Clear Lake Falconhoops

Pearland 35- Clear Lake 34 

In the first quarter Clear Lake dribbled the ball very well and passed the ball a lot but they did not shoot the ball very well. In fact they barely shot the ball at all. Only five Lake attempts were launched in the first quarter. With an average number of almost 14 shots in the first quarter of each game this season, Lake’s only shooting the ball 5 times might seem hard to believe. It certainly was for many of those who witnessed it. 

It was as if Lake’s game plan was to whip the Oilers with purposeful deliberation. With almost no attempts to penetrate inside and very few shots going up, Pearland’s excellent 2-3 zone defense got even better. Lake’s first (and only) first quarter score was a basket by Jay Williams with 2:45 left in the first quarter. Lake shot 1 of 5 from the field in the quarter, had 7 turnovers and scored 2 points in the first quarter. OMG

With 4:17 left in the first half the score was 2-10 in Pearland's favor. In the first 11 minutes and 42 seconds Lake scored one basket! Then Andrew Gorie’s first of two successful free throws made it 3-12 to break one of the longest dry spells in Clear Lake basketball history. Not since the early days when Krueger would let some air out of the ball and stall for most of an entire quarter or two has anyone seen this much time elapse without a Clear Lake score. But those were intentional. Baskets by Kyle and Jay and a free throw by Kyle brought the Falcons all the way to 9 points for the first half. 2 of 9 shooting from the field in the second quarter. 0 for 6 from 3 point range in the first half. At the half it was 9-12. Not exactly a barn burner. You would have to go back more than two decades to find a Clear Lake score that low.  I doubt if you could find one.

In the third quarter Clear Lake cranked up a bit. With 4:13 remaining in the third quarter a second free throw by Jay tied it at 16. An immediate basket by the Oilers and then another made it 16-20. A free throw by Andrew with 3:16 remaining in the quarter made it 17-20. With under a minute left in the period, a long overdue three by Cody tied the game at 22. Then Brian Campbell dished off to Cody for a difficult layup to make it 24-22. Then a steal by Brian and his layup made it 26-22 before Pearland’s Lanny Phillips (#22) nailed his second three of the game (a 30 footer) at the buzzer to make it 26-25. In three quarters #22 was the only Oiler to hit a three pointer.  

The fourth quarter was not just a defensive contest between the two teams. The first score of the final period came with just over 7 minutes remaining in the game when Cody kicked it out to Kyle on the left wing. Kyle nailed a three pointer to make it 29-25, Lake up by 4. Pearland immediately sank another three by #22. 29-28, Lake by 1. With 4:18 remaining a Pearland free throw tied the game at 29. With a second free throw miss but a Pearland rebound by Darien Harris and a Lake foul, two more free throws by Pearland made it 29-31. With just under 4 minutes remaining in the contest a basket by Jay tied it at 31. With just over 2 minutes remaining and the game still tied, Clear Lake missed three tries at the hoop.  

With 1:06 showing on the clock a questionable Clear Lake foul call put the Oilers at the line. 1 of 2 made it 31-32. Lake’s Andrew Gorie rebounded the second free throw before Pearland fouled Brian Campbell with 53.9 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock. A missed free throw gave Pearland the ball back. Still 31-32. With 15 seconds remaining Cody nailed a trey from the right side to give Clear Lake the lead, 34-32. A quick time out by Pearland with 14.4 seconds remaining was called. Now if Pearland needed 3 to win and there had only been one Oiler to hit a trey and he had hit three of them earlier in the game (one from over 30 feet), who might the Oilers go to in the waning seconds? You guessed it, #22. Pearland’s successful play to Lanny Phillips, who was virtually unguarded, on the right wing and with 3.4 seconds remaining he nailed his 4^th trey of the evening to make it 34-35 with just over 3 seconds remaining. A Lake timeout and then a last ditch attempt hurled at the rim missed its mark. Final score 34-35, Pearland by 1. 

Those who enjoy the defensive aspects of basketball would have liked this game. With a noticeable lack of enthusiasm and an obvious lack of mental preparedness Lake played their most lackluster game of the season. Clear Lake had possession of the ball almost  65% of the time because they were slow to score but they did not stink up the gym. Pearland was mentally better prepared to defend against Clear Lake than Clear Lake was against Pearland. The Falcons barely got outplayed and outcoached by an inferior team renowned for their defense. Clear Lake did not shoot much from the field and they shot poorly when they did shoot (especially in the first half). They shot poorly from the free throw line as well. From a Lake team with two of the top three free throw shooters in the Greater Houston Area, five different Falcons missed free throws. In this game one free throw would have made a huge difference. Perhaps plenty of rest before game day and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.

Photos for this game can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/falconhoops200708 .

Individual Scoring:

Cody Kinsey 11 (3 steals in the fourth quarter),

Jay Williams 7, Kyle Ashton 6, Steve Hartman 3, Jason Hollis 2, Brian Campbell 2 (4+ steals), Andrew Gorie 2.