Clear Lake Falconhoops

Clear Lake 42 - Nacogdoches 33

In the second round of the 73^rd annual CCISD Classic Tournament the Clear Lake Falcons faced the state-ranked (#12 in 4A) Nacogdoches Dragons. The determined Falcons knew they had their work cut out for them. The Nacogdoches squad is led by Oklahoma bound 6’8” forward Damion James who is ranked in the top 20 nationally in some polls. It is easy to see why. His talent on the court is impressive. The Falcons remembered the defeat handed to them last year in this tournament by the Dragons as well. James was dominant in that contest and this year they were almost as strong. But the Falcons believed they have a talented squad that was up to the task.

It is not likely that you will win a close game if you shoot only 33% from the field and only 43% from the free throw line as the Falcons did. Seventeen turnovers cannot help but make matters worse either. But the Falcons still won the ball game. They won it because they wanted it bad and they knew they could win. They believed in themselves. Maybe they do not have a dominant big man but they are multi-talented and they are disciplined. At times very disciplined. This was one of those times. They won it because they played their game and refused to be taken out of it. They won it because of the outstanding usage of their bench personnel. They won it because they played so well together. They won it mentally because they enabled Damion James to self-destruct out of the frustration caused by effective defense. The Falcon defense held the state-ranked Nacogdoches bunch to 3 points in the first quarter and 4 points in the fourth quarter. That defense is what won the game.

Both teams started out slowly. In the first four minutes of the hard fought contest Clear Lake scored one basket and Nacogdoches did not score. After a basket by RJ Turner, Mr. Smooth, Kendrell Thompson, weaved his way through traffic for a lay-up to show the Dragons what they had to contend with. 7-1 in favor of the Falcons. After a basket by Justin Kurtz on a feed from Andy Leveque, Kendrell drained a three to make it 12-1 with 1:36 remaining in the first quarter. Nacogdoches scored their first basket with less than 15 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Nacogdoches narrowed the gap to 12-7 in the first two and one half minutes of the second quarter before Brandon Wynn hit one of his signature three's to make it 19-11 with 3:10 left. After a steal Armie Lewis then hit a trey to make it 22-11. The half closed at 22-16, Lake up by 6.

In the third quarter Justin Kurtz drove to the basket from the right side for a layup with three defenders standing in amazement as he twisted his body to allow the shot to fall. 26-16 with 6:10 remaining in the third quarter. Moments later, Justin took an in-bounds pass right under our basket and put it in to bring it to 30-16, a 14 point lead due to four unanswered baskets by the Falcons. After some questionable calls by the refs to even out the foul count, the quarter closed at 35-29, Falcons by 6.

The Falcons continued to control the tempo of the game in the final period. With 4:52 remaining in the ball game the Dragons’ James fouled out. With him in the game the Dragons were a one man team. When he was on the bench the Dragons actually played better so it was not celebration time just yet. Lake persisted with their methodical, disciplined play and won the game 42-33. Whew!

The Falcons face off against the Clear Creek Wildcats (ranked 20th in 5A in the state) in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Individual Scoring:
Kendrell Thompson 11, Justin Kurtz 10,
Armie Lewis 6, Fulton Brisco 4, Brandon Wynn 3, Andy Leveque 3, RJ Turner 3, Jimmy Witten 2

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	12	28	43%
3's	4	20	20%
free throws	6	14	43%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	12	10	13	7
Nacogdoches	3	13	13	4

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	Final
Clear Lake	12	22	35	42	42
Nacogdoches	3	16	29	33	33

REBOUNDS	US	THEM
Offensive	10	11
Defensive	17	18