Clear Lake Falconhoops

 Clear Lake 51 – The Woodlands 32 

Every once in awhile a high school basketball team decides to play a casual game uncharacteristic of the team’s abilities. It is not a conscious team decision but rather the result of numerous undetermined influences which might include the team’s mental state, how much they are reading their own press, or the phase of the moon. Sometimes it just happens though. It happens with the Houston Rockets and it happens with the Clear Lake Falcons too.  

Such was the non-district game Friday night between the Falcons and The Woodlands Highlanders. With a noticeable difference in talent the 17-5 Falcons should have dominated the 11-11 Highlanders but the first half was anything but a dominant game for the Falcon squad. Rather it was a series of patient passing drills with some very poor shooting thrown in to perplex the crowd (and the team and the Lake coaching staff).

In the first half the Falcons shot less than 25% from the field (6 of 25) and the free throw shooting was no different. After a string of four games where Lake provided one of the most impressive free throw exhibitions of any high school team in the United States, the Falcons went 2 of 8 in the first half and 7 of 16 for the night to remind the crowd the Falcons really are human after all. In the first half Clear Lake scored 6 points in eleven minutes. At the half Clear Lake was up by 1, 21-20. 

After the halftime break where curious fans can only imagine what Coach McDonald said to his team, the second half looked like a different team. Lake’s defense against the weaker Woodlands bunch was at times inspiring as Lake cranked up the defensive pressure several notches. Offensively Lake doubled their shooting success from the field to a very acceptable 50% due to inside shooting and better shot selection. In the final quarter as fatigue set in for the Highlanders the depth of the Lake squad prevailed as the Falcons defensive pressure dominated the fourth quarter and held The Woodlands team to 2 points.

Lake had only 7 turnovers for the game (team average is a whopping 17.4). So far this season seven different Lake players have led their team in single game scoring. Tonight, Jay Williams again played an impressive game and led his teammates with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. 

This game was not just an example of how a Clear Lake team plays down to the level of their competition. This game was clear evidence of the degree of inconsistence and unpredictability of high school basketball for whatever the reasons. Fortunately for the Falcons their opponents did not offer an insurmountable level of competition and this game allowed Lake to hopefully get it out of their system and still win.  

District play resumes Tuesday night when Lake travels to Brazoswood to face one of the weakest teams in the district. If our Clear Lake squad is mentally prepared it will be a convincing victory. Perhaps we should check the phase of the moon though. 

FYI: Guard Nick Arrington (#21) is in Texas Children’s Hospital where he was operated on Friday for an infection in his hip. He is expected to be moved from ICU to a room on Monday. I know we all wish Nick a speedy recovery. For those of us who pray, we should all include him in our prayers.

Photos for this game can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/falconhoops

Individual Scoring:

Jay Williams 10 (8 rebounds),

Andrew 8, Steve 6, Brian 6 (7 assists, 4 steals), Cody 6, Mark 6, Kyle 4, Jacob 3, Kevin 2.