Clear Lake Falconhoops

A food I won't touch is.....hospital food
Favorite movie of all time: Scary Movie 2
My must-see TV show: Family Guy

Hobbies: Computer, sports, music
Other sports or school activities I participate in: none
What makes me laugh is....comedy
My family says that I am: Loved
If I could change one thing about basketball I would .....lower the rims so I could dunk.
The best player I have ever played with (or against) is ....Armie Lewis and Kendrell Thompson
Person I would most like to meet (dead or alive): God
What I like most about Clear Lake High School is The Tradition
I would like to attend college at: Texas State or UTSA, UNT
My plans after high school are: attend college and become successful in life.
What I would like for people to remember about me:I am a good young man.

Clear Lake 71 - Brazoswood 66

The Brazoswood Buccaneers entered their gym touting an 18-2 record which certainly must have caused some concern in the minds of Clear Lake Falcon fans, coaches, and players. With maybe one exception it has been almost two decades since facing the Buccs in basketball was cause for alarm for the usually dominant Falcons.

The Buccs started four sophomores including a small point guard who looked to be about 11 years old. But there was a reason he was on the floor. Certainly not for the strength of his defense but he was a deadly threat from outside and not to be taken lightly. With the Falcons Matt McCollum and Nick Arrington alternating as floor general, they were not bothered by the young defender.

The game started off right when Jacob Horton hit his first shot, a three pointer from the left. Jacob went 5 of 6 from the field in the first quarter and early second quarter before missing a couple of attempts. Horton led his teammates with 20 points for the outing (60% from the field).

The Buccs strategy on offense was apparent from the get-go......take the ball inside and score, usually by 6'3" sophomore Cody Bryant (#35). After the first quarter, Bryant found little resistance from the Falcons from the same spot under the rim as he poured them in again and again. With emphasis on working the ball inside, the Buccs had a good balance of outside and inside shooting as they trailed Clear Lake throughout the first three quarters.

Without Kyle Ashton at 100% and with Jake McKnight still a bit bruised up, the Falcons rely heavily on outside shooting because they are almost all good outside shooters. In the first period, the Falcons pulled out to an early lead due to their impressive outside shooting, reliable work off the bench, and hard work on defense. With 2:57 remaining in the quarter, a trey by Nick on his first attempt, made it 8-13, Lake up by 5. Falcon defense consistently denied any decent shot attempts by the Buccs throughout much of the first quarter and they had to rely on free throws early on. The Falcons scored an impressive 25 points in the first quarter with the Buccs trailing with 13. Excellent defense by the Falcons. The foul count was 4-7 at the close of the first quarter so the Buccs would be in 1 and 1 bonus the entire second quarter.

One minute into the second quarter Lake went up 15-30 to force a Bucc time-out. Up to this point Lake shooting from outside was stunning as the impressive and confident Falcons nailed almost everything they put up. But then the Falcons decided to take a mental break for a couple of minutes and they made a few mistakes resulting in turnovers (also due to Bucc defensive adjustments). With the score 20-32 after three minutes of play in the second quarter, Jared Miller was forced to the bench with three fouls. With 1:11 remaining in the first half, two Bucc free throws made it 28-37 at halftime. After going 5 of 7 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, the Falcons went 1 of 6 in the second quarter. The Buccs shot 15 free throws resulting in 11 points in the first half. Very poor rebounding by the Falcons in the first half as they were out-rebounded 17-5.

The second half started off right when a beautiful feed from Matt allowed Nick to drive the lane and score on a right side layup. Then a feed inside from Jacob enabled Jared to shoot his little hook shot to bring the score to 28-41. Bucc free throws made it 31-41 at the 6:30 mark. As Lake continued to crank it up a couple more quick baskets made it 33-48 with 3:10 remaining in the third quarter. Then, with just over 2 minutes left in the third quarter, Jared hit Mark McCollum at the top of the key, Mark drove the lane to put the score at 33-50, the largest lead so far. Jared left the game with four fouls with 53 seconds remaining in the third quarter. At the end of three, it was 40-54.

The Buccs came back strong to start the final period and noticeably outplayed the Falcons to bring the score to 44-54 in the first 50 seconds of the quarter. Up to this point the Buccs had not had to rely heavily on their outside shooting because they were scoring so easily in the paint. With 5:53 remaining the Buccs again charged into the paint and made it a 5 point game when their #35 hit another bucket and a free throw.

With the score at 49-54, Kyle Ashton announced his intentions by scoring four successive baskets and adding a free throw with the last goal to make it 53-63. Kyle scored 10 points in the paint in the fourth quarter. It was almost as if the Buccs had repeatedly forgotten about the sly fox lurking under the rim. After a couple of turnovers, with 3:09 remaining and the score at 55-63, Kyle got a big time defensive rebound to secure the ball for Lake at a critical juncture.

At the 1:14 mark when the Buccs went into desperation mode, a free throw by Nick made it 61-68 on an intention foul call. Lake hit 7 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter. The final score was 66-71.

Reflections: Despite being out-rebounded and their poor defense in the paint, Clear Lake played very well but missed three critical free throws in the final 1:12 of the game.The Buccs outplayed and scored more easily than Lake in the second half which is cause for concern. Brazoswood will be a significant force in the district this year (and for the next two years) which will make the long drive down there seem worth it.

For the highlight reel: In the final minutes of the game a blocking foul on defender Mark McCollum was made by the Austin-based officials brought in for the game. The call should clearly have been made as a charge on the Bucc offender driving to the hoop. It was a textbook charge. This video should be used by officials in training for the example of how to make the perfect bad call.

Sadly, two of the three imported refs have called games in the state tournament including the one who blew this call. Can you imagine a call that bad when the state championship is on the line?

If you are wondering why officials were brought in from Austin I will hazzard a guess. This summer the officials tried to get a raise in the amount paid for each game but it was rejected. They did get a raise in the travel allowance to 58 cents per mile. This was done at a time when the cost of a barrel of oil was at an all-time high and still climbing. So what we are seeing happen is officials are traveling more. Greater distances equals more cost to the schools per game but not necessarily that much more in the pockets of each official. Many might consider this a strong arm tactic by the officials association to bring the school districts around to their way of thinking. Just a guess on my part.

In other district action

Clear Springs 76 at Clear Brook 77
Alvin 45 at Clear Creek 46
Galveston Ball 64 at Dickinson 55

Action photos of this game will be posted by Saturday at 8 p.m. To view photos of this game, go to  Current Season Photos   . Sometimes you can use the Browser's "BACK" or "BACK Arrow" to return to this website.

Individual Scoring:

Jacob Horton 20 (2 blocks)

Kyle Ashton 12,

Mark McCollum 6 (7 rebounds, 4 assists), Nick Arrington 6 (5 assists), Jared Miller 6, Jackson Hardage 6, Blake Gregorcyk 4, Brick Pomeroy 4, Jake McKnight 4, Matt McCollum 3 (6 assists, 5 steals)

Name: Jake McKnight
Birthday: October 18, 1991
Jersey number: 33
Elementary school attended: Bay Elementary
Intermediate school attended: Seabrook Intermediate
Number of years playing school basketball: 5
Graduating Class of 2010

Favorite subject: Math
Fave teacher: Schaafs
Favorite NBA or college player(s): Kobe Bryant
Favorite book: Harry Potter
Last book I read for fun: Harry Potter

Favorite food: Steak
Fave dessert: Chocolate Milkshake
A food I won't touch is..... Oysters
Favorite movie of all time: The Dark Knight
My must-see TV show: Scrubs

Hobbies:
Other sports or school activities I participate in: Swimming
What makes me laugh is.... Daniel Tosh
My family says that I am: Awesome
If I could change one thing about basketball I would ..... Make a dunk 3 points
The best player I have ever played with (or against) is ....
Person I would most like to meet (dead or alive): Will Ferrell
What I like most about Clear Lake High School is the parking lady.
I would like to attend college at: A&M
My plans after high school are: go to college
What I would like for people to remember about me: my incredible good looks.

Name: Blake Gregorcyk
Birthday: Sept 18, 1991
Jersey number: 20 & 3 (Red uniform)
Elementary schools attended: Ward Elem (K-1st), NorthPointe (2nd-4th), Falcon Pass (5th)
Intermediate school attended: Space Center
Number of years playing school basketball: 6

Graduating Class of 2010
Favorite subject: Math
Fave teacher: Coach Frye
Favorite NBA or college player(s): Kobe Bryant
Favorite book: The Alchemist
Last book I read for fun: Everything is Illuminated

Favorite food: steak
Fave dessert: BJ's Oreo Pizookies
 A food I won't touch is.....most vegetables
Favorite movie of all time: Fight Club
My must-see TV show: The Daily Show
Hobbies: basketball, video games
Other sports or school activities I participate in: DECA
What makes me laugh is....Stephen Colbert
My family says that I am: funny and crazy

If I could change one thing about basketball  .....refs wouldn't call so many fouls.
The best player I have ever played with (or against) is Markel Brown
Person I would most like to meet (dead or alive): Kobe Bryant
What I like most about Clear Lake High School is basketball.
I would like to attend college at: UT
My plans after high school are: college, study abroad, & major in Business
What I would like for people to remember about me: everything.