Clear Lake Falconhoops

Name: Jared Miller
Birthday: 8-3-90
Jersey number: 43
Elementary school attended: Brookwood
Intermediate school attended: Space Center
Number of years playing school basketball: 6
Graduating Class of 2009

Favorite subject: Science
Fave teacher: Coach Betters
Favorite NBA or college player(s): Kevin Garnett
Favorite book: The Bible
Last book I read for fun: never have read for fun

Favorite food: chicken
Fave dessert: vanilla ice cream

A food I won't touch is.....seafood
Favorite movie of all time: Felon
My must-see TV show: Family Guy

Hobbies: Girls
Other sports or school activities I participate in: none
What makes me laugh is....my little brother Cole
My family says that I am: one COOL Dude
If I could change one thing about basketball I would .....get points when I take a charge.
The best player I have ever played with (or against) is ....Steve Novack
Person I would most like to meet (dead or alive): Michael Jordan
What I like most about Clear Lake High School is...the Girls
I would like to attend college at: UTSA
My plans after high school are: college
What I would like for people to remember about me:  that I am a nice guy.

Galveston Ball

1-16-09

Martin Dehlinger

The Galveston Daily News tabbed tonight’s matchup as the game of the week in the greater Houston area. Unfortunately Clear Lake was nowhere to be found. Both teams walked into the game with undefeated district records so someone was going to have to lose. It seems Clear Lake has not had a completely healthy team since the beginning of the holidays. Mark McCollum was the latest casualty suffering a right shoulder sprain in practice earlier this week. The game was played in front of a packed house in the always loud and energetic Galveston Ball High School gym. This was the first meeting of the two apparent heavyweights of District 24-5A.

Jacob Horton got the team on the board early with a three 11 seconds into the game, followed by another by Nick Arrington. Things were looking good for the Falcons until # 31 Ismael Ruiz got his hands on the ball. Ruiz was a force all night terrorizing Clear Lake on the offensive and defensive boards. Desperate for a spark and some rebounding help, Coach McDonald put in his injured captain, Mark McCollum, whom did not start due to his shoulder. The Falcons hot start was a thing of the past by the end of the first quarter with their lack of size and poor rebounding being the number one concern entering the second quarter.            

Lake began the second quarter trailing Galveston Ball 14-10. The second period was all about who was going to capitalize on turnovers. With Nick Arrington being forced to the bench with a 3^rd personal foul midway through the second quarter, the ball handling responsibilities were left up to Matt McCollum. Matt countered the Galveston Ball pressure defense with silky smooth ball handling and precision passes. Kyle Ashton, starting in his first game in nearly a month and a half due to injury, exploded late in the second quarter to score 8 points in the quarter. Ashton finished with a game high 17. Clear Lake trotted off the court and into the locker room with a bad taste in its mouth after allowing a second buzzer beater to end the quarter.

The Alvin Yellow Jackets entered this game with a 0-5 district record. They must have forgotten that fact because they played like a 5-0 team. 

The first quarter started with Mark McCollum showing why he is so valuable to the team. The very first possession he grabbed two offensive rebounds and finally powered his way up to finish with a lay-up. Mark finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, nearing a triple double. Jacob Horton who had a game high 23 points, received the ball on a swing pass and dished a smooth pass to Jared Miller on the short corner for a perfect jump shot. Nick Arrington came off of the bench in the first quarter as the sixth man and showed how important a role he plays on the team by nailing a three pointer to tie the game up at ten apiece. Mark grabbed another offensive rebound and scored on a lay-up to put Lake ahead by the score of 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Mark began the second quarter with a perfect pass to Jackson Hardage for a strong lay-up under the basket. Later in the period Nick passed the ball in bounds to Jacob for a deep corner three on a perfect out of bounds play. # 3 Tyler Archie of Alvin would not let his team go away, getting to the bucket on seemingly every possession to make something happen. Free throws by Archie made the score 20-23 Lake down by three with a minute to go in the half. Jake McKnight took matters into his own hands with a clever post move to get the bucket and the free throw. The first half ended with the score tied at 23-23. 

The third quarter started off much slower than the first two but after a Jacob Horton three and a Horton steal finished by a dunk, Alvin needed a timeout. Tyler Archie of Alvin responded to the timeout scoring the next five points to tie the game up at 28-28 with four minutes in the third. Matt McCollum distributed another assist to his brother for a three pointer. Nick also drained a three with 45 seconds remaining. Alvin had a response with a half-court buzzer beater to cut the deficit to 38-36 at the end of the third. 

Kyle Ashton entered the fourth quarter with six points; he would get nine in this quarter alone. Kyle is used to leading his team to victory being the recipient of the “Mr. Clutch award” in middle school basketball leading Seabrook to a 33-3 record in two years, shout out to the Spartans. Kyle countered Archie’s continuous lay-ups and free throws by doing the same thing. Ashton tied the game at 47 with a post move followed by a made free throw. With 4 minutes to go, the tension was building in a hurry. Every time Alvin began to create a lead someone from Lake was always there to stop it. This time Jacob Horton was the culprit with a three pointer from the parking lot to tie the game at 52 apiece with 2:15 remaining. Later in the quarter Matt McCollum displayed his keen sense for the ball on defense creating a steal. The ball was knocked out of his possession with some physical play but Matt dove on it and saved the possession by calling a timeout with 40 seconds to go.