maquoketa, the Solon boys basketball team secured another dominant victory with a 71-52 finish over the Clippers. Junior Tate McCollum was on fire to start the game as he finished with a game-high 22 points, and junior Grant Gordan chipped in with 13 points.
Clear Creek Amana scored the first basket of the game, and Spartan junior Maddox Kelley scored the next five points to start Solon’s 11-0 run. McCollum outscored the Clippers by himself in the first quarter as he led a 21-7 Solon lead with nine points.
The Spartans won the second quarter, 25-14, fueled by an electric 8-0 run by McCollum. Senior Ethan Ulch’s buzzer-beating putback layup put the cap on a 46-21 halftime lead.
“I think our defense and energy is kind of what sparked our effort,” said Solon boys head coach Jared Galpin. “They had a good game plan coming in. The guys executed really well, rebounded really well in the first half and just caught up to a hot start.”
The Clippers found some momentum defensively and held the Spartans to just three made field goals and 11 fourth quarter points. Despite doing so, Solon’s defense held its ground as it allowed 14 points to keep its lead at-large.
A hint of pressure built up as Clear Creek Amana cut the Solon lead down to 14 in the fourth quarter, but a comeback was in the rear view due to a couple late Spartan buckets.
“This one’s big, you know, they’re a good team,” Galpin said. “They got some really nice players… So getting this win was huge.”
Boys open the season with 78-54 win over Maquoketa
The varsity boys opened the season Tuesday, Dec. 2 with a road win against the Maquoketa Cardinals after overcoming a 20-12 deficit in the first period. The Spartans bounded back in the second, outscoring the Cardinals 26-11 for a 38-31 halftime lead. Solon cruised to the win with 19 and 21 points in the third and fourth periods.
Tanner Heims, a senior, came in off the bench for a team high 16 points with 14 apiece from juniors Tate McCollum and Grant Gordon. Junior Kaden Hoeper led on the boards with six rebounds while junior Maddox Kelley was Solon’s top thief with seven steals.