Announcement
February 21, 2006
In only their second game since losing their beloved coach, the Deer Park Deer came up against a methodical Clear Lake squad who picked them apart from the opening tipoff. With two quick baskets by forward Kendrell Thompson and then three baskets by team captain Justin Kurtz, it was 9 to 2, then 11 to 4 before the Deer even blinked. Justin kept sneeking in the back door for open shots. A basket by Mr. Dependable, Fulton Brisco, on an assist from Justin and another basket by Justin made it 15 - 4 at the end of the first quarter. Very savvy team ball and solid post play by Jimmy Witten during the game helped make the Falcons a formidable adversary. Witten had five defensive rebounds and 2 assists in the first quarter.
The second quarter showed more balanced scoring from the Falcons with contributions from RJ Turner, Andy Leveque, and Ross Maha in addition to continued scoring from Fulton, Justin, and Kendrell. Andy started the quarter by weaving through traffic in the paint to go in for a layup. Then two free throws by Ross made it 19 to 4 only 48 seconds into the quarter. Midway through the quarter Justin caught the Deer defense unaware as he fired a pass to Kendrell who was all alone under the rim for another two to bring the score to 27-10. At the half it was 31-17.
The second half was more of the same as the Deer Park squad struggled to cope with Lake’s success while Clear Lake continued to control the tempo.A quick basket by Deer Park before Kendrell answered with two quick baskets to add five to the tally.36-19, Lake up by 17 with only two minutes gone in the third quarter. With 4:40 remaining in the quarter three successive baskets by Deer Park’s 6’6" junior, Nathan Walkup, made it 38-26 to give the Deer Park fans some hope. But then treys by Kendrell and Christian Enriquez brought the score to 44-29. With 2:30 remaining in the quarter and the foul count at a lopsided 5 to 1 against Lake, the Falcons went to their spread offense to troll for fouls and easy baskets. Three free throws by Lake rounded out the scoring for the quarter. 47-31 Lake (the Falcons hit a most respectable 12 of 15 from the charity stripe for the game).
A basket by Fulton at the start of the fourth quarter brought the score to 49-31. With the foul count now a more reasonable 7 and 5, the play where Justin floats across the court from wing to wing back and forth continued. After a few sweeps across Justin was up to his old tricks as the ball would instantly find him at the basket for an easy layup. It was fun to watch. Justin scored nine successive points off layups and free throws thanks to astute play by Jimmy Witten and Andy Leveque. With just over a minute remaining in the quarter, sophomore Steven Hartman, a name you will hear mentioned a lot in the next two years, entered the game for his first varsity playing time. Hartman got his chance when he was fouled. He made a free throw for his first score on the varsity level and finished the Lake scoring at 59-40. A final basket by Deer Park ended the game at 59-42. Justin Kurtz , with 22 for the night, missed game high honors by one point as Deer Park's Nathan Walkup went 8 of 10 from the free throw line for a game high 23.
Armie Lewis was suited up but saw no action due to a toe injury he sustained in the Galveston game. It is not yet known if he will be available for the Bellaire game on Friday.
When Billy Carlisle played at Baylor, he was number 14. In attendance at the game was a large student following from Deer Park, mostly adorned in yellow T shirts in honor of Billy. The shirts had the #14 on the front and Billy’s credo, “Do the right thing” on the back. From T-shirt sales, over $9000 was raised for the college fund for the three small Carlisle boys who were in attendance at the game proudly wearing their yellow T-shirts. God bless Billy Carlisle and his family.
The Falcons advance to the Area round of playoffs where they will face Bellaire High School Friday night at Pearland High School at 7 p.m. Bellaire is ranked 5th in the region by the Houston Chronicle and 10th in the state.
Individual Scoring:
Justin Kurtz 22 (7 of 7 two pointers, 6 rebounds),
Kendrell Thompson 18,
Fulton Brisco 7, RJ Turner 4, Christian Enriquez 3, Andy Leveque 2, Ross Maha 2, Steven Hartman 1, Jimmy Witten 1 (7 rebounds, 5 assists)
|
FALCON STATS |
Made |
Attempts |
% |
|
2's |
16 |
30 |
53.3% |
|
3's |
5 |
13 |
38.5% |
|
free throws |
12 |
15 |
80.0% |
|
SCORE BY QUARTER |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
Clear Lake |
15 |
31 |
47 |
59 |
|
Deer Park |
4 |
17 |
31 |
42 |
|
LINESCORE |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Final |
|
Clear Lake |
15 |
16 |
16 |
12 |
59 |
|
Deer Park |
4 |
13 |
14 |
11 |
42 |
|
REBOUNDS |
CLEAR LAKE |
DEER PARK |
|
Offensive |
2 |
9 |
|
Defensive |
22 |
14 |
