Eagles sweep Class 4A Concordia in first matchup in almost a century

CONCORDIA - Clifton-Clyde High School and Concordia High School are only 15.5 miles away from each other in Cloud County, but the Eagles and Panthers have not met up for a boys basketball game since 1929, and the girls’ teams have never played each other.

Concordia has always been the big school down Highway 9, while Clifton-Clyde, or Clyde High School and Clifton High School before 1980, have been the small schools to the east. This year, Concordia is a Class 4A school and Clifton-Clyde is a Class 1A school.

But when Clifton-Clyde was needing a game for their schedule, Clifton-Clyde athletic director Kieran Wurtz called Concordia to see if they’d be interested. They were. And at least in this go around, with the Eagles sweeping the Panthers, size doesn’t always matter.

Eagle boys come from behind for 8-point win

Clifton-Clyde made the trip down Highway 9 to face off against the Class 4A Concordia Panthers on Feb. 1. The Panthers pulled away in the second quarter to take a 24-18 lead into halftime, but they couldn’t stop the inside game of senior Wyatt Lange in the second half. Lange had nine points in the third quarter and six in the fourth. The Eagles caught up and surpassed the Panthers in the fourth quarter to win 51-43.

Lange led the team in four of the five statistical categories, with 23 points (including going 5 for 5 from the free throw line), 11 rebounds, six blocks and two steals.

Clifton-Clyde 9 9 16 17 51

Concordia 7 17 12 7 43

Points - Lange 23, Rudolph 8, Weiche 5, Girard 5, LeDuc-Pierce 5, T. Koch 3, Long 2.

Rebounds - Lange 11, Weiche 7, Rudolph 6, D. Koch 3, Girard 1, Long 1, Skocny 1.

Assists - D. Koch 4, Skocny 2, Rudolph 2, Seifert 1, Weiche 1, Girard 1, T. Koch 1.

Steals - Lange 2, Rudolph 2, Weiche 1, D. Koch 1, Skocny 1.

Blocks - Lange 6, Weiche 1.

Girls win by 4 in first ever matchup

It was all tied up at 11 after one quarter between Clifton-Clyde and Concordia on Feb. 1 in Concordia. But then the Eagles went on a second quarter tear against their Class 4A neighbor, building an eight-point lead at half. Concordia attempted a comeback, but on the heels of an 18-point game by Emma Nobert and Shea Wurtz’s 14 points, the Eagles were able to get a 50-46 win.

Senior Mallory Callihan had a double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Clifton-Clyde 11 17 6 16 50

Concordia 11 9 10 16 46

Points - Nobert 18, Wurtz 14, Callihan 11, Sikes 5, Thrasher 2.

Rebounds - Callihan 10, Nobert 5, Wurtz 5, Thrasher 4, Affolter 3, Douglas 1.

Assists - Nobert 3, Douglas 3, Wurtz 1, Callihan 1.

Steals - Callihan 2, Douglas 1, Nobert 1, Affolter 1.

Blocks - Callihan 1, Bowser 1, Wurtz 1, Nobert 1.