Girls basketball: Clearview uses tough defense to win opener

SHEFFIELD TWP. — It wasn't pretty, but Clearview will take it. The Clippers, like their opponent Open Door, start a lot of inexperienced players but Clearview only trailed once at 1-0 before a Kylah Whitt 3-pointer gave them the lead for good as the Clippers held off a late Patriots run for a 33-25 season-opening victory. Clearview was able to pull out the win despite 31 turnovers, mostly in part to a rough shooting night for the Patriots, who only hit three of 46 (seven percent) in the first three quarters before finally finding the bottom of the basket in the fourth. "I thought defensively, overall, our defense was really good throughout the game," Clippers coach Nick Dimacchia said. "I hope that we can do that against a high-level team and maybe even pick up the tempo even more. I knew our defense would probably carry us this year." The Clearview defense helped keep Open Door from scoring much as the Patriots went 2-for-15 (13 percent) from the floor but were able to hit four free throws to trail Clearview 9-8 after eight minutes of play. The Clippers got a late four points from A'Miley Ezell on a pair of driving baskets as she finished with a team-high 10 points. Clearview held Open Door to just one field goal in the second quarter, but it didn't do much for its lead as the Clippers only added nine more points to lead 18-12 at the half. Clearview's defense really kicked in during the first eight minutes of the second half, holding the Patriots to just one Aubrey van Wingerden free throw at the 2:06 mark while Kayla Hitchens scored all four of her points for a 22-13 advantage. The Patriots finally knocked down a few shots to start the fourth as Briella Bendik, one of fourth freshmen in the Open Door lineup, had a steal-and-score to go along with a short jumper and 3-pointer by van Wingerden to cut the lead to 25-20. The Clearview defense held off the Patriots run, forcing seven turnovers as Ezell hit a mid-range jumper, Comley split a pair of free throws and Sheysha Milton hit a shot from just inside the 3-point line to go back up 30-20. Five straight points from Bendik cut the lead to 30-25, but the Patriots went scoreless over the final two minutes as the Clippers held on for the win. "It was our first game, and we'll get back to work in the gym on pressure, layups and making free throws," Patriots coach Jessy Bendik said. "Given the situation with only five girls, we just couldn't play pressure defense from the start and wear them out. It was really fun to watch them compete the way they did under these circumstances." Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Clearview 33, Open Door 25 OPEN DOOR (25): Asia Brown 0-0-0, Briella Bendik 3-6-12, Aubrey van Wingerden 4-1-10, Bitty Stafford-Crandall 0-1-1, Kaylee Trasher 1-0-2. Totals 8-8-25. CLEARVIEW (33): Aisha Perez 0-1-1, Sheysha Milton 2-0-4, Kylah Whitt 1-0-3, Kayla Hitchens 2-0-4, Marcelana Rivera 0-0-0, Lachareya Williams 0-0-0, Adirnna Comley 2-4-9, Laila Penny 0-0-0, A'Milet Ezell 5-0-10. Totals 13-5-33. Open Door&emsp;8&emsp;4&emsp;1&emsp;12&emsp;—&emsp;25 Clearview&emsp;9&emsp;9&emsp;4&emsp;11&emsp;—&emsp;33 Three-point goals: Open Door 1-10 (10 percent, van Wingerden), Clearview 2-8 (25 percent, Whitte, Comley). Field goals: Open Door 8-61 (13 percent); Clearview 13-45 (29 percent). Free throws: Open Door 8-18 (44 percent); Clearview 5-11 (45 percent). Rebounds: Open Door 49, Clearview 49. Turnovers: Open Door 24, Clearview 31.