Clear Lake Falconhoops

Pasadena Texas Invitional Tournament Day 1, Game 1 There was little doubt early on about the outcome of the Falcons first contest in the opening round of the Pasadena Texas Invitational Tournament which kicked off on Thursday, November 18, 2004. Lake’s first game in the tourney was played in Pasadena at the Stoney Phillips Field House at 3 p.m. Lake walked on the court in their bright, shiny new RED traveling uniforms. If memory serves me (which is questionable these days), in the 30 year history of Clear Lake High School, this is the first time the traveling togs have been Red instead of blue. I mean a classy, sassy red too. Well, the uniforms must have dazzled the Bulldogs as they were outclassed from the start. The confident Falcons came out in the first quarter, fresh from an impressive season opener against one of the toughest teams in the state, and dominated the game from the beginning. The game was close for the first 6 points but then Lake never looked back as they out shot and out rebounded their opponents and effectively shut down the offense of a good, but noticeably weaker Fort Bend Austin team. With an effective press and 90% shooting of their 2 pointers in the quarter, they led 19 to 6 at the quarter. The Fort Bend Austin bunch got it together a little better in the second quarter and pulled to a 10 point difference before Jordan Villarreal hit a 3 point jumper late in the quarter. Jordan seems to feel he deserves at least one three in the game so why not. The Falcons continued to outpace the struggling Bulldog squad and went in at the half with a 34-23 lead despite some one-sided officiating by three seasoned officials (the foul count was 11 for Lake versus 3 for FB Austin at the half). In the third quarter Brandon Wynn hit 3 of 4 three’s to add to the Bulldogs' frustration and Lake’s shooting 2 of 7 from two point range added to the Bulldogs' glee. Fortunately 4 of 6 shooting from three point land balanced it out so Lake did not look too bad. Within three minutes of the second half, Lake increased their lead to 16 points and it looked like they might run the score on up but the tenacious Bulldogs chewed their way back. Despite playing a more even game in the second half, the Bulldogs could not overcome the more determined Clear Lake squad and trailed by 12 53-41 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter Lake shot 1 for 6 from two point range but hit 7 of 11 free throws to maintain the lead as they coasted to victory. The final score was 68-53. In this tournament a game MVP is acknowledged for each game. The accolade went to Armie Lewis who had a game high 18 points and 5 steals. Scoring for the Falcons: Armie Lewis 18, Kendrell Thompson 11, Justin Kurtz 10, Gordon Abner 9, Brandon Wynn 9, Jordan Villarreal 5, Mark Murphy 4, Lee Mazurek 2. Shooting percentages: 2’s - 15 of 29 (52%); 3’s - 9 of 17 (53%!!); free throws – 11 of 19 (58%) not so good.