AMBOY – With the Amboy boys basketball team being a host for regionals for the 2023-24 season, the squad wants to do one thing, represent the Clippers the best way it can.

The first step of the mission was taken on Monday, Feb. 24 when No. 9-seeded Amboy defeated No. 11 Hiawatha, 64-50, in an IHSA Class 1A Amboy Regional Quarterfinal.

“Since we found out the regional was going to be here, we’ve been really excited about it,” said first-year Amboy coach Tyson Powers. “We wanted to make sure we got to the semifinal and really represent ourselves on our home floor at our regional.

“I told the guys after the game this is our first playoff win since the 2017-18 season. It’s been 2,500-some days. I’m really proud of these guys. But we’re not satisfied. We’re here to win the whole thing. We’re going to give it our best effort.”

Senior Eddie Jones and junior Ezra Parker tied for a game high scoring 22 points each as the duo combined for 44 of the Clippers 64 points.

They were helped as senior Quinn Leffelman knocked down the only two Amboy 3-pointers in the quarterfinal and finished with eight points, junior Rylan McNinch tallied six, sophomore Colt McCoy finished with four, and freshman Bryson Deery made two free throws.

“We know we’re going to have a size advantage most nights,” Powers said. “We’ve struggled to shoot the ball from the perimeter, but we’ve shot 50 percent from the floor for most of the year. We know when we pound the ball inside, good things are going to happen to us.

“Eddie is athletic enough in the middle of a zone. We have a high-low going with Eddie and Ezra right now and it worked tonight. Hopefully, they continue to play well. We need them to play well to win the next game.”

The Clippers jumped out to a 21-14 lead over the Hawks after the first quarter, held a 39-25 advantage at halftime, and were ahead 49- 37 after the first three frames.

Yes, scoring helps win games, but the Amboy coach knows his team also has to rely on a strong defense to continue to advance in the regional.

“I thought our pressure was the difference. We’ve done a really good job in the last four games of playing an extended 1-3-1 and getting guys into traps and getting deflections,” Powers said. “Hopefully, we can capitalize on it a little more. We have to continue to keep our defensive pressure up and do it on a higher level on Wednesday.”

Amboy (13-18) will play No. 2 Annawan (21-6) at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26 in an IHSA Class 1A Amboy Regional Semifinal. The winner will play the winner of No. 7 St. Bede (14-18) and No. 3 Forreston (20-12).

The Clippers entered the postseason winning two of their last three contests, which were all in the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference South Division.

The Clippers defeated Polo, 51-50, on Tuesday, Feb. 18 and Milledgeville, 44-37, on Thursday, Feb. 20, while falling to Fulton, 53-44, on Friday, Feb. 21.

Jones, who finished with a team-high 21 points, used the charity strip to the best of his ability against Polo as he sank a free throw with .6 seconds remaining on the clock to give Amboy the one-point Northwest Upstate Illini Conference South Division win.

McNinch scored 12, Parker had seven, Leffelman added five, and Deery pitched in four.

Gus Mumford had a game high 22 points for the Marcos as he knocked down five 3-pointers.

Against Milledgeville, Parker led the way with 14 points, Jones and Deery added 10 apiece, McNinch had eight, and McCoy finished with two.

In the loss to Fulton, Jones scored a game high 16 points, Parker had 11, McCoy seven, Deery six, and Leffelman four.