Clear Lake Falconhoops

Clear Lake won the Silver Division Championship with this win in double overtime.

Impressive victory considering Kyle Ashton was injured and did not play. Very close game (tied 8 times with several lead changes). Every player noticeably stepped up especially Jackson Hardage.  Outstanding play also from Nick Arrington, Matt McCollum, and Mark McCollum.  

In the Gold Division Championship Tommy Pender's Angleton speedsters defeated New Iberia Westgate by 9 points in a run-and-gun fest to take the crown.

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Individual Scoring:

Jacob 15 (3 assists), Jackson 14 (7 of 10, 4 rebounds), Matt 10 (4 assists, 3 steals),

Mark 9 (7 rebounds, 2 steals), Jake 6, Blake 3, Jared 2, Nick 1 (6 assists)

Clear Lake 67 - Brazoswood 62          

The Clear Lake Falcons faced the Brazoswood Buccaneers tonight at Kruger Field house.  Similar to the Falcons’ previous games, this one came down to the last few possessions. Tonight’s game was a battle for staying in playoff contention, and for Brazoswood a matter of climbing back into it. 

          Brazoswood showed right from the tip-off that they were not intimidated by the Falcons’ home court advantage. The Buc’s jumped out to an early 8-2 lead. Lake’s Team Captain Kyle Ashton, who had a team high 14 points, stopped the run with a reverse lay-up. Later in the quarter Kyle’s fellow co-Captain, Mark McCollum, finished off the quarter with a tough spin move lay-up to end the quarter. Mark finished with 13 points and 4 steals. Clear Lake trailed 12-16 after the first quarter.

           The second quarter started off with an unusual sequence of events after Brazoswood attempted to play six players. The officials caught it and called a technical foul.  Matt McCollum made one of two and finished the game with 13 points. Matt wanted to make up for his missed free throw and  he got the opportunity on the next possession. Mark drove the baseline and dished the ball to his twin brother for a three point bucket that tied the game at 16 apiece. Lake continued their mini-run with a nice handoff from Jackson Hardage to Kyle for the lay-up. Sixth man Nick Arrington drained a three with 3:43 to go to put the Falcons up 23-21. After a series of traded baskets Jacob Horton finished off the half with a three to even the score at 30 entering halftime.

          In a game that the Falcons absolutely needed to win to stay in playoff contention, the score was not easy on the Falcon faithful being tied after two quarters. Matt McCollum, who has had a string of very solid games, started the half off with a four point play. Matt’s comments on his shot.” After I hit the shot I heard the whistle and the ref told me to go to the free throw line. That was my first four point play ever.”  The rest of the quarter was a series of traded baskets. Mark McCollum drove to the basket and passed the ball to Jackson Hardage for an easy lay-up. The Falcons grabbed the lead with 2:14 remaining in the third by the score of 44-43. The Falcons never trailed after those two points. 

          The final period started with Clear Lake leading by the score of 48-45.  Mark McCollum jumped right into the action grabbing an offensive rebound leading to a strong put-back lay-up. Mark continued his solid game by penetrating the baseline and finishing with a lay-up. With three minutes remaining and Lake winning by three points, The Falcons turned to its leading scorer Kyle Ashton who scored the team’s next five points. Following his own two made free throws, Matt McCollum stole Brazoswood’s inbounds pass and like in the previous game sealed the deal with a steal. Matt was asked what he has been doing to force turnovers in the final minutes on opposing teams. “I just know that they are under a lot of pressure with the situation and when I get down and play tough D, they become overwhelmed and I take advantage.” 

         Clear Lake is currently tied with Clear Brook for third place, after Brook lost to Clear Springs at home tonight in overtime. Friday Clear Lake plays a Clear Creek team that is having a down year. But don’t expect an easy win out of the 1-8 team in district as they are playing at home. Every game for the Falcons seems to be getting increasingly important with playoff seeding being sorted out as the regular season winds down with only 5 district games left.

In other District 24 action: 

Clear Springs upset Clear Brook 80-74 in overtime.

Galveston Ball over Dickinson 71-67

Alvin defeated Clear Creek 64-62.

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Mark McCollum 13 (4 steals)

Kyle Ashton 14 (3 blocks)

Matt McCollum 13

Jacob Horton 12

Nick Arrington 3 (5 assists)

Jake McKnight - did not play due to injury of wrist in Dickinson game.

Jackson Hardage 10 (5 rebs.)

Jared Miller 2

During the season teams become familiar with each other. There was no team the Falcons were any more familiar with than the young Clear Springs Chargers, whom they have previously lost to twice this season. Clear Lake traveled to the new Clear Springs High School with hopes that the third time was a charm.         

The first five minutes of the first quarter was a battle of the Horton’s (not related). Lake’s Jacob Horton and Anthony Horton from Clear Springs combined for 11 of 13 first quarter points in the first five minutes. Jacob Horton scored a team high 18 points. Clear Springs' Anthony Horton countered to score a game high 23 points. Mark McCollum finished the first quarter off strong putting Clear Lake in the lead 16-10.         

The Falcons extended their lead to 21-12 with 6:43 remaining in the second period thanks to a Blake Gregorcyk three point basket. For awhile it looked like Clear Lake was carrying over its strong play from the previous game against Galveston on Tuesday. Clear Springs was here to show that its two game losing streek was a fluke. The Chargers certainly did that. They went on to have an 8-0 run. Clear Lake took a timeout with 3:31 in the second and the score 21-20, with Lake ahead by 1. The score stayed close for the remainder of the half with the advantage going to Clear Lake, 25-24.         

The third period was high scoring with both teams combining to score 42 points. Jacob Horton kept the Clear Lake lead at one making it 31-30 with two straight three pointers. Jackson Hardage helped out with a lay-up midway through the third quarter to extend the lead to three. Clear Springs would not go away though, countering every Lake bucket with one of their own. Kyle Ashton, who had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, helped Lake contend with Springs’ larger frontcourt. The quarter ended with Clear Springs eclipsing Clear Lake by one point at the end of the third quarter.         

In the final quarter Clear Springs got off to the early start extending the lead to five until Mark McCollum, who finished with 13 points, five assists, and four rebounds stole the ball at half-court, scored, got fouled and completed the three point play. Kyle Ashton finally tied the game up with 3:02 to go with the score tied at 52. That would be the closest Clear Lake would get. Springs shot an outstanding 83% from the free throw line compared to Lakes’ 71%. Clear Springs size and athleticism proved too much for the Falcons, with the final score being Clear Springs 65 and Clear Lake 57.          

The Falcons loss means they lose control of their own destiny, being tied for second with two other teams and not having the tiebreaker for either team. Clear Lake takes on Alvin at home on Tuesday in what will be the Seniors’ final home game at Krueger Field House. Then Lake travels to Brook to play for either second place or fourth and the best playoff seed they can get.

 --Martin Dehlinger 

In other district 24-5A action Friday night:

Brazoswood 47 at Alvin 65
Dickinson 69 at Clear Brook 64
Clear Creek 40 at Galveston Ball 62

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INDIVIDUAL SCORING 

Mark McCollum 13 (5 of 5 free throws, 5 assists, 4 rebs.)

Kyle Ashton 12 (10 rebounds)

Matt McCollum 7

Jacob Horton 18

Blake Gregorcyk 3

Nick Arrington 0

Brick Pomeroy - did not play

Jake McKnight -injury

Jackson Hardage 2

Jared Miller 2 (4 rebounds, 1 CD)

A nearly packed house arrived at Kruger Field house in high anticipation for the Clear Lake versus Galveston Ball game. The matchup was well hyped around the school for the past few days. It is very rare for games or anything for that matter to live up to the hype but this is one of those rare cases where it did. 8^th ranked Galveston Ball came in with an unblemished district record of 10-0. Clear Lake was tied for second place with two other teams sporting a 7-3 district record so you can see how outsiders would automatically pick Galveston to win. In the famous words of ESPN College Football Analyst Lee Corso “Not so fast my friend.”         

Clear Lake did not score on the opening jump as it is used to. It was Galveston that had the early lead. Ball High jumped out to a 5-0 advantage until 5:48 in the first when Matt McCollum hit a three pointer to get the Falcons on the board for the first time. Matt finished with a game high 21 points and four steals in a dominant performance believed to be his career best, certainly his season best performance for sure. Blake Gregorcyk decided to jump in on the action and followed an easy lay-up with a deep three pointer to close out the first quarter with Clear Lake trailing 13-15.         

Jared Miller began the second period with two made free throws to tie up the game. The score did not stay tied for long, # 31 Ismael Ruiz, their stud post, scored six straight points. Ruiz made two consecutive lay-ups that resulted in three point plays. A three pointer by Jacob Horton stopped the bleeding. Jacob finished second on the team with 14 points for the game and four clutch threes. A steal by Matt, led to a fast break lay-up by Kyle Ashton. Kyle finished with seven points and 12 rebounds. Clear Lake trailed entering halftime 30-36.          

Mark McCollum started the second half off by going to the free throw line making one of two shots. His twin brother’s three point shot with five minutes remaining in the third quarter gave Clear Lake their first lead of the game. Matt’s shot put the score at 37-36 with five minutes in the third. A steal by Jackson Hardage who had a rock solid game led to a Blake Gregorcyk three pointer. Blake, who seemed on a mission to make an impact on the game, stole the ball and finished one of the game changing plays of the evening with a lay-up. Clear Lake outscored Ball 16-5 in the third quarter leading to a five point lead with one quarter yet to play.          

Clear Lake had everything pointing to a victory....... the fans were excited, the team was making their shots, and all they needed to do was play eight more minutes of quality basketball. Galveston showed why it is such a good team starting out the quarter in a full court press that led to two straight turnovers and four straight points, cutting Clear Lake's lead to three points with 6:35 to go. A three pointer by Jacob Horton and a Matt McCollum lay-up put the Falcons ahead by eight with 5:11 to go. The building erupted with cheer and emotion. The Student section stood for its team cheering on the Falcons. After a Galveston lay-up cut the lead to 9 with 3:37 to go, Jacob answered with his final three point bucket of the night. His shot would expand the lead to 12 with 2:31 to go, an insurmountable lead for Galveston. The Kruger Krazies immediately started a “10-1” chant notifying the pesky Galveston fans that the Falcons are the only team to defeat them in district competition. The game ended with Clear Lake defeating Galveston Ball by the score of 69-61.         

This game would not have been the end of the Falcons season if they had lost. This game just showed how great a team they can potentially be when running on all cylinders. Lake is now tied with Clear Brook for second place in 24-5A standings due to a Clear Springs loss to Brazoswood. Hopefully Clear Lake can continue its four game winning streak Friday at Clear Springs High School in a race to the top of the district standings. 

Clear Lake 71 - Clear Creek 57          

With two previous match-ups between Lake and Creek before Friday, to say the two teams are familiar is an understatement. Lake had won the two previous games, one in the CCISD Tournament by 22 and the other at home in overtime by eight.           

The Lake team didn’t need much more to get pumped up about before the game, but the Wildcat fans seemed to provide that. After repeated yells and chants by Creek fans, the Kruger Krazies came in and quieted the Creek student section with a “what’s your record” yell (1-9.)