Redskins advance

Clinton’s quest for a Tri-County Conference championship ended successfully with a 58-38 win at Sand Creek on Friday, Feb. 15, and the Redskins continued on into the post-season with a 63-53 victory at home against Manchester in the opening round of Class C District play on Monday.

In Clinton’s win for the TCC title its seniors stepped up and slowly built a big lead with solid defense, timely shooting and a 20-for-28 free throw shooting performance.

“These girls didn’t leave a doubt,” said stand-in coach Mike Ruhl. “They executed the game plan extremely well and stepped up when it counted the most. Coach [Bart] Bartels showing up unexpectedly gave the girls a boost, as well.”

Leading Clinton were Laura Heinz and Colleen Zimmerman with 13 points each. Two other Redskins also tagged double digit scoring with Grace Walter adding 12 points and Bianca Peters 10.

Coach Bartels was in the huddle at home on Monday against visiting Manchester but it was the Redskins who were in visitor’s uniforms. The home fans also moved to the opposite end of the gym and watched their team take a slim 29-28 lead at the half. During the opening two quarters the Redskins attacked the net with a vengeance however each time the Flying Dutchmen would swiftly answer back with points put on the board. In the early minutes of the third quarter Manchester took a one point 34-33 lead but hung onto it just briefly with the Redskins regaining control and finishing the quarter up 39-36.

“Auto-matic,” was the Clinton cry every time Laura Heinz stepped to the free throw line as the senior put a hurting on the Dutchmen from the charity stripe. She pushed Clinton’s lead to 43-36 to open the fourth quarter, hitting 4-for-4. Walter was fouled and hit both of her shots to increase the ‘Skins’ lead to nine points. Clinton (17-3) connected on 31-of-35 shots at the charity stripe.

The flame went out of the shots put up by the Dutch early on but they sharpened their shots and pulled to within four points (45-41) with 4:39 remaining. While the Redskins were able to maintain their defensive intensity throughout the four quarters Manchester could not. Clinton went on a 9-2 scoring run with Erin VanWasshnova hitting 4-for-4 from the line, Heinz adding four points from the field and Walter splitting two free throw shots for a 54-43 advantage. The Redskins retained their lead for the remainder of the contest to secure the win.

Heinz finished the night with 26 points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots and went 12-for-13 on free throws. Bianca Peters was valuable to Clinton throughout the contest, adding 13 points and plenty of intensity to the game.

Clinton advanced to play against Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard on Wednesday. If the Redskins were successful against the Fighting Irish they will play in the final on Friday at 7 p.m. The results from the contests will be reported in next week’s Herald.