At last, CCA has a winner

At the holiday break, this appeared destined to be just another losing season in a long line of them.

'We were 3-6. We were in a lot of close games, but we had a hard time winning them,” Clear Creek Amana girls' basketball coach P.J. Sweeney said.

'I told the girls, we could go one of two ways. We could turn it around, or we could forget about the season. We have a lot of seniors, and they didn't want to go out that way.”

The Clippers won 10 of their final 12 regular-season games. Their 13-8 record marks the program's winning season since 2000-01.

'For the most part, this program has been down for quite a while,” said Sweeney, whose aim is to give it stability and continued success. 'There had been a revolving door of coaches, and it hurt to watch this program suffer.”

The players, apparently, grew tired of it as well. This winter, they did something about it. The turnaround started Jan. 6, the first game back from break, a victory over then-undefeated Solon.

This veteran team includes nine seniors, eight of which are in the regular rotation. They'll try to keep the hot streak going and extend their season when they travel to No. 14 Mount Pleasant (17-4) in a Class 4A regional quarterfinal on Wednesday. Tipoff is 7 p.m.

Class 4A girls' basketball is uncommonly strong this season - 31 of the 48 teams are above .500, including all six in Region 4. Two of the teams are ranked, and two others were rated earlier this season.

So it's a tough road for the Clippers.

'It's funny, we were scouting Solon and Mount Pleasant, and one of the assistant coaches had a hunch we might be playing Mount Pleasant,” Sweeney said. 'We're fortunate that we got to get a couple looks at them.”

Hanna Stokes paces the Clippers are 14.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

WEST-SIDE ENCOUNTER AMONG 5A OPENERS

When Cedar Rapids Jefferson defeated Cedar Rapids Prairie on Dec. 9, the season was full of promise.

The win sent the J-Hawks to 3-0 in the MVC and a share of the lead in the Valley Division.

'That was a long time ago,” said Jefferson Coach Jason Edwards. 'Prairie has grown a lot, and we've obviously changed a lot.”

They'll meet again in a 5A regional quarterfinal at Jefferson.

'I think the teams have a lot of parallels,” Edwards said. 'We're both pretty young. We both have some athleticism. We've got kids who are playing new roles than they were in December. They're playing more minutes that we've anticipated.”

Jefferson (7-14) has dropped 11 of 13 games since Iowa recruit Amanda Ollinger transferred to Linn-Mar in late December.

'We play hard, and I admire our kids for their resilience,” Edwards said. 'We just have scoring droughts sometimes, and we need to eliminate those.”

Prairie is 4-17 in Josh Bentley's first season. The Hawks have won two of their last four, picking up victories over Dubuque Senior and Mount Vernon in back-to-back games about a week ago.

WEDNESDAY'S CLASS 5A REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 5

Cedar Rapids Prairie (4-17) at Cedar Rapids Jefferson (7-14)

Region 6

Burlington (3-18) at Muscatine (9-12)

Region 7

Davenport Central (1-20) at Bettendorf (11-10)

Region 8

Clinton (3-17) at Dubuque Senior (6-15)

WEDNESDAY'S CLASS 4A REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 2

Vinton-Shellsburg (3-18) at Charles City (10-11)

Decorah (11-10) at West Delaware (15-6)

Region 3

Dubuque Wahlert (10-11) at DeWitt Central (12-9)

Maquoketa (4-17) at Davenport Assumption (13-8)

Region 4

Fort Madison (11-10) at Keokuk (14-6)

Clear Creek Amana (13-8) at Mount Pleasant (17-4)

Region 5

Oskaloosa (3-18) at Fairfield (16-5)

Washington (6-15) at Knoxville (17-4)

WEDNESDAY'S CLASS 3A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 2

Union (18-4) at Hampton-Dumont (19-2)

Garner-Hayfield/Ventura (16-7) at Clear Lake (16-6)

Region 3

New Hampton (6-16) at Osage (23-0)

Dyersville Beckman (9-13) at Crestwood (19-2)

Region 4

West Liberty (10-12) at Center Point-Urbana (18-4)

Camanche (13-10) at Mount Vernon (14-8)

Region 5

South Tama (7-15) at Nevada (19-3)

Benton Community (12-10) at Mid-Prairie (15-7)

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com