Announcement
Austin Westlake Classic Tournament (Dec 29-30)
Several attributes of this year's Lake squad shone in this tournament. Well rounded talent with numerous shooters; very good depth off the bench; unselfish, team basketball with many plays in their playbook; superb execution most of the time. Balanced attack inside and out. A couple of starters need to be more consistent. Not a good free throw shooting team. Strong 4th quarter ball club. Lake's most impressive attribute is their composure. This squad plays under control and does not lose their cool. This team has a winning strategy that will take them far.
Tournament MVP was Christian West. All Tournament selections were Bradley George and Chris Stenerson.
Lake's record is 16-1.
Game 4 Championship game: Clear Lake 54 - Westlake 44. Close game with several lead changes despite Lake having an obviously better team. Westlake played their best but it just wasn't enough for the .
Game 3 - Clear Lake 80 - Schertz Clemens 76. Lake faced one of the top teams in the state. Clemens was talent laden and the lead changed numerous times throughout the game. Outcome not decided until the last 50 seconds.
Game 2 - Clear Lake 58 - Buda Hays 56. Everyone got to play and the game was closer than it should have been.
Game 1 - Clear Lake 54 - Arlington Seguin 46 (overtime). Lake faced a bigger, rangey bunch who could all jump. Lake started out poorly and only scored one field goal in the first half.
Gregory Portland Tournament (Dec 11-13)
Championship game: Clear Lake 44 - San Antonio Brennan 39. Lake is now 12-1. Tournament MVP was Ales Westby.
Saturday afternoon Clear Lake faced off against the 10th ranked San Antonio Brennan Bears. The Bears' main weapon is 6'8" Jordan Murphy. Murphy is ranked in the top 15 seniors in the state and almost every major college you can name made offers to him (he chose Virginia Commonwealth University). Clear Lake's strategy to control Murphy was executed well and he was held to only 10 points. Murphy's frustration as the game progressed was visible as the Falcons showed him what good team basketball looks like.
At this point in the season it is difficult to imagine making only 53% of your free throws and beating an undefeated team like Brennan (now 11-1). But the Lake squad did just that. Sticking to their game plan, executing it well and excellent team basketball were the keys to the Falcons victory.
Most coaches can't help but be impressed with the quality and depth of Lake's guards - Orion Lewis, Bradley George, and Chris West with backup from Peter Yim, TJ Gittens, and Mac Manuel. But this could cause a coach to overlook the athleticism of Alex Westby (tournament MVP) and the basketball acumen of Chris Stenerson who almost always seems to be at the right place at the right time. Stenerson was out with the flu and was still in bed sick on the first day of the tournament which makes his performances on Friday and Saturday even more noteworthy.
Another major key to Lake's impressive win over the highly regarded Brennan bunch was the significant contributions from Lake's bench. Every Lake player who walked onto the floor made a timely contribution to the winning effort. Xavier Fogle's clutch trey at a much needed point in the contest; Ryan Lucas's tie ball that caused a Brennan technical foul to be assessed; a timely steal by TJ Gittens; and excellent defense by Nick Winfield, Peter Yim and Mac Manuel all contributed to an impressive victory.
As I said two weeks ago, "This is going to be a very special season". Clear Lake now has a lull with no games for the next two weeks. Their next outing will be December 29th at the Austin Westlake Classic. This will be the fourth year Lake has played in this tournament.
Game 3: Lake 48 - Cedar Park 37.
Game 2: Lake 66 - San Antonio Lanier 51
Game 1: Lake 71 - Gregory Portland 23
Tuesday, 12-9-14 Lake 56 - La Porte 52
Carlisle Krueger Classic Tournament (Dec 4-6)
Saturday, Dec. 6, Day 3 of CCISD Tournament
Clear Lake defeated Houston Sterling 69-61.
Friday, Dec 5, Day 2 of CCISD Tournament
In the first game Clear Lake defeated Clear Falls 55-46. Chris West led his team with 14 points. Alex Westby had 12 while Bradley George had 10.
In the 8pm game Clear was defeated by Elkins 60-55. Orion Lewis led his team with 14 points and Chris West had 13.
Thursday, Dec 4, 2014, Game 1 of CCISD Tournament - Clear Lake defeated Pasadena 72-47.
Tuesday, December 2, Game 4, Fort Bend Marshall at Lake
17th ranked in 5A, FB Marshall, and their excellent coach Gary Nichols, came into Krueger Field House Tuesday evening knowing they had the height advantage but knowing Lake's cadre of guards would be among the very best they would face all season. Lake's superb ball handling, free throw shooting (16 of 21, 76%) and penetration in the paint proved too much for the tall, rangy Marshall bunch with Lake prevailing 66-57 (By the way, Marshall was a perfect 14 of 14 from the free throw line).
Balanced Lake scoring featuring three Lake scorers in double figures with almost no long range shooting showed just how versatile the Lake squad really is. Lake scored no points off 3 point shots off only 7 attempts. Excellent performances by all of Lake's starters combined with a timely standout performance by Ryan Lucas off the bench had to impress most onlookers. This Lake team has been so well prepared that they appear to have played at least 12 to 15 games already (actually only played 4). This is going to be a very special season.
