116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
A former sleeping giant in girls’ basketball, Clear Creek Amana is fully awake these days
Clippers are 23-0, ranked No. 1 and a championship threat in Class 4A
Feb. 25, 2024 3:37 pm
TIFFIN — P.J. Sweeney is a builder.
By day, he is an independent home remodeler, specializing in kitchens and bathrooms.
His night job, as girls’ basketball coach at Clear Creek Amana, that’s been a 10-year improvement and enhancement project, too.
“(CCA) had been good at softball for so long. Why not basketball?” Sweeney said, referring to the program’s former days of dormancy. “When I got the job, I wanted to create excitement around girls’ basketball.”
This former sleeping giant is now wide awake.
Clear Creek Amana takes a 23-0 record and a Class 4A No. 1 ranking to the state tournament, its third in the past five years.
The Clippers face unranked Gilbert (15-9) in the first round at 11:45 Tuesday morning. And they’re taking a different mindset than their 2020 and 2023 predecessors.
Happy-to-be-there no longer flies.
“Last year, we were super stoked to get there,” versatile senior Ava Locklear said. “We had focused so hard to get there (then lost 61-30 to North Polk in the first round).
“This year, we want to make it our own. We want to go get a pink (championship) shirt.”
Ever the tinkerer, Sweeney is overhauling the Clippers’ tournament itinerary. No hotel stays. Instead, the plan is to drive out, take care of business, drive back.
Hopefully, three times.
“We want to stay in our routine as much as possible,” he said. “We’ll sleep in our own beds, get breakfast together at the school, then get to the arena 2 hours before tip.”
This kind of postseason dabbling, at this school, seemed foreign not that long ago.
Before Sweeney was hired, winning seasons were rare at Clear Creek Amana, and coaches didn’t stay long. In 2013-14, CCA was 5-16 and finished last in the Wamac Conference.
The following season, Sweeney’s first in charge, the Clippers were 13-9.
“One night, I told my wife (Joy), let’s go to a girls’ game,” Sweeney recalled of his pre-coaching days. “Laurie Donald had a really good team at Benton Community, and they put up 100 points (on CCA). I just love basketball, and that night, my wife told me to get my coaching authorization.”
Clear Creek Amana’s “arrival” came in 2020.
At that time, Marion’s program was rolling, and had smoked CCA in the regular season, 59-30. They met again in the regional finals.
The Clippers won, 66-49.
After Wamac Conference West Division title shares in 2021 and 2022, CCA finished second last season, but made it back to state. Even with the first-round bummer against North Polk, the Clippers were poised for big things this season.
And they have delivered.
The Clippers held off 1A No. 1 North Linn by a point at Rivalry Saturday. They stormed away from Solon and edged Mount Vernon in their two toughest Wamac cross-divisional matchups.
They played up a class and beat Iowa City West and Iowa City Liberty. They went 10-0 in divisional play.
They average 63.7 points per game, and allow 31.2 (best in 4A).
“We have a lot of diversity,” said Bliss Beck, a Drake University volleyball signee. “We have a lot of people that can get the ball downcourt. A lot that can post up.
“And Ava ... she can do anything that she pleases.”
“We mesh really well. We don’t have any selfish players,” said sophomore Averie Lower, the divisional player of the year.
So, “diversity” is one apt description for the Clippers. Here’s another: “Long.”
Beck (7.5 points, 7.1 rebounds per game), provides an athletic 6-foot-2 player who, with long arms and her jumping ability, seems a lot taller than that.
Locklear (11.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg) is, for lack of a better term, remarkably handy. In her career, she has notched more than 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 blocks.
She truly could play any position.
“At some point, I’ve had to play them all,” Locklear said. “When I first started playing, I was a point guard. Then I grew and they put me in the post. Now, I’m not so tall any more, so ... ”
She shrugged. “Put me wherever.”
Locklear has signed with NCAA Division-II Saginaw Valley State, in Michigan.
At her current trajectory, Lower will probably become the best player in CCA history. She is averaging 17.8 points in her sophomore season, shooting 58.8 percent from the field (48.4 percent from 3-point range) and 87.1 percent from the foul line.
Lower owns six Division-I offers. She’s special.
“I have played with (All-Iowa) Attack since sixth grade, and that experience has helped me a lot,” Lower said.
Lower’s mother, Laci (Palar) Lower, played on two state championships in the mid-1990s at Winfield-Mount Union: “I’ve seen the trophy case,” Averie said.
Sweeney’s core rotation consists of eight players — five seniors and three sophomores.
There’s the Stratton sisters (Kaylee is a senior, Kennedy a sophomore). Seniors Sam Schrage and Kiera Rogers are good utility pieces. Soph Lena Evans is a fearless offensive presence off the bench, and is third on the team in scoring at 9.1 points per game.
It’s the kind of team that Sweeney — that self-descrived “basketball junkie” who was on Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s state runner-up boys’ team in 1988 — only could have dreamed about a decade ago.
“When we started, we just wanted Clear Creek Amana to be relevant,” he said.
“Now, we’re here, and we’re on a business trip. We’re not just happy to get there any more. Our goal is to get to the finals and see what happens.”
Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com
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