Clear Lake Falconhoops

Clear Lake 56- Milby 54 in overtime 

November 19, 2008 

Perhaps it was start-of-season jitters that caused the Falcons to come out so flat in their 2008 season opener against the Milby Buffalos. Lake’s lackluster performance from the field in the first half chalked up 7 of 32  (22%) from the field to narrowly lead the Bufs 18-15 at the half. Milby is not the powerhouse they once were or Lake would have found themselves faced with an insurmountable obstacle too steep to overcome. 

The partisan crowd watched the first half in disbelief as the Falcons, who had recently impressed even the most ardent of Lake’s fans in six preseason scrimmages, failed to impress anyone due to their inability to put the ball in the hole. Good hustle, teamwork, and sporadically tenacious defense pleased the onlookers but the Falcons shots just would not fall. 

Shooting improved somewhat in the second half and a standout performance by Kyle Ashton, with 18 points and 14 rebounds, was a bright spot in a game some might consider a dismal season opener for a Clear Lake team. Really though, it was a good close, thrilling basketball game with multiple lead changes and seven ties after the first quarter. Milby’s #15 Payton Pierce led all scorers with 22 as he had his way with the Falcons often scoring at will from beyond the three point arc. Pierce went 7 of 10 from around the three point arc. The game was too close to call throughout most of the second half. At the end of regulation play it was knotted at 47.  

In the overtime period Milby jumped out to a 5 point lead before the tough Lake squad knew what had happened. Lake responded with 7 unanswered points to win in overtime on a crowd-pleasing putback by Kyle Ashton at the buzzer.

It’s going to be a thrilling season and hopefully we won’t see another game with such inaccurate shooting from the Falcons. The Falcons travel to LaPorte to face the ranked Bulldogs next Wednesday.

See mini-slideshow below.

Full sized action photos for this game can now be viewed by clicking on a photo above.