Fleener scores 25 in North Clay's win over Cisne

Dec. 24—Four days removed from defeating Cisne in the Conrad Allen Tournament, the North Clay boys' basketball team did the same thing to the Runnin' Lions on Tuesday night at North Clay High School.

The Cardinals (9-4) defeated Cisne, 78-63, in their final game before the turn of the calendar.

"We played them last week, and they're really good. They are so scrappy," North Clay head coach Josh Zink said. "We focused on keeping them out of the lane, and at times we did that very well, and other times, we struggled with it, but our guys played pretty decently with our offensive game plan. Defensively wise, we don't want to let up 63 points, but if you get 78, it's not so bad."

Levi Smith started the game with four-straight points for the Cardinals.

Cody Zimdars then converted a floater in the lane before Smith answered with another layup to increase the lead to five points, 8-3, following an Anden Atwood 3-pointer.

Gavyn Harrell then responded with a 3-pointer of his own with 4:52 left to cut the deficit to two points, 8-6, before Alex Boose connected from deep to push the lead back to five, 11-6.

Cisne, however, would then go on a 4-0 run to cut the North Clay lead to one point, 11-10, before Logan Fleener scored his first points of the night with 2:16 left after converting a layup after a missed Cisne 3-pointer. Fleener's layup made it 15-12.

Fleener then added another layup to make it 17-12 before Cisne went on a short 4-0 run to cut the advantage to three, 17-14.

Zimdars, though, would end the period with some momentum on the Cardinals' side after hitting a mid-range jumper to equal the first quarter score of 19-16.

North Clay also led by 13 points, 40-27, at halftime, but the start of the second quarter wasn't so bright.

Cisne opened the period by scoring the first points to take its one-and-only lead of the game, 20-19, before Alex Boose gave the Cardinals the lead right back with a layup that made it 21-20.

North Clay followed that with four more points to push the lead to six, 26-20, before Harrell hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to three, 26-23.

Jesse Weidner would then make it 29-23 after a layup before Cisne answered with the following four points to cut the lead to two, 29-27.

That was the last burst from Cisne, though, as the Cardinals ended the frame with an 11-0 run to equal the halftime score.

Smith knocked down a 3-pointer and converted an alley-oop layup, while Fleener hit a pair of layups, and Zimdars added a layup, as well, during the run.

Fleener finished with 14 points in the first half.

"I started slow, but then I found my shot and started getting to the rim," Fleener said. "Everyone around me kept scoring, which allowed me to get my opportunity."

That same attacking mindset is how Fleener started the second half, too.

Fleener opened the third quarter with a layup to make it 42-27.

Zimdars then made a 3-pointer with 4:13 left to make it 45-32 before an Alex Boose layup made it 47-33 with 3:47 to go.

Zimdars then hit a pull-up jumper with 3:30 left to make it 49-34 before Fleener converted a 3-point play with 2:45 left to make it 52-36.

Carder Walden then got in the scoring column with his first points after a short jumper in the paint to make it 54-36.

Cisne would follow that, though, by going on a 12-3 run to close the period but were still well behind North Clay at 57-48 heading into the fourth, where North Clay ended the game on a high note. The Cardinals outscored Cisne 21-15 in the final period.

Fleener started the frame with a short jumper to make it 59-48.

Levi Smith then made a layup while drawing a foul to increase the lead to 13, 61-48.

Boose followed that with a layup with 6:40 left to make it 63-51 before Fleener answered with a mid-range jumper and a putback layup that made it 67-51.

Zimdars then hit a floater with 5:28 left to make it 69-51 before a Boose layup with 4:56 left increased the lead to 19 points, 71-52.

Ethan Kuenstler then scored his first points of the game with a layup with 3:12 left that made it 73-58 before adding another layup with 1:52 left to make it 75-60.

Zink showed praise for Kuenstler after the game.

"Ethan Kuenstler's solid. That kid does what he needs to do," Zink said. "We don't ask a lot of him other than get some baskets, hit some 3s, but he does a lot of little things that don't show up in the book."

Kuenstler wasn't the only one Zink had high praise for following the victory, though.

Zimdars was another.

"Cody, last week, really gutted it out," Zink said. "He was sick all week during the tournament but still played and did his job. Offensively, he didn't do what he did tonight just because he didn't feel well. You got to be able to know where he's at, he will shoot it, and it doesn't take long for him to get the shot off."

Zimdars finished with 14 points and was one of four North Clay players in double-figures.

Smith finished with 15. Boose contributed 14 points, and Fleener led the team with 25.

Overall, what Zink loves more and more about this team, though, is their chemistry.

"Team chemistry is a huge thing," Zink said. "Our team chemistry this year is off the charts. We have guys that know their roles, we have guys that rely on each other, that motivate each other, that encourage each other."

1st 2nd 3rd 4th F

North Clay (9-4) 19 21 17 21 78

Cisne 16 11 21 15 63

NC — Zimdars 14, Kuenstler 4, Casolari 2, Smith 15, Fleener 25, Boose 14, Weidner 2, Walden 2. FG 34, FT 5-8, F 11. (3-pointers: Boose 2, Fleener 1, Smith 1, Zimdars 1)

C — Howard 3, Harrell 9, Dagg 2, Keck 10, Bowen 2, Atwood 29, Best 8. FG 20, FT 16-18, F 9. (3-pointers: Harrell 3, Atwood 3, Howard 1)

Contact EDN Sports Editor Alex Wallner at 618-510-9231 or alex.wallner@effinghamdailynews.com.