Clear Lake Falconhoops

Clear Lake Prevails Over Brazoswood 52-46 February 1, 2005 After a sluggish start and poor shooting from the field (3 of 15) in the first quarter, Clear Lake got on track. At 2:25 remaining in the first half, Lake tied the game and went ahead when Kendrell Thompson, on his way to a game high 18 points, tied it at 18 with the first of two successful free throws. The second one put the Falcons ahead for the first time since the first basket in the game. Despite dogged persistence from the Buccaneers, the Falcons would not relinquish the lead from that point. After a breakaway steal and a basket by Andy Leveque, a dunk by Kendrell, and a forceful jumper from the middle of the paint by Mark Murphy, the half closed at 25-20, Lake up by 5. After the first quarter there were some terrific displays of good defense from the Falcons especially from Jordan Villarreal and Scott Oswald. The Falcons went 1 of 10 from three point land in the half. In the second half, Clear Lake maintained control but just barely. Two minutes into the third quarter, the Falcons increased their lead to 8 when Mark stole the ball and passed to Kendrell for a drive to the bucket. 30-22 Lake. The third period ended with Lake up by 5, 34-29. With just under two minutes remaining in the game it was 42-39, Lake leading by a skimpy 3 points when Justin Kurtz hit two free throws to add a little more pad. Then at 1:19 Scott drove to the middle of the paint and dished off to Mark Murphy who took it strong to the hoop from the right side to score two more. 46-39. The Falcons were 8 of 15 at the free throw line in the final quarter. Final score was 52 to 46. Despite poor shooting from the field (19 of 53) the Falcons made the right plays at the right times and clung to a narrow margin to defeat the Buccaneers. The Falcons had 33 rebounds, 7 steals, and only 3 bad passes. The days when playing Brazoswood in basketball assured a victory are fading away. With their new coach, Rob Shivers at the helm, Brazoswood is becoming formidable competition. Just ask Pearland. Pearland lost to Brazoswood in the first round of district play. With the third position for the playoffs appearing to be a race between Pearland and Clear Lake, the Brazoswood win over Pearland may be huge. It is not time to call Brazoswood a powerhouse yet but they are evolving in the right direction. With not much talent under the age of 20, Coach Shivers has done an admirable job. In other district action Clear Brook defeated Pearland 58-50 (THANK YOU, BROOK), and Alvin played Clear Creek to double overtime before losing 67-60! (Creek may have played without Ray Kraemer). Scoring by quarter 09-16-09-18 US 13-07-09-17 Them Score after each quarter 09-25-34-52 US 13-20-29-46 Them Scoring for the Falcons Kendrell Thompson 18 (7 rebounds), Mark Murphy 9 (6 rebounds), Scott Oswald 9 (4 steals), Justin Kurtz 7, Gordon Abner 5, Andy Leveque 4, Armie Lewis (6 assists, 5 rebounds). 2’s: 18 of 40 (45%) 3”s: 1 of 13 (8%) Free throws: 13 of 21 (62%)