No Samantha O’Brien and no Jac Harvey proved to be no problem for the Clear Creek Lady Golddiggers. Missing their starting point guard (sprained ankle) and a key reserve (disciplinary reasons) had little effect on CCHS, which had three players score in double figures and 10 score in all in a 66-23 rout of Platte Canyon on Jan. 21 at Clear Creek High School.
Grace Werlin led the way with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, Lillie Abrahamson had 13 — all in the first half — and Rachel Lucas finished with 10 as the Lady Diggers won their 10th straight and remained unbeaten in the 3A/2A Frontier League.
“It was nice seeing them moving the ball, but we still have things we’ve got to fix. We were telegraphing a couple of passes,” said Clear Creek head coach Marc Gorenstein, who wants his team to cut down on turnovers. “Right now that’s the biggest thing that I’ve got to get us to do.”
Still, there was little else Gorenstein could’ve been displeased with against Platte Canyon. Clear Creek (10-2 overall, 5-0 league) never trailed, went on a 28-0 run between the first and second quarters and led by as much as 45 points in the fourth quarter.
“A team should be able to have chemistry no matter who is on the court and who is not,” said junior guard Sydney Zabel, who started her second straight game in place of O’Brien. “I think we did a pretty good job of showing that.”
Platte Canyon (5-6, 2-2) had just two baskets in the first half, when it trailed 34-4 at the intermission. Taylor Tinajera scored midway through the first quarter, and Victoria Moon closed the half with a layup for two of her team-high 11 points. In between it was all Clear Creek behind a balanced offense and a ball-hawking defense.
“Defense is all about getting in their head really. I think we’re doing a really good job of that,” guard Melinda Dixon said. “No matter what defense we’re in, we’ll speed them up whereas we stay composed as a team.”
The loss was the Lady Huskies’ fifth in seven games.
“It is a learning experience. These kids are learning to make adjustments in the game,” Platte Canyon head coach Kim Whetzel said. “Clear Creek is a very well-rounded team. I think that was hard for us. We can usually focus on one or two players and focus on the defense, but Clear Creek is everywhere. We just didn’t start off strong. We struggled with catching up. We were never able to.”
Contact Michael Hicks, sports editor, at 303-350-1047 or sports@evergreenco.com. Follow on Twitter @MHicks12571.