Clear Lake Falconhoops

 Clear Lake 64 – Compton Dominguez 66

What a great basketball game. It was the kind that diehard hoops fans live for. Compton Dominguez, the highly rated powerhouse (#13 in the state of California), and Clear Lake, an unknown Texas team coming into the tournament, met to do battle in the semifinal round of the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Clear Lake Team is the disciplined, methodical team basketball we play rather than the individual star player standout teams that play mostly a one-on-one game. Only one other team in the tourney falls into the very disciplined group.

Dominguez brought their D1 6’ 5”forward, #24 and their 6’9”post man #44 to the party and Clear Lake brought their 6’5” magician, Jimmy Witten and Andrew Gorie. Perhaps some did not expect the “small” Texas boys to play with the big kids. Dominguez is loaded with talent but their season has just started.

In the first quarter Clear Lake missed its first three attempts at the basket which was not a good sign. At 5:36 remaining in the quarter Dominguez made two free throws for the first score of the game. Then they nailed a three to make it 0 to 5. Armie Lewis then hit a three pointer to get Lake on the board before their 6’9” big man scored with ease to make it 3-7. Fulton Brisco hit a jump shot from the left side to add two for Lake. RJ Turner hit a contested shot in the paint to make it 7-9 with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter. Lake pulled ahead with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter when RJ snuck down and made a lay up, after Kendrell made a layup to tie it. Then another layup by RJ put Lake ahead 13-9 with 16 seconds left in the quarter.

35 seconds into the second quarter Christian Enriquez nailed a three from the corner to make it 16-9. At 7:08 they hit a long jumper to make it 16-11. Two free throws by Armie Lewis made it 18-11. Dom then hit a very contested three to put it at 18-14 before Anthony Bilcic coolly hit a three from the top of the arc to put it at 21-14 with 6:15 remaining. Dominguez was scoring much easier than Lake with almost all of their points coming from within six feet from the basket while Lake was relying on perimeter shooting. With 4:25 remaining and the score at 21-16, Kendrell Thompson calls timeout and walks off the court with a limp. With 4:02 left Lake went to 1 and 1 free throws with the foul count at 6 and 7. Armie made both free throws to make it 23-18. Jimmy Witten toughed out a basket from underneath but Dom is scoring with ease from twelve feet away or less. With 2:40 left in the half, Jimmy, working really hard, put up a shot from underneath, got his own rebound and made the putback. 27-22 Lake. A layup by Dom narrowed it to 27-24. At the 1:45 mark Kendrell hit a turnaround jumper before Armie made an unassisted layup to bring it to 31-26.  Another basket by Armie before they nailed a three made it 33-29. With 3.5 seconds remaining in the half Armie got fouled under their basket on the inbound pass. His two free throws made it 35-29. An exciting first half with Lake holding a slight edge throughout most of the half.

Jimmy stole the ball from them at the beginning of the second half. Lake’s defense forced another turnover in the first minute of the third quarter. A basket by Jimmy made it 37-29 before Dom scored 5 unanswered points. At the 4:30 mark the second of two free throws by RJ after driving to the basket and getting fouled made it 38-34. Dom is still scoring their goals in the paint with relative ease. A three by Dom’s #24, who has future NBA written all over him made it 38-37. Wow what excitement! A loose ball at midcourt picked up by Armie and flung down to RJ for a quick layup made it 40-37 at the 3:30 mark. With 2:47 left in the third quarter a foul by Christian put them at the charity stripe where they tied the game for the first time (at 40). At the 2:20 mark a long three puts Dominguez up 40-43, their first lead since early in the first quarter. A reverse layup by Anthony Bilcic narrowed the gap to one. At 1:35 Andrew Gorie took a charge to give us the ball back. Christian drove the lane for a layup to put Lake back in the lead with 1:23 remaining. Dom ties it again with a free throw. Then Anthony drains a three to put Lake ahead 47-44.

Clear Lake has the best all around three point shooters in the tournament especially when you consider their phenomenal performance in the opening game (71% from the field) but adjustments in Dominguez’s defense had shut down Lake’s superb three point shooting. At the beginning of the final quarter Armie Lewis quickly outmaneuvered his opponent to get a clear three point shot which he nailed to make it 50-44, a great way to start the last period. Dominguez’s 6’9” post man fouled out at 7:19 which gave the Clear Lake crowd a sigh of relief although he had not been a major factor in the game they kept expecting him to be. Two free throws by Armie and a Fulton layup made it 54-44, Lake by 10 to force a quick timeout by Dominguez. At 5:27 remaining in the game Jimmy Witten was called for his fourth foul and was taken out of the game. Six quick points by them brought it to 54-50. Two free throws by Andrew Gorie and two by Armie Lewis made it 58-53 with 4:10 showing on the clock. Two Dom free throws narrowed Lake’s lead. With 3:37 remaining Kendrell nailed a three to make it 61-55. With the foul count at 10 and 9, one of two free throws for Dom made it 61-56. As expected it was now time for Dom’s #24, Mr. NBA, to go to work. He nailed an effortless three from the same spot he had made the others to bring it to 61-59. With 1:31 remaining Dom tied it at 61 with a basket from underneath. With 59 seconds left as Armie was picking up a ball Lake was stealing on Dominguez’s end of the court, he was called for traveling. Not sure he did but it was a critical call that would determine the outcome of the game. Dominguez nailed another three with 38 seconds to go ahead 61-64. A Lake timeout at 28 seconds allowed a strategy planning session. With the ball in play RJ passes from the top of the key over to Kendrell on the left wing. Kendrell launches a very high arching shot that was nothing but net. Tied at 64. Dom called timeout with 13.4 seconds remaining for their final play strategy. They drive down after a few passes and score in the paint from right in front of the net with 1 second left on the clock. After a timeout Lake inbounds the ball under pressure to Kendrell at midcourt. Kendrell flings the ball toward the goal but it is just short. RJ is there to receive the ball but time expires before he can get the shot off. Lake loses by 2, 64-66. A really great basketball game.

Lake plays for third place Friday at 6:40 p.m. local time against Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute from Ontario, Canada. They are ranked 2^nd in Canada.

Individual Scoring:
Armie Lewis 20, Kendrell Thompson 10,
RJ Turner 9, Anthony Bilcic 8, Jimmy Witten 6, Christian Enriquez 5, Fulton Brisco 4, Andrew Gorie 2

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	15	34	44.1%
3's	7	18	38.8%
free throws	13	16	81.2%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	13	35	47	64
Dominguez	9	29	44	66

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	Final
Clear Lake	13	22	12	17	64
Dominguez	9	20	15	22	66

REBOUNDS	LAKE	THEM
Offensive	8
Defensive	10