Clear Lake Falconhoops

Clear Lake 67 - Clear Creek 59 in overtime.

 

1-13-09

Martin Dehlinger

Mdehlinger2525@yahoo.com          

It doesn’t take much to get excited for Clear Lake Basketball, especially as of late with the Falcons entering the game on a four game winning streak. But anytime The Falcons play their archrivals Clear Creek, it’s always a sight to see. This wasn’t their first matchup of the season. The first was in the CCISD Classic which Lake won by a score of 70-48, with Kyle Ashton and Matt McCollum pouring in season highs of 28 and 15 points respectively. 

Clear Lake started the game off slowly with a pair of missed three point field goals. It wasn’t until Jacob Horton’s trio of free throws that finally put them on the board for the first time. Soon afterwards Mark McCollum made a perfect spin move jump shot off a steal, to put the Falcons ahead 8-3 with 3:15 left in the first quarter. 

With a score at 11-10 entering the second quarter the Falcon faithful weren’t sure what to expect from their beloved team. The game sped up but not in favor of Clear Lake with  Creek's #10 Drew Spangler hitting a pair of three pointers to jumpstart the Wildcats. Lake wasn’t rattled and gave the ball to Blake Gregorcyk who hit all three free throws after being fouled and then a lay-up to put them up 20-19 with 3:27 remaining in the second quarter. Coach McDonald’s team entered halftime down 26-23.  

Coming out of halftime Clear Lake knew it needed to do something different, Nick Arrington had this to say “It was hard coming back from 2/8 shooting beyond the arc. Coming out of half we knew we had to put the ball in the hole and rebound and for the most part we did that.” Arrington took matters into his own hands when he hit a deep three to start off the second half. Nick was plenty busy collecting five steals in a physical point guard matchup with #5 Denzel Benson.

Still recovering from his ailing left foot Kyle Ashton scored seven points and five rebounds. Kyle added another highlight play by finishing a teammate’s missed lay-up at the rim. Jared Miller hit a trio of reverse lay-ups to give him six points for the night including intimidating post defense and rebounding throughout the game.

Clear Lake entered the fourth quarter down 39-37. Matt McCollum started off the quarter the right way with a big three pointer to put Lake ahead 40-39. McCollum tied his season high of 15 points which was also against Clear Creek earlier this season. Later in the quarter Creek increased the lead to five until Matt made a lay-up with 3:30 remaining in the fourth. The rally continued with Jacob “Snake” Horton hitting a clutch three pointer with three minutes to go making it 47-49 Creek.

Lake needed a stop; Kyle Aston was there to draw a game changing charge. Following the charge Nick drew a foul driving to the bucket and sunk both free throws tying the game up at 49 apiece with two minutes to go. Clear Creek answered the call with a three pointer. The next possession team capitan Mark McCollum caught the ball on the left wing of the court and nailed a three that looked like an impossible angle that made the score 52-51 with 1:22 remaining. The Kruger Krazies erupted and ignited the lackluster crowd to that point. Mark McCollum was fouled on the next possession and hit both free throws. Creek wasn’t done yet though, with #5 Benson hitting a game-tying three point field goal at the top of the key to make it 54-54 with 24 seconds remaining. The Falcons had a shot to win it but it rimmed out.  The game had eight lead changes in regulation play and went to overtime.

Overtime is not a new thing to the Falcons who are undefeated in two previous district contests. Pre-district wins over Milby at home in the season opener and Deer Park in double overtime in the Baytown Lee College Tournament helped the Falcons prepare for the extra period.

Creek started off the overtime period with a deep three by #41. Lake continued to fight back like it had been doing all night with two easy free throws by Matt McCollum. Finally the Falcons began to pull away with a huge three pointer by who else but Jacob Horton to make the score 62-59 with 1:15 remaining. Lake closed out the game with a series of free throws and won the game 67-59 putting them at 16-7 overall and 3-0 in District 24-5A competition.

After the game Mark McCollum was asked about how it feels to beat their rivals and how they played and had this to say “It feels good. It shows sometimes we don’t play our best but we do what needs to be done to win and that can be attributed to the great chemistry that we have.”

Nick Arrington was asked what Creek did differently compared to their previous meeting, “They came out with more intensity and wanted revenge from the 20 point blowout we gave them. They really exposed our weaknesses but we fought through it and came out with a big win in OT.”

This win will be short-lived with an always tough away game Friday against Galveston Ball who is also undefeated in District play. The Galveston Ball game is always an interesting game to watch because sadly the outcome of the game is not always up to the players. It usually is determined by the officiating. Needless to say this Friday at Galveston Ball High School will be a great preview to see who can take control of District 24-5A. 

          -Martin Dehlinger    

In other district action:
Brazoswood 64 at Galveston Ball  77
Clear Brook 72 at Alvin  61
Dickinson 60 at Clear Springs 65

Action photos of this game should be posted by Wednesday midnight. To view photos of this game once they are posted, go to  Current Season Photos   . Sometimes you can use the Browser's "BACK" or "BACK Arrow" to return to this website.

Individual Scoring:

Matt McCollum 15, Jacob Horton 12,

Mark McCollum 9 (9 rebounds, 6 assists), Nick Arrington 9 (5 steals), Kyle Ashton 7 (5 rebs.), Jared Miller 6, Blake Gregorcyk 5,
Brick Pomeroy 2, Jackson Hardage 2,

 

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	11	36	30.5%
3's	8	27	29.6%
free throws	21	27	77.7%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4	OT
Clear Lake	11	23	37	54	67
Clear Creek	10	26	39	54	59

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	OT
Clear Lake	11	12	14	17	13
Clear Creek	10	16	13	15	5

REBOUNDS	Clear Lake	Clear Creek
Offensive	8	14
Defensive	17	24

(per game averages for the varsity team as of February 25,  2009, after 35 games)

points scored	60.5 avg.
points against	54.6 avg.
2 pt. field goal %	43.9%
3 pt. field goal %	33.1%
free throw %	70.9%
rebounds	22.3
steals	8.2
blocked shots	2.2
fouls	15.6
turnovers	14.9
assists	17.8

 

 

          The previous meeting between the Falcons and the Gators can be thrown out the window. The last time the two teams faced off Clear Lake put up 85 points. Dickinson is a completely different team from the team that took a 41 point beating at the hands of the Falcons.  

          Mark McCollum started things off right with a three pointer from the wing. Mark finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. #15 Dedrick Archie, from Dickinson led all scorers with 16 points.  Clear Lake's Blake Gregorcyk closed out the quarter with a deep three. Blake’s three put the score at 16-12 with Dickinson ahead. The first quarter was littered with missed lay-ups and opportunities for Clear Lake. 

          The Falcons went to their leading scorer, Kyle Ashton, in the second period. #4 Ashton scored two straight buckets to trim the lead to two points. Kyle had a monster game with 15 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and three assists. The next possession Jared Miller could not bring down the ball so he put in a nice tip in with four minutes to go. Miller’s tip gave Lake its first lead in the game. Matt McCollum, who has been hot lately, got the Falcons closer with two made free throws. Clear Lake trailed Dickinson at the half 28-24.  Lake needed something to counter the quickness of the tandem of guards for Dickinson. 

          In the third quarter Clear Lake came out of the gates running, literally, going on a 6-2 run highlighted by a steal by Matt, and a beautiful give and go from Matt to Jacob and finishing with a lay-up by Matt in what could only be regarded as impressive team basketball. The third period proved to be a period of runs because Dickinson followed Lake’s run with a 6-0 run themselves, making the score 34-30, Dickinson. After a Kyle Ashton three, Clear Lake recovered a loose ball and Jackson Hardage finished the hustle play with two points of his own. Jackson’s bucket put Lake ahead for the quarter by the score of 43-45.

           The final period began with Mark McCollum leading Lake to a 6-0 run with all six points being put in by Mark. The run was ignited with a jaw dropping backdoor play from Nick Arrington to Mark McCollum who finished with a lay-up at the rim. Nick Arrington led the team in assists with seven for the game. 

          After a three by Dickinson’s #11 trimming Lake’s lead to seven making it 46-53, neither team scored for the next 3:30 of the game. The next action came with 1:10 left in the game. Dickinson’s Archie went up for a lay-up and was fouled. On what seemed to be a quick whistle, Nick Arrington was called for a very untimely technical foul. Archie made all four free throws, and his teammate scored to make that a six point possession. In one play the Gators climbed back into the game.

          It was time for the Falcons to play defense and put the last play and poor officiating behind them. Matt McCollum understood that and with 15 seconds to go and Lake ahead by 1 they needed to do something. That something was a steal by #11 Matt McCollum.  The steal, probably the most key play of the game, proved to be the game winner and closed the door on any Dickinson comeback. Lake finished the game with an alley-oop to Jackson Hardage from Kyle Ashton. Jackson’s lay-up as time expired capped off a third straight game in which the Falcons games came down to the wire. Lake Beat Dickinson by the final score of 52-55.

         Clear Lake sits at fourth place (5-3) currently in the District with all the top teams winning their games Friday night. Clear Lake has another big matchup upcoming against Brazoswood on Tuesday and then Clear Creek the following Friday.          

For results of other District  action tonight, go to the District 24-5A Schedule/Scores Page. 

No action photos of this game are available. To view photos of previous games, go to  Current Season Photos   . Sometimes you can use the Browser's "BACK" or "BACK Arrow" to return to this website.

Kyle Ashton 15 (11 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists), Mark McCollum 14 (7 rebs., 4 assists, 5 of 5 free throws),

Jacob 8, Jackson 7 (5 rebs.), Matt 4 (4 steals, 3 assists, 1 CD),  Jared 4, Blake 3, Nick (7 assists).

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	17	33	51.5%
3's	4	14	28.5%
free throws	9	10	90.0%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	12	24	45	55
Dickinson	16	28	43	52

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	12	12	21	10
Dickinson	16	12	15	9

REBOUNDS	Clear Lake	Dickinson
Offensive	9	12
Defensive	17	10

 

 

Dickinson Game 1-07-09

by Martin Dehlinger

 

The 2009 Clear Lake Falcons District season started off with more questions than answers. Fortunately most of those were answered within the first half of the Dickinson game. Kyle Ashton, one of the pre-district season’s biggest Falcon contributors, broke his left foot in the Lee College tournament. The Dickinson game was his first game action in nearly a month. Kyle was asked how his foot felt after the game and had this to say. “It seemed like forever to get back on the court and just play.  It made me realize how much my teammates made up for my absence because they really picked up the slack for me. The only setback from my injury was some rust in my game but that goes with practice.” The Falcons jumped out to an early lead thanks to a three point barrage by Jacob Horton who finished the game with a season high of 26 points (9/11 FG). Jacob, who was on his way to shatter Clear Lake’s all-time three point field goal record of 9, was relegated to the bench due to the large lead Lake amassed. The current record is held by his mentor and former Falcon great Tim Glover.

The Falcons did not take a break on the defensive side of the ball. Lake’s 2-2-1 half court trap defense gave the Gators problems throughout the game, forcing turnovers and contested shots. Clear Lake entered halftime with a lead of 42-21.

 Things didn’t get any easier for Dickinson’s first game in 24-5A district play. Lake outscored them 26-11 in the third quarter alone. Kyle Ashton came in the game and showed what the Falcons were missing when he made a crowd pleasing, acrobatic lay-up in which he finished off with a free throw.

 Matt McCollum and Nick Arrington ran the team to perfection with the team totaling 27 assists. Mark McCollum stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, 8 rebounds, five assists and four steals.

A stellar shooting performance from Blake Gregorcyk, who came off the bench, to add 16 points with 6/10 shooting.

Jared Miller and Jackson Hardage combined for 12 points in a solid rebounding effort. Brick Pomeroy had an outstanding night as well adding nine points, eight assists and four steals.

With District 24-5A having a down year compared to recent years, the Falcons biggest test, at least on paper, so far appears to be the Brazoswood Buccaneers with a record of 18-2 and fresh off a three point victory against Clear Creek. This game will be played Friday at 7 o’clock at Brazoswood High School.

 Individual Scoring:

Jacob Horton 26 (9 of 11 from the field) Wow!

Blake Gregorcyk 16(6 of 10 from the field) Wow!

Mark McCollum 9 (8 rebs., 5 assists, 4 steals), Brick Pomeroy 9 (8 assists, 4 steals), Jackson Hardage 8, Nick Arrington 7, Jared Miller 4, Kyle Ashton 3, Matt McCollum 2, Jake McKnight 1

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	19	33	52.6%
3's	13	20	65.0%
free throws	8	9	88.9%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	23	42	68	85
Dickinson	12	21	32	44

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	23	19	26	27	85
Dickinson	12	9	11	12	44

REBOUNDS	Clear Lake	Dickinson
Offensive	7	10
Defensive	19	9

Action photos of this game should be posted by ...date/time. To view photos of any game this season, go to  Current Season Photos   . Use the Browser's "BACK" or "BACK Arrow" to return to this website.

 

points

free throws

FT %

2's

3's

FG %

assists

rebs

steals

blocks

charges taken

turnovers

MARK

KYLE

MATT

JACOB

BLAKE

NICK

BRICK

JAKE

JACKSON

JARED

TOTAL

 

 

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's			%
3's			%
free throws			%
their free throws			%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake

REBOUNDS	Clear Lake	Them
Offensive
Defensive