Clear Creek Amana boys’ hoops team flying under the radar

CEDAR RAPIDS - There are so many more really good young players in today’s boys’ basketball.

Kids that play as freshmen or sophomores. Kids that start as freshmen or sophomores.

But if you’re a coach, you’d still rather have a bunch of seniors. Ask Brandon Clubb.

The Clear Creek Amana head coach has nine of them on his roster this season. The Clippers have an 18-4 record, won the Wamac Conference overall championship, went undefeated in the West Division and are ranked 10th in Class 3A.

The first sentence in the above paragraph has everything to do with the second sentence in the above paragraph.

“This is the grade that my son (Brody) is in, so a lot of his friends, they grew up playing together since elementary,” Coach Clubb said. “And a lot of them had to play and start for us when they were sophomores. Three years on varsity is huge. That extra year, even though they took their lumps when they were sophomores, in the end, it kind of paid off.”

If you want a 3A team that has been flying under the radar as the postseason begins, this would be it.

CCA lost three of its first four games: to Solon, Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Iowa City West. But it has won 11 in a row and 17 of 18 as it goes into a substate first-round game at home Monday night against West Delaware.

Three of its four losses this season have been to really good 4A teams.

These Clippers remind you of the 2020 Clippers, a group that had good shooters and a Division I football player in the middle in T.J. Bollers, who made it to the state tournament and finished third in 3A. There are no more consolation games at state.

Brody Clubb, by the way, has signed to play football with FCS power North Dakota State.

“We’ve got some similar pieces, I guess,” Brandon Clubb said. “A defensive stopper, a couple of shooters that are really good, and then Brody is in that spot that T.J. Bollers had. That center spot for us. Yeah, they definitely have some similarities.”

CCA’s leading scorer is guard Andrew Rotzoll, who averages 16.6 points per game and who has rounded out his offensive game. Clubb said he was primarily a shooter as a sophomore but has incorporated dribble-drive to his arsenal.

Robert Meade averages 10.9 points, Clubb 8.0 points. Six-foot-six foward Hayden Umoren transferred back to CCA from Iowa City West and averages 11.9 points per game.

“We can play small, we can play big,” Coach Clubb said. “We can do a lot of different things.”

Clear Creek Amana is a ‘2’ seed in its substate and could face sixth-ranked, top-seeded Waverly-Shell Rock if the bracket holds to form. That game would be at Waverly, as this is the first season the Iowa High School Athletic Association has decided not to have neutral-site games at all in 3A and 4A.

Coach Clubb believes his team hasn’t gotten the rankings/seeding respect it deserves.

“It is what it is,” he said. “I’m not throwing anybody under the bus. I just feel like our league, especially with us being overall champs, I don’t think our league got much respect. I will admit that it is down this season, but I still think it means something to win your division in the Wamac and the overall Wamac (championship).

“I really believe that what the Wamac (shows) on a nightly basis, it’s better than a lot of the 3A leagues out there. Just top to bottom.”

All 3A schools play Monday night, as part of eight-team substate brackets. In Class 4A, there are two schools in each substate that have first-round byes, including Linn-Mar, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Dubuque Senior and Cedar Falls.

The remaining four schools in each of the eight substates play first-round games Monday night. Substate semifinals in 3A are Thursday night around the state, with substate semifinals in 4A coming Friday night across the state.

Here is the entire first-round schedule, as well as Tuesday’s schedule for Class 1A and 2A district finals. All games begin at 7 p.m., unless noted.

CLASS 3A SUBSTATE FIRST ROUND

Metro-Area

State

CLASS 4A SUBSTATE FIRST ROUND

Metro-Iowa City-Area

State

CLASS 1A DISTRICT FINALS

Area

State

CLASS 2A DISTRICT FINALS

Area

State

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