Clear Lake Falconhoops

Hightower 63 - Clear Lake 53

In the Bi-district playoff between District 24 third place finisher Clear Lake and District 23 second place finisher Hightower, Clear Lake came into Stoney Phillips Field House Tuesday night a noticeable underdog so everyone knew it should be a tough game for the Falcons . District 23 consists of the Fort Bend ISD Schools and is considered by many to be among the toughest 5A Districts in the state. Their district winner this season was Elkins  who Clear Lake had surprisingly defeated in the CCISD Tournament championship back in early December.

The Hightower Hurricanes are a big, quick, talent rich squad of mostly Juniors (the Canes started only one Senior in this first round playoff matchup). In this contest they did not play as well as most Hightower teams of the past but they certainly played well enough in the second half to easily appear to be the better of the two teams on the floor on this night.

The underdog Falcons appeared relaxed, confident, and ready to play. Two successive Cane turnovers and Cody Kinsey hitting the first shot of the game from the right wing started things off right to put Lake ahead. Lake was up 0-5 with just over 5 minutes remaining in the quarter before a slow starting Hurricane squad got on the board. Two free throws tied it at 5 with 3:19 remaining in the quarter. Two free throws by Steve Hartman put Lake back ahead with 2:40 left in the quarter. With 1:49 remaining the score was 5-9 when Brian Campbell used his speed to sneek under the basket for a layup on a feed from Steve on a play that has worked all season. Then a putback by the Canes made it apparent they had at least three players who could play up over us at the rim. With only a few seconds remaining in the first quarter Jacob Horton drained a trey to put Lake up 10-12. In the first quarter stout Falcon defense caused four turnovers to give the Falcons even more confidence as the two teams jockeyed for the lead on the splendid new scoreboard.

In the second quarter the Falcons continued to hold their own even as Hurricane midrange scoring appeared easier. With 5:20 remaining a lay-in by Brian on a feed from Jay Williams tied it at 14 before the Canes went ahead 16-14 at the 4:30 mark. A putback by Andrew Gorie tied it at 16 with 4:14 remaining. With 3:10 showing on the clock a steal and a dunk by the Hurricanes only starting senior made it 20-16. An unassisted left handed lay-in by Cody made it 20-18 as he drove the lane at the 2:51 mark. At the 2:11 point Andrew Gorie’s layup from the left side tied the game at 20. Two free throws by Kyle Ashton at the 1:17 mark made it 20-22, Lake by 2. A three pointer and two free throws put the Canes up 5 at the half. 25-22 at the half was certainly not the blowout some Houston area fans had anticipated and the Clear Lake crowd was pleased so far. Now if we can only have a solid third quarter like so many we have had this season.

But the Canes took control of the game by dominating the third period and outscored Lake 25-10 to go ahead convincingly 50-32. Despite a valiant effort by the Falcons in the final period, there was just too much horsepower to overcome as the talent laden Hurricanes easily controlled the game. Four of Hightower's starters finished in double figures. Cody Kinsey led all scorers with 16. The final score was 63-53.

One of the problems with participating in most team sports in high school especially basketball is your team either goes all the way and wins the state championship or you lose the last contest of the season. For most seniors this is particularly unsatisfying. You lose the last game of your high school career. Most high school athletes will not go on to compete on the college level so their career in organized, school sponsored sports is finished with a loss. Everyone would like to go out a winner but unfortunately that’s just not how it works. What should be remembered is the cumulative accomplishments of a very successful season and not just the last game of the season. The 2007-08 Clear Lake Falcons have a lot to be proud of.

Photos for this game can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/falconhoops200708  by Thursday at 10 p.m.

Individual Scoring:

Cody Kinsey 16 (7 of 8 from the field),

Steve Hartman 8 (5 steals), Brian Campbell 8, Jay Williams 6, Andrew Gorie 6 (4 steals), Jacob Horton 5, Kyle Ashton 4  

Pts=points scored; OR=offensive rebounds; DR=defensive rebs; stls= steals; blks= blocked shots; TOs= turnovers; Fs=fouls