Clear Lake Falconhoops

Clear Lake 71 – Clear Brook 63

There are many high school coaches today who feel that with the way the game has changed i. e. the tendency toward the disappearance of post play and the increased emphasis on ball handling for the forwards as well as the added emphasis on rebounding and blocking out for the guards, that there is no longer any difference between a guard and a forward. In fact, there are some Clear Lake coaches who feel that way. Although this writer has not yet aligned his thinking to agree with that, the trend is certainly in that direction. Witness the increase in the number of teams that start a big man and four guards and their success. Fortunately, Clear Lake does not have to test that theory. Or do they? With high caliber guards like RJ Turner, Armie Lewis, and Steven Hartman, the forwards can be forwards and the guards can be guards even though their respective roles blur as they move about the court. Except when two of your guards are hurt and one is in foul trouble. That is the situation Clear Lake was in Tuesday night in the game against Clear Brook in the Brook gym.

With the Falcons returning from their successful outing in San Diego and feeling very good about their performance against some big time competition, things were looking good. That is until RJ Turner, Lake’s ace point guard, dislocated his shoulder in practice on Monday. Combined with Steven Hartman’s earlier injury that sidelined him for the entire season, you begin to wonder if the Falcons are really destined to achieve the greatness that they are obviously capable of.
Fortunately,
Cody Kinsey was available to be moved up to fill in for Steven in mid-December;
Lake’s forwards are capable ball handlers who think like guards when they need to;
Clear Lake has a Kendrell Thompson who can shoot the lights out from three point land;
Clear Lake has a Jimmy Witten who, at 6’ 5”, is the one of the tallest, smartest, most clever 6’5” players in the region;
Lake has the most balanced outside shooting across the entire team of any team in the district.

The game against Brook began as a Kendrell Thompson extravaganza. Thompson scored a game high 28 points for the outing (1 point off his season high 29 against Klein). He scored all of Lake’s points in the first quarter, all 16 of them. After missing his first two attempts from beyond the arc, Kendrell nailed four in a row. But it did not look that promising initially. Lake missed their first five shots at the basket before they got on track with Kendrell’s first trey.

To say that Clear Brook was prepared for Lake would be an understatement. Brook’s new head coach, Jason Pillow (in his first year as a head coach at a 5A school at age 34), is a former Clear Lake standout varsity player who was bouncing a basketball when he started walking. He knows Lake well from many different perspectives. He started his team in a 1-3-1 defense to minimize Lake’s outside shooting success. But like many in the crowd, he probably did not imagine how elusive Kendrell would be. After the first two baskets by Clear Brook and five misfires by Clear Lake, Lake moved into the lead when the Kendrell Thompson Show arrived, After three ties in the quarter Lake maintained the lead until late in the third quarter. At the end of the first quarter it was 12-16, Lake up by 4.

In the second quarter Brook switched to a man-to-man defense to stop Kendrell. It worked. Thompson scored one three point basket in the quarter. But Jimmy Witten cranked it up. Witten scored 9 of his 16 total points in the quarter and was mostly unstoppable inside as he got Brook’s post man in foul trouble and then took their reserve post man to school. Lake’s defense was again weak as Brook’s guard, Anthony Miles, was mostly unstoppable. Miles scored at will (22 for the game). Armie Lewis got in foul trouble which did not bode well for the third quarter. At the half it was 25-33, Lake up by 8.

Lake had a poor third quarter. Playing with no guards on the floor for almost the entire quarter, Lake minimized their turnovers (only 1) and their baskets (only 3). Two baskets by Christian Enriquez and one by Jimmy Witten was it. A solitary free throw by Fulton made the 8 points for Clear Lake while Brook scored 16 and tied the game with 1:19 remaining in the quarter. Lake regained the lead on the next basket but it was knotted at 41 at the end of three.

The fourth quarter was close with Clear Brook taking the lead 50-49 with 3:20 remaining in the quarter and again at the 1:07 mark. The exciting game was tied three times in the last 67 seconds. A clutch free throw by Jimmy tied it at 54 with 46 seconds left. Clear Brook took a time out to set up their play.With Lake in a man-to-man defense,  #12 (Miles) drove the lane and scored to put Brook ahead. Jimmy was fouled on his successful putback which tied it at 56 with 6.1 seconds remaining in regular play. Brook called another timeout to ice Jimmy. Witten missed the free throw and Brook’s last second desperation long shot missed. 56 All at the end of regulation play.

In the overtime period Lake took control and scored three baskets before Brook could score. First Jimmy drove from the free throw line to easily score a layup (more schooling). Then a blocked shot by Jimmy on Clear Brook’s second attempt gave us the ball. Next, on an assist from Christian, a trey by Kendrell from the left side. Then a rebound by Armie after a three point miss by Brook. Armie quickly brought the ball down the court, passed to the left to Christian, then back to Armie. Lewis spied Fulton under the goal with his man beat. A pinpoint pass to Fulton for two more. Lake up by 7, 56-63. A basket by Brook made it 58-63 at the 2:21 mark. Three desperation fouls by Brook allowed six successful free throws by Armie, Kendrell, then Armie again. A final basket by Armie made it 63-71. An outstanding basketball game between two worthy rivals.

Individual Scoring:
Kendrell Thompson 28 (16 in first quarter), Jimmy Witten 16 (11 rebounds), Armie Lewis 11(5 assists),
Christian Enriquez 8, Fulton Brisco 7, Andrew Gorie 1

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	13	31	41.9%
3's	9	24	37.5%
free throws	18	23	78.3%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4	OT
Clear Lake	16	33	41	56	71
Clear Brook	12	25	41	56	63

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	OT	Final
Clear Lake	16	17	8	15	15	71
Clear Brook	12	13	16	15	7	63

REBOUNDS	LAKE	THEM
Offensive	11
Defensive	15