Clear Lake Falconhoops

The Clear Lake Falcons faced off against the Dobie Longhorns in their first game of 2009 Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Bill Krueger Field House. With the building's namesake in attendance and a sparse crowd, the Falcons celebrated their teammate Nick Arrington's 18th birthday today with a victory. It is always good to see Coach Krueger in the gym as well as his grandson Will, who accompanied him. 

Fresh from an appearance in the Chaminade Christmas Classic in Woodland Hills, California, where they went 2 and 2 to claim 7th place in a 16 team tournament, the Falcons may have had some reservations about their altered starting line-up for tonight's game. With Kyle Ashton still out with a broken foot and Jake McKnight still nursing a back injury from the Tournament, the Falcons initially had a different look. Starters were Mark, Jared, Matt, Nick, and Jacob.

Kyle is likely to return to the lineup when District play starts next Tuesday at home against Dickinson. X-rays on Monday will likely show just how rapidly Kyle heals. Jake is on the mend as well and we all hope for his speedy recovery (more details as they become available).

Back in the September Shootout at Dobie Clear Lake had their way with the Dobie bunch and outscored them at will although the Longhorn defense was effective at times. Because of this prior encounter perhaps the Falcons thought they were a much better team than Dobie.

For many years Dobie has been known for their outstanding defense under the superlative coaching of Scott Talton. But this season Talton is not at the helm anymore so Dobie's defense had to be in question.  

Dobie is now led by the twin coaching team of Kevin and Stephen Cross. You were not seeing double when you glanced at the Dobie bench, they are identical twins. Head Coach Kevin appears to have a great career ahead of him especially with assistance from brother Stephen.

Speaking of twins, in the Chaminade Christmas Classic Tournament, not only did Clear Lake bring twins (Matt and Mark McCollum) on our squad, but there were four, count em, four other sets of twins on teams playing in the tourney. Two sets were identical. Five sets of twins out of 16 teams......what are the odds of that?  In a 16 team tournament such as this one (227 boys), you might see two sets, you even see three sets once in a while, but five sets!To my knowledge, that is a first for me to witness.

Just one more observation about the California Tournament. Even though we missed the first day of the tournament, I attended 19 games in the tourney. Most of them were complete games. At most games I tried to get to know the people and I was friendly toward the adult fans from the other schools and found the California fans very warm and friendly and eager to be of assistance which was no surprise to me. As many of us do, I often engage them in conversation to learn more about their school, the area, good restaurants, or whatever. I am almost always glad when I do this because I benefit greatly from their knowledge and insight. I can give you numerous examples of this but I will share just one.

A very nice looking, native California couple with a son on the Moorpark team came in to watch our game without knowing who was playing. We soon began to converse and I told him we were the team from Texas (the only team not local). Immediately his initial comment to me was he should have been able to tell by looking the team was from Texas. "Why", I inquired. "More pretty moms" was his reply. So, to the ladies in the contigent who travelled to the tournament, thanks for making me proud. I am again reminded it is not just my Texas bias. If Jacob's mom Tish, who was unable to make the trip, had been there as well, I can only imagine how additionally impressed our gracious California observer would have been.

Just a bit more trivia before a very few comments on the game.

The team had cake after their victory today to honor Nick as we watch him proceed in his passage toward adulthood.

Today was also Mike Gregorcyk's birthday. Mike is the father of Lake guard Blake Gregorcyk. Mike's lovely wife Renee and stunning daughter Lauren were at the game. Mike's parents from Beaumont and Mike's lovely sister and her two beautiful girls were also in attendance so Blake had a sizeable cheering section. With a gene pool like that, it is not difficult to determine where Blake gets his good looks.

NASA JSC Center Director and former head of the astronaut corp, Mike Coats and his lovely wife Diane also kicked off the new year by attending the Clear Lake victory over Dobie. Mike and his son Paul are also frequently spotted at games in Krueger Field House.

As far as the game goes, it was not as easy a victory as some might have expected.  Dobie is a scrappy bunch and they were well prepared for Clear Lake. There were six ties early on and the close game was not decided until Lake's fourth quarter defense and improved offense kicked in. Jacob Horton drained 5 of 11 from beyond the arc and Mark McCollum had another impressive game. Brick Pomeroy made a noticeable difference any time he was on the court. We all know when he cranks it up a notch, it is going to be awesome. The occasional combo guards of Matt and Nick together were fun to watch because it gave the team a new wrinkle.

Dobie's long range shooting was abysmal. There was one three minute period of really ugly Clear Lake basketball which we seem to be getting more accustomed to. Overall, it was not a particularly pretty victory but it was a W.

I apologize for the disjointed ramblings. District play starts next week and these write-ups will usually be primarily game oriented for the district games. I suppose I just had to get it out of my system.

Before the season started it was obvious to some observers that Clear Lake should win their district. At this point in the season, it is not so obvious any more. With the absence of floor leadership for the team and the erratic performances this squad has demonstrated, we may be in for a wild ride.

No action photos of this game have been provided to be posted. To view photos of prior games, go to  http://picasaweb.google.com/falconhoopscurrent  . You can sometimes use the Browser's "BACK" or "BACK Arrow" to return to this website.

Individual Scoring:

Jacob 17,

Matt 8, Mark 6 (7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks), Nick 6, Jackson 5, Jared 3, Blake 2 (4 steals), Brick 2