Clear Lake Falconhoops

Pasadena Texas Invitational Tournament Day 2, Game 2 vs. Houston Jones The Clear Lake Falcons were a slightly better team today when they faced the defending state champion (4A) Houston Jesse Jones Falcons. (For the first time in school history the Falcons faced two teams also named Falcons in the same day.) With only four returning lettermen Jones did not pose a threat even close to last year’s champions. They were formidable competition however. After a bit of a slow start, the Falcons got on track. With three minutes gone in the first quarter we gained the lead when “G” (Gordon Abner) stole the ball at mid-court, drove to the bucket and scored despite being fouled. After a successful free throw it was 10-8. This was the first of multiple steals and a preview of what was to come as G went on to score 20 points. The first quarter was a close contest though. The highly effective Jones guards did cause most of the grief as their scoring from outside and their penetration was keeping Jones in the game. Jones regained the lead with two minutes remaining in the quarter. Seconds before the clock expired a Mark Murphy free throw allowed Lake to regain the lead 18-17. At 5:31 remaining in the second quarter "G" tied it at 21 with a free throw, 21-21. Then a key steal by Jordan Villarreal and a feed to Lee Mazurek bumped it to 24-21 when Lee hit a clutch 3 from the left side of the court. Then another steal by Jordan and a feed to G who drove down for a layup increased the lead to 26-21. Lake is now in control. Lake increased their lead to 13 but Jones would come back little by little. At the half it was Lake up by only 4, 33-29. Lake scoring was balanced across all players as it has been in most games so far this short season. Two minutes into the third quarter, Lake increased their lead to 10 early in the 3rd but Jones came back and cut it to 6 or 7. This sequence would be repeated several times in the second half. At the end of three, it was 55-43. In the fourth quarter Lake maintained the ten plus point lead throughout the quarter. Jones scored too easily on Lake throughout the game and the holes in Lake’s defense were too obvious. Mark Murphy had his best game of the tournament so far with several key rebounds and some timely saves. Lake seemed to be getting into a rhythym in this game. They seemed to have an extra bit of energy despite having played four games in two days and they played with good intensity throughout most of the game. Jordan Villarreal sparked the team with his steals and Lee Mazurek’s confidence as he hit three key baskets in the fourth quarter added to the margin of victory. The final score was 68-54. A feel good win for Lake. Scoring: Gordon 20, Armie 12 (5 assists), Mark 10, Lee 9 (6 assists), Kendrell 7, Brandon 6, David 2, Jordan 2. 2’s: 19 of 34 (56%) not good enough 3’s: 5 of 8 (62.5%) very good free throws: 15 of 25 (60%) not good enough