The Clarksville girls and North Butler boys basketball teams each took the lead for good with strong second quarters to split their annual Butler County rivalry on Monday. The Clarksville girls won 50-32 and the North Butler boys won 56-39, as aired on 99 The Wave.
In the girls game, it was tied at 9-9 after a cold shooting first quarter. In the second quarter, Clarksville cranked up their full court pressure, which fueled their offense to a 19-4 scoring run to lead 28-13 at the half. North Butler had their best scoring quarter of the night in the third, putting up 14 points but the Indians matched it with 13 of their own to stay ahead by double figures at 41-27. The Indians expanded their lead to as high as 18 in the fourth to win their second game in a row.
Clarksville Head Coach Ross Timmermans on play from the second quarter on and balanced scoring.
“It’s always exciting coming up here and when they come down to us. We go back and forth each year and doesn’t matter what’s happened prior. It’s gonna be a battle from start to finish.” says Timmermans. “I was very happy with the way we played after that first quarter. I thought we were a little sluggish to start, but that second quarter we got after it, made a few more plays and turned a little bit of defense into offense. I was happy with the way we shared the basketball tonight. We had a few girls step up and score when Paige was struggling a little bit. That’s what we need to be successful moving on down the stretch here.”
Paige Kampman had 28 points to lead the Indians. Zoey Thompson had 13 points with three triples to lead the Bearcats.
In the boys game, it was tied at 13-13 after a back and forth first quarter. In the second, North Butler took the advantage by getting to the rim offensively and holding the Indians without a field goal defensively with a 10-2 scoring run to go up 23-15 at the half. The Bearcats established a post presence in the second half to maintain the lead. The Indians got within single digits a few times in the second half with mini scoring runs but the Bearcats pulled away in the final frame to end their losing slide.
North Butler Head Coach Austin Guerrero on the team’s mindset entering the matchup.
“I’m just really proud of our effort and attention to detail tonight. That was the big piece for us. We talked about after that losing streak, we got to be more focused and really bought into the game plan for that individual night,” says Guerrero. “Can’t look too far ahead. We knew Clarksville was our opponent tonight and it was one we’d like to get to start our week. “Hopefully we have put our best foot forward for the rest of the week.”
Ryan Austin had 16 points and Jax Thorne added 15 points to lead the Bearcats. Sam Hoodjer paced the Indians with 20 points.
The North Butler girls (2-10) and the Bearcat boys (4-10) will host Central Springs on Tuesday. The Clarksville girls (8-4) and the Clarksville boys (3-10) will be at Don Bosco on Tuesday on 99 The Wave.
