Announcement
Remembering last year's season opener between these two schools in the Clear Lake gym, veteran Lake basketball fans were hoping for a repeat performance. The conditions were similar. Marshall was highly ranked state-wide; Clear Lake was unranked but feisty. Both teams played one of their best games of the season despite it being the season opener. With barely two minutes left in last year's game, the score was tied. It was a great basketball game.
This year the Fort Bend Marshall Buffalos are ranked pre-season as the number 9 team in the state and the fifth best team in Region III. That is largely due to their talent, their height and their noticeable depth. When you are a "magnet" school, which means you can recruit students "for academic purposes", you can field a team replete with Division I prospects year after year. The Clear Lake Falcons are unranked.
At his fourth school in ten years, there is a reason why Marshall head coach Gary Nichols quickly moved to Marshall High School as soon as it opened a couple of years ago. It is easy to predict success for Coach Nichols with the advantages afforded him by a magnet program. Doesn't seem quite fair to those schools who do not have the advantage of a magnet program but that's the way it is. Nobody said life is fair.
With 6'8" Darius Santee (#21) leading the way (yes, the one who broke the backboard last year at Phillips Field House in the Pasadena Tournament) Marshall's squad outshone a determined Clear Lake bunch. It could have been ugly but it was not. Instead it looked like two teams obviously early in their season with much room for improvement. Neither team played as well as they will in a few games but, considering the disparity in talent, Clear Lake significantly outplayed Marshall in the first half. Using almost any meaningful parameter, especially their backcourt game, Marshall is a much better basketball team than Clear Lake but they did not look like the better team since Lake led most of the first half.
With 4:23 remaining in the first quarter, Justin Kurtz hit his third 3 to put Lake up 16-10. With just over two minutes left in the first quarter Justin had to sit down due to foul trouble with Lake leading 18-10. This would be the largest lead the Falcons would enjoy. Marshall pulled ahead 22-21 with one minute left in the quarter. The quarter closed at that score.
Forty-five seconds into the second quarter Christian Enriquez put Lake back in the lead when he hit a 3 and was fouled. After Lake getting up 27-22 in the first two and a half minutes of the quarter, the score was tied at 27 with five minutes remaining in the first half. Kurtz came out of the game again with foul trouble at the four minute mark and Marshall regained the lead 29-28 with 3:38 remaining in the half. Then Lake's RJ Turner tied it at 29 from the free throw line. A 3 by Kendrell Thompson brought the score to 33-30, Marshall, with 98 seconds left in the half. With a steal by Fulton Brisco and a basket by Kendrell, who would be Lake's leading scorer for the contest, the half closed with Marshall up by only two points, 36-34. The Falcons missed five free throws in the first half. At this point it appeared someone forgot to tell the Clear Lake team they were supposed to get smeared by the Marshall squad.
Two minutes into the third quarter Lake led 39-36. Then Marshall began to assert their prowess. With 5:04 left in the third quarter Marshall went up 42-39. With 3:34 showing on the clock in the third quarter, we pulled to 43-41 when RJ received a quick pass from Armie and scored a lay-up. Then the Buffs started to pull away. We scored with difficulty at times, they scored with ease. The Buffs increased their margin to 12 to close out the third quarter 55-43.
In the fourth quarter, despite some noticeably good teamwork by Clear Lake at times, Marshall increased their lead to 16 points, 68-52 with just over three minutes remaining in the game. With barely two minutes remaining in the contest, Fort Bend Marshall called off the dogs and put in their second string. Kendrell hit a trey at the buzzer to make the final score 72-60. Marshall's Darius Santee led all scorers with 21 points.
One could conclude after watching the game and looking at the stats below that either Marshall is not as good a team as everyone expects or Clear Lake is a better team than expected. This observer's conclusion is both. Marshall is a very good basketball team and Clear Lake is better than a lot of people are expecting. As they continue to improve, the Falcons are going to surprise many good teams this season.
Individual scoring: Kendrell Thompson 17, Armie Lewis 13, Justin Kurtz 12, RJ Turner 7, Fulton Brisco 5, Christian Enriquez 4, Jon Gilmer 2, Jimmy Witten 1.
This year the Fort Bend Marshall Buffalos are ranked pre-season as the number 9 team in the state and the fifth best team in Region III. That is largely due to their talent, their height and their noticeable depth. When you are a "magnet" school, which means you can recruit students "for academic purposes", you can field a team replete with Division I prospects year after year. The Clear Lake Falcons are unranked.
At his fourth school in ten years, there is a reason why Marshall head coach Gary Nichols quickly moved to Marshall High School as soon as it opened a couple of years ago. It is easy to predict success for Coach Nichols with the advantages afforded him by a magnet program. Doesn't seem quite fair to those schools who do not have the advantage of a magnet program but that's the way it is. Nobody said life is fair.
With 6'8" Darius Santee (#21) leading the way (yes, the one who broke the backboard last year at Phillips Field House in the Pasadena Tournament) Marshall's squad outshone a determined Clear Lake bunch. It could have been ugly but it was not. Instead it looked like two teams obviously early in their season with much room for improvement. Neither team played as well as they will in a few games but, considering the disparity in talent, Clear Lake significantly outplayed Marshall in the first half. Using almost any meaningful parameter, especially their backcourt game, Marshall is a much better basketball team than Clear Lake but they did not look like the better team since Lake led most of the first half.
With 4:23 remaining in the first quarter, Justin Kurtz hit his third 3 to put Lake up 16-10. With just over two minutes left in the first quarter Justin had to sit down due to foul trouble with Lake leading 18-10. This would be the largest lead the Falcons would enjoy. Marshall pulled ahead 22-21 with one minute left in the quarter. The quarter closed at that score.
Forty-five seconds into the second quarter Christian Enriquez put Lake back in the lead when he hit a 3 and was fouled. After Lake getting up 27-22 in the first two and a half minutes of the quarter, the score was tied at 27 with five minutes remaining in the first half. Kurtz came out of the game again with foul trouble at the four minute mark and Marshall regained the lead 29-28 with 3:38 remaining in the half. Then Lake's RJ Turner tied it at 29 from the free throw line. A 3 by Kendrell Thompson brought the score to 33-30, Marshall, with 98 seconds left in the half. With a steal by Fulton Brisco and a basket by Kendrell, who would be Lake's leading scorer for the contest, the half closed with Marshall up by only two points, 36-34. The Falcons missed five free throws in the first half. At this point it appeared someone forgot to tell the Clear Lake team they were supposed to get smeared by the Marshall squad.
Two minutes into the third quarter Lake led 39-36. Then Marshall began to assert their prowess. With 5:04 left in the third quarter Marshall went up 42-39. With 3:34 showing on the clock in the third quarter, we pulled to 43-41 when RJ received a quick pass from Armie and scored a lay-up. Then the Buffs started to pull away. We scored with difficulty at times, they scored with ease. The Buffs increased their margin to 12 to close out the third quarter 55-43.
In the fourth quarter, despite some noticeably good teamwork by Clear Lake at times, Marshall increased their lead to 16 points, 68-52 with just over three minutes remaining in the game. With barely two minutes remaining in the contest, Fort Bend Marshall called off the dogs and put in their second string. Kendrell hit a trey at the buzzer to make the final score 72-60. Marshall's Darius Santee led all scorers with 21 points.
One could conclude after watching the game and looking at the stats below that either Marshall is not as good a team as everyone expects or Clear Lake is a better team than expected. This observer's conclusion is both. Marshall is a very good basketball team and Clear Lake is better than a lot of people are expecting. As they continue to improve, the Falcons are going to surprise many good teams this season.
Individual scoring: Kendrell Thompson 17, Armie Lewis 13, Justin Kurtz 12, RJ Turner 7, Fulton Brisco 5, Christian Enriquez 4, Jon Gilmer 2, Jimmy Witten 1.
|
Falcon Stats |
FG made |
FG attempts |
% |
|
2's |
13 |
37 |
35% |
|
3's |
9 |
20 |
45% |
|
free throws |
7 |
16 |
44% |
| Linescore |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| Clear Lake |
21 |
13 |
9 |
17 |
| FB Marshall |
22 |
14 |
19 |
17 |
| Total score by Quarter |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Final |
| Clear Lake |
21 |
34 |
43 |
60 |
60 |
| Marshall |
22 |
36 |
55 |
72 |
72 |
|
TOTAL REBOUNDS |
US |
THEM |
|
Offensive |
10 |
12 |
|
Defensive |
13 |
23 |
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