Clear Lake Falconhoops

Falcons Take Third in Tournament with Upset Over #2 Team in Canada

At 6:40 p.m. Friday night in the Torrey Pines High School gym the Clear Lake Falcons faced the Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute Saints from Toronto, Canada in the third place game of the Torrey Pines Holiday Prep Classic Tournament in San Diego. The Saints brought a record of 18-2 into the gym and are ranked #2 in the nation in Canada. Some prognosticators had projected the Saints to win the Tournament.

It was another close, thrilling basketball game with ties early and late in the game and the outcome was not evident until the last fifty seconds of the contest. The Falcons never trailed in the game and Lake’s largest lead was 9 points with just over three minutes left in the game. The scoreboard displayed a much narrower margin throughout most of the game though.

Just as we had in every game in the tournament, Clear Lake took an early lead after the first couple of baskets. Jimmy Witten scored on a put back to break the ice and Armie Lewis shot a two from the three point line. The boys were working really hard on their man-to-man defense and finally got on track offensively despite successive turnovers by Lake early on. With 4:30 remaining in the first quarter the score was 0-4, Lake up by two goals. It was tied at 4 at the 3:47 mark before Kendrell Thompson drained his first three. Thompson scored six treys in the game as he went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc. With 3 minutes left in the quarter RJ Turner nailed a three to bring the score to 6-10, Lake up by 4. Lake’s defense looked sloppy at times with the Saints baskets coming too easily. This team did not appear to be as tough as the Dominguez team from last night who dealt Lake their only loss of the tournament with a last second basket. With 1:37 left Kendrell hit his second three to make it 6-13. A third three by Kendrell and a putback basket by RJ on a rebound from a missed three by Kendrell closed the quarter with the score 15-18 as Eastern CCI nailed a trey at the buzzer to bring their score to 15.

The second quarter started off right when Jimmy Witten hit a 14 foot jumper on an assist from Armie Lewis (9 assists total). Eastern retaliated with a three before Kendrell nailed a trey from the right corner to make it 17-23. A basket by Eastern put it at 19-23 at the 5:00 mark. Jimmy put Lake up by 6 when he toughed out a hard earned basket from underneath. A Christian Enriquez jumper from twelve feet away on the right wing from a feed by Andrew Gorie made it 19-27, the largest lead of the game. Fulton Brisco made the second of two free throws and another basket to bring it to 23-30. After a quick basket by Eastern, a bad pass by Kendrell allowed them to close out the quarter at 27-30 after they made two free throws from a foul by Fulton to prevent a bucket. Lake’s offense was good in the first half but the defense was weak at times. All of the teams in the tournament usually brought the ball down the court faster than Lake. This was probably due to Lake’s not being accustomed to playing with a shot clock. Only three times in four games was the shot clock a problem for Lake.

The third quarter saw Eastern tie the game at 30 at the 7:08 mark as the excitement continued. Fifteen seconds later Armie dribbled into the paint, jumped up and kicked it out to Kendrell on the wing. Kendrell nailed a three from the left side to make it 30-33. Two free throws by Armie put Lake up by 5 before Eastern scored two buckets to narrow the gap to 1 at the 5:12 mark. Anthony Bicic entered the game at this point, immediately nailed a three to make it 34-38, and then got a steal with 4:25 remaining. A quick basket by Eastern makes it 36-38 at the halfway point in the quarter. Eastern was scoring easily but Lake’s offense was very good too. Kendrell scored a trey and an Eastern basket made it 39-41 at the 3:15 mark. Armie to Kendrell for a trey made it 39-44 after an Eastern timeout. A free throw by Jimmy after he was fouled under the basket made it 39-45. Eastern scored then Armie drove  down the center of the court, stopped and popped at the free throw line to make it 41-47. The foul count at the end of the third quarter was 2 and 0. Another Eastern bucket made it 43-47, still too close for comfort.

Two free throws by Eastern make it 43-47 and Lake called timeout at the 6:35 mark. A basket by Jimmy, then, on an Eastern miss, RJ rebounded, drove the length of the court , fed to Jimmy who made it 45-51 at the 4:15 mark. Kendrell’s assist to RJ for a three from the corner made it 45-54, Lake up by 9 and the largest lead of the game with just over three minutes remaining. Two basket by Eastern and then an astonishing, uncontested basket by Eastern as it looked like Clear Lake had their feet nailed to the floor when Eastern  inbounded the ball made it 51-54. Another Eastern basket makes it 53-54. Armie, after dribbling around for awhile lulled the defense to sleep, found Fulton alone under the basket. Fulton scored a quick two, 53-56. With 56 seconds remaining Armie did the exact same thing again. He found Fulton hiding out under the basket. A pinpoint pass to Fulton for a quick two by Brisco, 53-58. Eastern called their final timeout with 44.8 seconds remaining. The foul count was at 3 and 4. Eastern nailed a quick trey to make it 56-58. With 22 seconds remaining we called timeout as a result of not being able to inbound the ball. Eastern was forced to foul about three times in six seconds before the one-and-one took  effect and Armie makes both free throws to make it 56-60. On their inbound pass Armie stole the ball and passed to RJ for a basket. The clock expired. 56-62, Lake wins third place in the National Division. Quite an accomplishment.

Armie Lewis and Kendrell Thompson were selected for the All Tournament Team.

Against competition ranked on both the state and national level, the Falcons played impressive basketball that got the attention of many of the basketball aficionados in the gym. The Lake squad made us proud as they represented their school in a most impressive manner. They scored more points in a single game (96 points, 71% from the field) than any team in the tournament. They were among the few unknown teams at the start of the tournament but everyone knew who they were by the end of the tournament. Disciplined team basketball with few offensive mistakes was their hallmark. Considering the level of the competition and the quality of the basketball being played, I do not know how we could be more proud of the way our Clear Lake Varsity played in this tournament.

Individual Scoring:
Kendrell Thompson 18, Jimmy Witten 11 (8 rebounds), RJ Turner 10 (7 rebounds),
Fulton Brisco 9 (5 rebounds), Armie Lewis 6 (5 rebounds, 9 assists), Anthony Bilcic 6, Christian Enriquez 2

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	13	39	33.4%
3's	10	19	52.6%
free throws	6	8	75.0%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	18	30	47	62
Eastern CCI	15	27	43	56

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	Final
Clear Lake	18	12	17	15	62
Eastern CCI	15	12	16	13	56

REBOUNDS	LAKE	THEM
Offensive	10
Defensive	20