Jeffrey excels in all phases in Clyde win

SANDUSKY — When the basketball's in Taitum Jeffrey's hands, good things happen for Clyde. Jeffrey, a physical 5-foot-9 junior, nearly had a triple-double Monday. She finished with 22 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Fliers to a 55-44 comeback win against Sandusky. "She was phenomenal tonight," Clyde coach Brian Heck said. "She's like a mini-Charles Barkley — undersized, strong, physical, can hit the outside shot. She sees the floor and rebounds. "She's an All-Ohio player. She's one of the best players in this area." Clyde, which improved to 10-4 overall and 2-3 in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division, needed Jeffrey's steady night. Sandusky scored 22 points in a hot-shooting first quarter and led 25-12 on Amari Prentice's high-arcing 3-pointer early in the second quarter. The Fliers didn't panic. "We had to chip away, get stops and finish," said Jeffrey, who played under control to get herself and teammates good looks in the final three quarters. "We didn't have a great shooting night. You have to get to the rack, get on the line." The Fliers picked up their defense, too. After scoring 22 points in the first eight minutes, the Blue Streaks (2-9, 0-4) could manage only 22 combined in the last three quarters. "We got some good looks and were able to knock them down," said Sandusky coach John Winborn of his team's 10-for-19 shooting in the first quarter. "The thing that really hurt us was at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth when we could not get a loose ball. It was like a one-point game and the ball did not bounce our way. That's when the game kind of got out of hand. "If it wasn't for that spell, who knows? I'm not gonna say we would've won, but I think we would've put ourselves in a better situation." Clyde took its first lead at 32-30 two minutes into the second half when Jeffrey scored in traffic. Sandusky stayed close and Juli'onna Raymore's basket at the third quarter buzzer cut Clyde's lead to 41-39 heading into the fourth. The Blue Streaks managed only one field goal in the fourth quarter as Jeffrey took over. She stole a pass and went straight to the hoop, missed two times, got two rebounds and converted to give Clyde a 45-40 lead with 5:39 to play. "I just try to get it in the hoop and sometimes it doesn't work out, so I just try again," she said. Shauntha Wilson's 3-pointer got Sandusky to within 45-43 with 5:15 to play, but Jeffrey made a strong move in the lane to make it 47-43. Jeffrey demonstrated her versatility with assists on the next two Clyde buckets. The softball star inbounded the ball in the backcourt on the first one, pivoting and firing a 60-foot strike to Lillian Greenslade, who turned just in time and scored to make it 49-43. "We were running a play and everybody was like, 'Taitum, look down, look down.' She wasn't really looking and everybody yelled her name and she made it," Jeffrey said. "I didn't think it was that good of a pass, but it went right into her hands." Jeffrey's last assist set up Reese Daniel — Clyde's only senior who has missed most of the season with an injury — for a bucket to make it 51-43 with 3:51 to play. Daniel finished with 11 points. "Reese just came back and is already making an impact, putting in some points and getting some big stops and blocks," Jeffrey said. Added Heck about the 5-10 Daniel: "She helps. She's a heady senior, has a good shot and a great feel for the game. It's nice to have her on the floor." Clyde made five of its last six free throws to close out the win. "It was a really slow start for us, but major props to our girls," Heck said. "They didn't back down and got some stops. We ran some defensive sets we haven't run since the preseason. We were a little rusty with it, but it worked." Jeffrey is playing with a brace on her left ankle and has been dealing with the injury for months. "That's something that's been going on for a little bit, but it's OK," she said. "We got it taken care of." "We just monitor her for practice, good days, bad days," Heck said. "She's a competitor and hates not practicing, but sometimes we sit her out because the season's so long." Wilson led Sandusky with 16 points — eight in the big first quarter. "The effort was there. We executed," Winborn said. "But once we got down 8, 9, 10 points, it kind of hurt. That's when you start doing some things that are uncharacteristic." Clyde hosts Bellevue — the SBC Lake leader and top-ranked team in Division IV — on Thursday. "We're at double-digit wins, 10-4," Heck said. "Obviously we have a daunting task Thursday to try to get back to .500 in the league, but we're gonna fight." CLYDE (10-4, 2-3) Annmarie Davis 1 2-2 4, Taitum Jeffrey 8 6-8 22, Kelsey Ray 2 2-2 6, Ariah Farrar 2 5-10 9, Ember Andres 1 0-0 3, Reese Daniel 5 1-2 11, Lillian Greenslade 1 0-2 2. TOTALS 20 16-26 55 SANDUSKY (2-9, 0-4) Cassidy Stovall 2 0-0 6, Crysten Johnson 1 0-0 2, Amari Prentice 3 0-2 8, Shauntha Wilson 6 3-6 16, Maekhiya Rameau 4 0-0 8, Ma'Liyah Reed 1 0-0 2, Juli'onna Raymore 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 18 3-8 44 Clyde 12 16 13 16 — 57 Sandusky 22 8 9 5 — 44 Three-point goals: Clyde 1 (Andres); Sandusky 5 (Stovall 2, Prentice 2, Wilson)