Clear Lake Falconhoops

First Quarter
Everything started off right for the Falcons when Jimmy Witten won the tip-off and Kendrell Thompson nailed a three pointer for the first shot of the game. Looked like it would be a good night for the Falcons. The first quarter was close as Lake took the lead but La Porte kept surging back with their strong inside play. Clear Lake played their game - disciplined, methodical offense and good to very good defense most of the time. As they had throughout the season, Lake pressured the ball often as did La Porte. Lake was calm under pressure and was not bothered by La Porte’s defense. La Porte did seem to be just a little bothered by Lake’s defensive pressure at times. The game was tied at 7 at the 4:42 mark in the first quarter and again at the 2:05 mark when it was knotted at 13. Five of La Porte’s points came off free throws in the quarter. With 27 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Kendrell passed to Armie Lewis slightly left of the top of the key and Lewis calmly nailed a trey to put Lake up 16-15 at the end of the quarter. Armie, on his way to a game high 23 points, had a perfect 3 for 3 for 7 points in the first period. This was Armie's second highest point output of his high school career. Lewis's career high was 26 against Dobie on December 16, 2006.

Second Quarter
Halfway through the second quarter it was 23-15, Lake up by 8 before La Porte came back to make it 23-20. Two timely free throws by RJ Turner made it 25-20. With two minutes remaining in the first half a basket by La Porte made it 25-22. Excellent ball movement by the Falcons throughout the half kept the La Porte defense busy. As the half closed Kendrell nailed a signature trey to make it 28-22. A very good half for the Falcons as they played purposeful, relaxed, and in control. Eight of La Porte’s points in the half came off free throws (four for Lake).

Third Quarter
At the start of the second half RJ drove across the baseline from left to right and found Fulton Brisco for the first score in the half. Lake went up by 10 points when Fulton scored on a put-back at the 6:36 point in the quarter. Brisco, “the silent assassin”, was the second leading scorer on the team as once again his presence in the game was a major factor. The Falcons have developed multiple plays to favor Brisco and his pinpoint shooting while the defense is busy concentrating on Armie, RJ, Kendrell, and Jimmy. It’s almost like he is invisible at times as the Falcons lull the defense into thinking they are okay then rifle the ball in to Fulton for an isolated, quick bucket. Sorry for the digression. After two baskets by La Porte it was 32-26 when Kendrell nailed another trey at the 4:35 mark (Kendrell hit one three pointer in each of the first three quarters). At the 3:32 mark, RJ in-bounded the ball to Armie on the left wing for a quick three to make it 38-26, Lake by 12. At the 3 minute mark RJ fed Jimmy underneath for a tough underhanded layup to make it 40-28. As the quarter drew to a close Lake had possession of the ball in the last minute and ran the clock down for the last shot. With just under 4 seconds remaining a three pointer by Kendrell was off the mark and the ball rolled toward the far side line headed out of bounds. Armie picked the ball up and spun around. Would he have enough time to get a shot off? He fired from three point land and it was nothing but net as the buzzer sounded. Lake’s lead was extended to 13, 43-30. Sometimes things are just meant to be (Check out the Video on the photo web site).

Fourth Quarter
In the final period La Porte knew they would have to start jacking it up from outside if they were to get back in the game. A two and a three gave them five quick points but then Anthony Bilcic quickly countered with one of his classic treys from the wing to make it 46-35. He sent the message “we will trade three’s with you all night”. La Porte did an excellent job of managing the clock in the final period as their young team struggled to come from behind (La Porte has three freshmen on their varsity squad). Late in the game some of the shots from La Porte’s freshman phenom Drew Parker would not find their mark so their strategy was not effective. On top of that, La Porte’s freshman post man, #42 Randy Collins, fouled out with 5:19 remaining in the game. After Anthony’s lone basket, a string of Lake free throws, 3 by RJ and 5 of 6 by Armie brought the score to 54-43 as Clear Lake managed the clock and kept control of the game. In some previous games Lake may have been slow to start their slow down game to manage the clock and maintain their lead but not in this one. With 4:47 remaining Lake went into their slow down game. All of Armie’s free throws in the fourth quarter came in the last two minutes of the contest. The final score was 58-43.

Observations
Clear Lake had a good game but not one of their outstanding games. With the exception of Armie Lewis’s 23 points, the stats say Lake missed over 1/3 of their free throws and almost all their stats were below their averages (for example, only 3 steals compared to an average of 11.7). Part of that is because their stats have been impressive this season (especially their free throw shooting). Something not shown by the stats is the many great, great passes made by this squad in this outing and the consistently outstanding ball movement. See the videos for numerous examples.

Regardless of stats, Lake played well enough to win and they hit their free throws down the stretch (10 of 13 in the fourth quarter). The Falcons have some even better games left in them and now it is time to dig down and get them.

Regional Semifinals
There will be two games Friday night at the Campbell Center. It all comes down to Hastings, Clear Lake, Madison, and Kingwood in Region III 5A. Due to an ineligible player on the Nimitz team, a previous win over Hastings, 74-72, was nullified and Hastings advanced to defeat Cy Falls (84-61). Hastings will face Clear Lake Friday in the FIRST game of the regional semifinals. Madison upset Aldine (87-73) and will face Kingwood, who defeated Elkins tonight (48-35), in the second Friday semifinal game. Aldine finishes the season with a 30-2 record but will not appear in the regional semifinals. You never know.

There will be many fans at the Campbell Center who are not following any of the schools there. This means there will be a crowd. Although the arena holds around 4500, you should get there early.Since Lake plays the first game you will not have trouble getting a seat but good seats will require early arrival.

State Tournament
For those planning to go to Austin if Lake should win the region, do not wait until the Regional final is played on Saturday to make hotel reservations. There will be fans from twenty schools coming from all over the state. There are many fine hotels to choose from but if you wait you will regret it. Book your rooms now. You can always cancel. If you do not book now, you will have a very difficult time getting a room. Rooms will be at a premium. There are over 100,000 additional people in town that weekend. That is a 20% influx overnight.

Videos of many of the outstanding Falcon plays during the game can be viewed on the photo web site after 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Photos for this game will appear on the photo site after 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Double click on any photo (on the HOME Page or in a FALCON FLASHES article) or click on the article TITLE above to go to the photo site. The photo site does not come up in a separate browser.

Individual Scoring:
Armie Lewis 23, Fulton Brisco 10,
RJ Turner 9, Kendrell Thompson 9, Jimmy Witten 4, Anthony Bilcic 3