Clippers dominate second half to win over the Rattlers

The Briercrest Clippers headed into Medicine Hat to take on the Rattlers in a Thursday evening game. The Home side was able to jump out to an early lead going up 10-2 in the first 4 minutes. After a quick timeout from the Visitors, the Rattlers continued to score, adding another 5 as the clock ticked past the halfway point of the quarter. The Clippers finally broke their scoreless drought making the score 15-4, but the Rattlers went right back down to answer. Briercrest was able to capitalise on their next trip down and looked to change the momentum. A Rattler miss and a Clippers basket, saw the home side lead cut to single digits. The Rattlers offence went ice cold through the latter half of the quarter, failing to score in 5 trips down the floor. The Clippers however, were not able to capitalise as the Rattlers lead remained 9 with 2 minutes on the clock. In the last 2 minutes both offences started to heat up but it was the clippers able to close the gap in the final minute of the quarter. At the Break the Rattlers held the lead 25-17. 

The Second started with the teams trading baskets inside. The Clippers came down the court and hit a 3 again narrowing the lead, now 5. Seeing this the Rattlers again looked inside to answer on the next trip down the floor. Briercrest again looked beyond the arc and hit another 3. After the basket Medicine Hat pushed the ball quickly down the court and was able to get to the line for bonus points following a tough layup. Unable to convert, the Rattlers remained up 33-25 as the clock passed the midway point in the quarter. The Clippers continued to shoot from beyond the arc while the Rattlers seemed determined to score their points in the paint. Trading baskets at both ends the score climbed but the difference remained unchanged. Both teams' offence seemed to stall for the first 3 minutes of the second half of the quarter. The first scoring came with the Rattlers going up 39-27 with 1:53 on the clock, on the back of 2 quick baskets. A late unsportsmanlike foul on the Rattlers saw the Clippers shoot 2 and the ball back, but were unable to come up with any points. The teams continued to battle for rebounds hard with players flying all over to come up with the ball. Briercrest finally scored with 30 seconds on the clock, but was immediately answered by the Rattlers making the score 41-29 at the half. 

The Clippers were able to open up the second half on a run. With the first 3 baskets they scored the first 7 points of the quarter quickly. The Rattlers remained ice cold at the other end. Unable to come away with points on 6 trips down the floor. Briercrest added 2 more to their run before the Rattlers responded getting to the line and hitting both. Another Clippers basket and the Rattler lead was down to 3. Not 20 seconds later the Clippers added another quick basket and were able to get within 1. Medicine hat made their next basket to regain their 3 point advantage, but the game was much closer than at the end of the half. With 5:51 on the clock the Rattlers took a timeout looking to change the game's momentum. A quick Clippers basket and a Rattler miss saw the Clippers shooting free throws for the lead. Hitting one, the game was all tied up at 45 with just under 5left on the clock. Briercrest looked like a different team forcing turnovers and passing around the Rattler D. They took their first lead of the game going up 47-45 with just over 4 minutes on the clock. The Rattlers continued to struggle in the offensive zone, unable to tie the game. The Turnovers mounted and the Clippers again took advantage going up by 3, 49-46. Another quick break from Briercrest saw them again extend their lead to 5. The Rattlers finally put up some points with 1:40 on the clock only to be answered by the Clippers fast offence. With a late 3 the Rattlers were able to put a dent in the Clippers lead trailing only by 2 at the break, 56-54. 

The Fourth quarter started much like the third ended. Briercrest came out and scored a quick basket and continued to frustrate on Defence. The Rattlers were unable to get anything going in the offensive end and the Clippers were converting on quick trips down the floor. The Rattlers were able to again narrow the lead to 2 with scores on 2 trips down, but Briercrest continued to click on offence. Falling behind again by 7, the Rattlers needed to generate some scoring chances if they wanted to come back. The game started to look sloppy with bodies flying all over the floor after loose balls. The Clippers seemed to be playing hard defence and frustrating the Rattlers who could not find their groove the entire second half. With their lead expanding, the Clippers went up 8 before the Rattlers would finally respond. But this was quickly erased as the Clippers went back down immediately to restore their lead. Up 8 points with 3:58 on the clock the Clippers took a timeout. They were able to again score quickly out of the break and increased their lead to 10. Playing a high pressure defence and a fast offence the Rattlers looked lost on the court. With 2 minutes on the clock the Rattlers started to look desperate and looked to make some 3 pointers to quickly close the deficit. With almost no outside shooting all game the Rattlers struggled and fell 75-66.