Game Report: CCA vs Clinton (2/24/26)

Last night the CCA Clippers beat the Clinton River Queens in their 4A Class Regional Championship by 16 points to make the 4A State Tournament in DSM next week. In this article, we highlight seven players from this contest that stood out in various ways for whichever reasons.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    A common theme this season for CCA High School has been [player_tooltip player_id='509225' first='Averie' last='Lower'] making several three point shot attempts in the first quarter to give her Clippers team a lead for the rest of the game. We saw that again last night in this 4A Regional Championship. Lower scored 16 of her team's first 19 points and she ended with 7 made three point attempts off the catch from deep. She also got a lot of action to go in by the bucket within some of their offensive sets, always posing a threat offensively to the River Queens on that end of the floor. One of the main keys for the Clippers moving forward will be their offensive production so although this was a fantastic showing by the ASU commit, she is going to need to show us some more over the next week if they plan on bringing home the 4A State Title.     Evans game supplements Lower's in multiple ways when they compete together. Evans isn't the high caliber shooter that Lower is but she does about everything else while also being a pretty steady shot herself from behind the arc. Her first step quickness, athletic ability, and knowledge of situations helps her standout on the hardwood most nights. We saw bits of that yesterday. There were time that she got several shots to fall at the rim in the half court, she recorded multiple steals and rebounds leading to transition buckets in the handful throughout, and she played unselfish basketball as a whole - always making the right play in whatever given situation. Evans has been a major piece to this team's puzzle all season long and I don't think we should expect that to change moving into State next week. She will be apart of their plan then it's just all about how they execute.     When you look at Clinton's side of things, there were a few players that stood out. The first being undersized Center - [player_tooltip player_id='1183159' first='Aubrey' last='Fergurson']. Fergurson isn't the tallest but she is tough. She knows how to anchor herself on the block and how to use her strength to finish through contact when she is being defended properly. From start to finish we saw Fergurson step up to make big plays for this Clinton team down the stretch on both sides of the ball. She started out aggressively in the first quarter and never slowed down from there. She rarely ended up coming off the floor and that just speaks to her dedication to the sport.     [player_tooltip player_id='1220516' first='Alli' last='Haskell'] was the leading guard prospect for Clinton with [player_tooltip player_id='643486' first='Jhaliana' last='Guy'] being out due to injury. Haskell played a respectable overall game. She knew she had to take over in some situations with their lack of offensive ability and she did a good job of that. She made some offensive play in the first quarter off the bounce in the middle of the lane and she also hit a three pointer off the catch from the wing to shorten CCA's lead. After that, we saw her really show out again in the 4th. Several possessions in a row Haskell got fouled to go to the line or she made her first offensive attempt. Whatever kind it might have been. The future is bight in Clinton. Haskell was only a Sophomore this Winter so I'm sure she will come back even more well-rounded next season.     We saw Stratton get into foul trouble early on and that somewhat threw off her game in the first half but not enough to slow her down in general. This game of Basketball is all about how you respond. You could tell that Stratton was frustrated with the situation but once someone else on her team got in foul trouble, she was right back in for the second half and making the most of it. Offensively, she hit some midrange pull up's off of ball screening action and some shots from deep as well. Defensively, she picked up at half court and caused havoc to Clinton's guard play, ultimately helping the Clipper slow down all of their offensive action. Stratton has been on the State stage before like most others from her team so she should be ready to ride next week. Her play will be crucial to their success if they want to keep on winning.     We didn't hear [player_tooltip player_id='885073' first='Lydia' last='Keller']'s name called a whole lot last night but we did hear it a few times through as she knocked down a few three pointers off the catch from the corner. Keller is another very good prospect, that is supplementary to everything else around her at this time. Can Keller hit big shots, run PG, and do several other things for the squad? Of course but right now she is playing her role as an underclassmen to a T. She is taking the attempts that come to her natural off of others creation but she also knows how to handle situations and how to get her own offensively if need be. That's a nice piece to have on any team so I'm sure her role with the program will continue to grow with experience over time.     The third highest leading scorer for Clinton in this bout was Junior SG - Mady MacAvoy. MacAvoy primarily shot the ball from distance, making half of her attempts on the evening. These attempts strictly came off of the catch and from either Wing location, helping the River Queens stick in the ball game as things dwindled down. There wasn't too many other opportunities that MacAvoy saw the ball other than that but that's okay. Again, this is someone who is playing their role right now and playing it efficiently so you can't complain with her efforts.

Last night the CCA Clippers beat the Clinton River Queens in their 4A Class Regional Championship by 16 points to make the 4A State Tournament in DSM next week. In this article, we highlight seven players from this contest that stood out in various ways for whichever reasons.