They play the games for a reason. On paper, it looked like No. 6 Malcolm should cruise through its Jan. 12 visit to a three-win Ralston team. The Rams gave the Clippers all they wanted as Malcolm survived to win 55-47.
“I know they don’t have a very good record. But I knew they were a dangerous team,” Malcolm head coach Chris Lewandowski said. “They’ve played some tough quarters against really good teams. They just haven’t put together many complete games.”
Behind the hot shooting of Hayden Frank, the Clippers jumped out to an early lead. By halftime, Malcolm had doubled up the Rams, 34-17, with Frank doing the bulk of the scoring.
“Hayden did a great job of getting to the hoop in the first half,” Lewandowski said. “He took advantage of what they were giving him.”
Some halftime adjustments helped Ralston slow down the Clipper senior as the Rams fought their way back into the game.
“They collapsed on Hayden in the second half and made it much harder for him to get good looks,” Lewandowski said. “We needed some others to step up and take the pressure off Hayden, but the shots weren’t falling.”
Ralston got within five points in the fourth quarter, but the Clippers did enough to hold on for the win.
Frank had a career high 41 points while going 5-of-7 from behind the arc and hitting 12-of-14 at the line.
The Clippers returned home the next night and took care of business with a 67-35 rout over a winless Nebraska City team.
“I was pleased with the win,” Lewandowski said. “But there were some things we could’ve done better. We allowed too many uncontested shots in the first half and we didn’t pass the ball as well as we have.”
Carson Frank had a hot hand against the Pioneers. The sophomore went 4-for-4 from long distance to score 12 points.
“I was glad to see him have a good night,” Lewandowski said. “He’s been hitting those shots in practice. He’s definitely gaining confidence as a shooter.”
The elder Frank led the team with 21 points while going 8-for-8 at the line. Drew Johnson had a double double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
The Clippers grabbed 48 total rebounds, including 34 on defense.
“We wanted to limit second chance points,” Lewandowski said. “Not only did Drew have a good night on the boards, I thought Lucas (Christensen) and Anthony (Kouma) worked extremely hard at securing rebounds.”
The Clippers (11-3) take an eight-game win streak into their Jan. 17 home matchup with Class C2 No. 1 Freeman (13-1).
“They lost for the first time last week,” Lewandowski said. “So, we know they’re not invincible.”
Freeman lost to Tri County 43-35 in the MUDECAS tournament A Division semifinals. The Clippers forced overtime Tuesday, but the Falcons prevailed 58-55.
“If we hope to stay in this game, we’ll have to protect the paint and get to the line,” Lewandowski said. “We need to play much better than we did this last week.”
Malcolm will then travel to Wilber-Clatonia (6-7) Friday, Jan. 20.
