Clear Lake Falconhoops

Clear Lake 66 - Clear Brook 60 

Not only was there a large student attendance at the match-up between rivals Clear Brook and Clear Lake in the Lake gym Friday night, they were enthusiastic and involved. And it made a difference in the ball game. Spectators, both young and old, were treated to a great basketball game where there was potentially a lot at stake and both sides knew it.

Clear Brook got off to a fast start while Clear Lake’s was a bit slower so Lake found themselves down 10-1 right away. It was beginning to look like Lake was in for a long, disappointing evening. But Lake got it in gear and finished the quarter knotted at 16 thanks to a strong first quarter showing from Junior Colton Krenek. In the second quarter two critical baskets from sophomore Paris Clayton and one from Pace Richardson kept it close with the score 27-26, Lake by 1 at the half. From early in the game it remained a close contest. The game was tied 10 times and the lead changed 7 times in the second half.

Clear Brook’s strategy throughout the first half and part of the second half was to play one-on-one basketball to allow their two leading scorers to take advantage of Clear Lake’s youthful starters (Lake started 1 senior). This mostly worked so Brook scored with relative ease most of the first three quarters. This again highlighted the defensive deficiencies Lake is laboring under so one can guess what some upcoming Lake practices will be like.

Despite losing 5 of their last 7 games Clear Brook played with confidence as if they knew they were better than the Lake squad. But someone forgot to tell the Falcons that. In the second half a fired up Gabe Lavaspere and a focused, determined Rob Lewis inspired their teammates with their respective enthusiasm and determined play. Another rock solid performance from Connor Ruta and key support off the bench from Connor Train (7 points) and Eddie Cooper made a huge difference in this game as well.

After a halftime talk from Coach Penders that one can only imagine, Gabe played with a roaring fire in his belly. He desperately wanted this win and it was obvious. He was an inspiration to his coaches and his teammates. All 12 of his points and 10 of his 11 rebounds came in the second half. Rob Lewis was not to be denied either. The only way Brook could stop him was to foul him. After only 2 free throws and going 1 for 6 from the field in the first half, Lewis stepped to the free throw line 7 times in the second half and nailed 13 in a row before missing his 16th and final free throw. Rob shot an amazing 93.8% (15 of 16) of his free throws. He finished with 21 points making this his 5th game finishing with more than 20 points.

In the final period the Falcons had noticeable difficulty with the zone press Brook repeatedly applied and that will have to be corrected if Lake is to prevail over Brook when they meet at Brook.

With this win over Brook and Pearland’s upset victory over Brazoswood, the race for the four slots in the playoffs just got much more interesting.

Action photos of this game should be posted by Sunday evening. To view game photos of this season's game, go to  http://picasaweb.google.com/falconhoops. Use the Browser's "BACK" or "BACK Arrow" to return to this website.

Individual scoring: 

Rob Lewis 21 (3 rebs, 3 assists, 1 CD)

Paris Clayton 14 (3 rebs, 3 assists, 2 steals) 

Gabe Lavespere 12 second half points (11 rebs (10 in 2nd half), 1 assist)

Colton Krenek   10 (6 rebs)

Connor Train  7 (5 rebs, 1 steal)

Pace Richardson 2