Clear Lake Falconhoops

 Clear Lake 66 – Clear Creek 55 

How to describe our Clear Lake Falcons in one word? Superb competitors! Okay, that is two words but the Falcons are not just competitors, they are superb competitors. Anyone who witnessed the match-up between the Falcons (now 21-5) and the underdog Clear Creek Wildcats (14-13) Tuesday night in the Krueger Field House might have made several observations about the state-ranked Falcons. 

Observation 1.

Maybe Clear Lake deserves their state ranking based on the way they came back in the second half after being so outplayed in the first half. 

Don’t be misled by Clear Creek's record. With new coach Chris Romine at the helm Clear Creek has a very good basketball team and #23 TCU bound 6’6” guard Logan Lancon (18 points) and #41 Ian Davis (17 points) made it obvious. So obvious in fact that it appeared the Wildcats would have their way with the struggling Falcons based on first half performance where the Falcons did not look like one of the top teams in the state. The Wildcats scored with ease from midrange throughout most of the first half as they impressed the crowd with their ease of scoring and shooting accuracy while the Falcons shooting from the field was poor in the first quarter but better in the second quarter.  

Despite Lake having a better basketball team at this point of the season, the Falcons were noticeably outplayed in almost every aspect of the game from the outset but the Falcons came out in the second half and dominated the game. In the second half it was like Lake brought in a different team with the same faces and bodies with improved judgment and increased determination and energy. (You gotta love those half time “talks”). 

Cody Kinsey kept the Alvin and Galveston Ball scouts busy writing as he had his career best performance with a game high 26 points. Cody shot 86% (6 of 7) of his 2’s and 50% (4 of 8) of his treys. Andrew Gorie’s defense in the first half inspired his teammates as did Jay Williams’ awesome efforts on both ends of the court throughout the game. Foul trouble kept both players off the court in both halves of the game. More about that later. Jason Hollis had another standout performance as his hard work and determination were a factor throughout the game. Jason had seven assists which is his career high so far. Mark McCollum’s stabilizing influence when he is in the game stood out again. 

Observation 2.

The Falcons’ depth off the bench is a dominant factor. 

Clear Lake has the most depth of any Lake team in almost twenty years. In the second half the Wildcats shooting percentage waned due to some fatigue no doubt and improved Falcon defense. Meanwhile the Falcons doubled their shooting accuracy from the field (3 of 3 treys, 12 of 20 two’s) in the second half. Lake never looked tired and almost every Falcon scored, always a good sign.

Reserve Brian Campbell’s speed and quickness on both ends of the court were really accentuated in the second half. By the way, Brian is playing with a facemask due to a broken nose from last Thursday’s practice but his obscured vision did not impair his speed. In fact the face guard may work to the team’s advantage because it looks so ominous.

Kevin Anderson continued to come off the bench and make us all proud. And Steve Hartman, off the bench, wow!  

Observation 3.

The Falcons are capable of playing outstanding defense when they make up their minds. 

Steve Hartman’s nickname should be “Sparky”. He came into the game off the bench and absolutely sparked his team with his effort (especially in the second half), his impressive speed and his quickness (not just on defense). Andrew Gorie had one of his better defensive outings for the season so far. With four blocked shots Jay Williams looked like he was having some fun as he hustled up and down the floor (Creek’s post Ian Davis was held to two baskets in the second half). Another set of rock solid defensive performances from savvy Mark McCollum and Jason Hollis. Kyle Ashton’s athleticism continued to shine as he logged another undeterred outing. Keep in mind these guys are going to get even better before the season is over. 

Observation 4.

Even less than acceptable officiating can be overcome when they want it bad enough (also proving the Falcons do not have to rely on free throws to win).  

The Falcons foul a lot but the fouls called in this game were the most one sided against Lake ever called in the Lake gym (based on my recollections and the comments of several Clear Lake long time fans). It brought back memories of playing at Galveston Ball High years ago where, for several years, the officiating was so lopsided that officials had to be brought in from another region, usually San Antonio, to get an impartial game called. 

The foul count against the Lake squad was 12-3 in the first half and 11-2 in the second half with four minutes remaining in the game. The actual fouling was not nearly that one sided and too many no-calls often afforded Creek an advantage.

Creek scored 15 points off free throws (15 of 20) while Lake scored 5 of 8. In the first half Creek shot 12 free throws; Lake shot 1. Clear Lake shot 5 of 8 free throws in the game which includes a couple of frustration fouls by Creek once Lake spread the floor and played ball control to run the clock.  The average number of free throws Clear Lake shoots per game this season is 21. The 8 free throws Clear Lake shot is the lowest of the season and 13 below their average! Let’s assume these competent officials were impartial and just say they had an off night and leave it at that. Yeah, Right. 

Photos for this game can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/falconhoops200708  no later than Thursday evening, January 17.

Individual Scoring:

Cody 26 points (game high, Varsity career high) (4 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists),

Brian 9, Andrew 7 (6 rebounds, 3 steals), Steve 6, Jay 6 (4 blocked shots), Kevin 4, Kyle 4, Mark 3, Jason 1 (7 assists, 2 steals)

no article forthcoming 

Overview:

It was a very good basketball game with Clear Lake leading by as much as 13 points. Lake led the entire game until the last minute.

The leading scorer in the Greater Houston area, Clear Brook's Anthony Miles, led all scorers with 20 points, 14 coming off free throws (11 in the second half) and only 3 baskets from the field.

Lake controlled the tempo of the game and led 21-10 at the end of the first quarter despite  lopsided officiating.

Brook scored 23 points off 34 free throws. Lake scored 9 of 13 in the game.

Twice as many fouls were called on Clear Lake as on Clear Brook in both the first and the second quarter.

Clear Lake went 0 of 9 from three point range.

Clear Brook believed if they could stop Lake's leading scorer, Cody Kinsey, and control the boards, they would prevail. Cody scored 4 points (seven below his average). Brook got 21 offensive rebounds; Lake got 7.

Clear Lake failed to make key substitutions late in the game that could have made the difference.

Clear Lake played very impressive team basketball at times.

Steve Hartman led his team with 16 points and some terrific defense. He noticeably outplayed Anthony Miles except at the free throw line.

A few too many times Clear Lake players used poor judgment and  passed up more obvious shots than they have in any game this season.

With 6:30 remaining in the game Lake was up by 10. At 1:04 left Brook tied it with a jumper from the left wing. Brook went ahead with 49 seconds remaining. Multiple missed shots by Lake prevented the Falcons from tying the game in the last minute.

Most prevalent factor: Clear Lake had too many bonehead, unforced errors in the game, especially in the fourth quarter. At times Lake beat themselves when Brook was not beating them. The quickness of the Brook guards was a major influencing factor on both ends of the court throughout the game. Lake had 25 turnovers in the game, their second highest of the season. 

Photos for this game can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/falconhoops200708  

Individual Scoring:

Steve 16, Jay 12 (7 rebounds, 6 blocked shots), Andrew 12 (3 blocked shots),

Jason 4 (5 assists), Brian 4, Cody 4, Kyle 2

Clear Lake 52 – Pearland 43 

Friday night the Clear Lake Falcons traveled to Pearland to face the 14-13 Oilers in Lake’s third District 24-5A game. After a poor shooting exhibition earlier in the week at Brazoswood it was hoped that the Falcons would get back on track and continue their winning ways.  

With the level of Pearland talent not quite up to the level usually seen from the Oilers two things were certain from Coach Steve Buckalew’s squad – they would be strong defensively and they would be well coached. The strategic chess game between the two veteran coaches was fun to watch but the 19-5 Falcons were just too much horsepower for the underdog Oilers. 

At the 6:32 mark in the first quarter of the contest Cody Kinsey nailed his first of five treys in the first half - always a good sign when Lake’s leading scorer hits his first basket. With a collective sigh of relief from many Clear Lake fans the handwriting was on the wall. Lake would never trail in the game but the scrappy Oilers kept it closer than it should have been by often scoring easily on the Falcons. 

Clear Lake’s largest lead of the evening was 16 points at the end of the third quarter. The determined Oilers fought back to an eight point deficit in the fourth quarter but a timely layup by Cody and the excellent free throw shooting of the Falcons in the fourth quarter (7 of 8) would make the difference. The Oilers held the impressive Falcons 7 points below their game average scoring despite Lake’s Cody Kinsey putting on a shooting exhibition going 7 of 8 from the field. Kinsey had a game high 21 points for the night. 

Photos for this game can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/falconhoops200708  by Monday, January 14.

Individual Scoring:

Cody 21 (7 of 8 from the field, 4 assists),

Jay 10 (8 rebounds),

Steven 5, Jason 4, Andrew 4 (3 blocked shots), Kyle 4, Kevin 2, Jacob 2

The Houston Chronicle reported the game high scorer as Lake's Jacob Horton with 21. The day will soon arrive when Jacob will amaze the crowd with his outside shooting and consistently score over 20 but in this case the game high scorer with 21 was Lake's Cody Kinsey. 

Today's featured video is from the Clear Brook game on January 2, 2008. It features 25 Mark McCollum in three  clips.

Click on the camera icon.

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Videos courtesy of Kyle Snow

Clear Lake 60 – Brazoswood 56 

Every year when the annual trek to Brazoswood is made, you wonder “Will this be the year when the Buccs finally whip the Clear Lake Falcons?” Sooner or later it has to happen but it should not this season because the Lake squad is ranked ninth in the latest regional rankings, in the top twenty in the state, and the Brazoswood bunch is not even in their league. No one told the scrappy Buccs this though.  

Had it not been for Andrew Gorie’s quickness, his inside game, outstanding team free throw shooting, and some good defense the Clear Lake Falcons would have been keelhauled by the Brazoswood Buccaneers in their first district meeting of the 2007-08 season. The Falcons did not play poorly against the underdog Buccs but Lake shot so poorly from the field that it is amazing they won the game. 22 points by Gorie and 34 of 38 free throws made the difference in what was suppose to be an easy victory for the Falcons against one of the weakest teams in the district.  

Brazoswood  played very good defense, attacked the basket well on offense, and shot very well. The Buccs went 16 of 22 from the charity stripe. Two of Lake’s top three scorers did not make a basket from the field. Not one Lake three pointer was made by the team (0 of 11). Brazoswood was 2 of 9. Only two or three outside shots went in for the Falcons who shot 24% from the field. When you take away the inside shots and put-backs it becomes apparent just how abysmal the Falcons shooting from the field was in this nightmare. 

The game was tied four times the latest being at the 5:47 mark in the fourth quarter with the score at 44. Clear Lake made only one basket  in the remainder of the game but made 15 free throws. Throughout most the game Lake could not shoot the ball in close without being fouled. Lake went into their ball control, run the clock offense halfway through the fourth quarter.

It is unknown why the Buccs leading scorer Drew Sellers saw very limited playing time. Fortunately for the Falcons, Sellers, the Buccs only double digit scorer for the season, did not score one point.   

Sometimes you just have a bad night. It makes it worse when inexperienced officials let it get too rough at times. All three refs are in their first year on the varsity level. Lake will quickly bounce back from this uncharacteristic shooting slump when the Falcons travel to Pearland Friday night. 

Photos for this game can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/falconhoops by Wednesday, January 10.

Individual Scoring:
Andrew 22 (12 of 14 free throws),

Jason 10 (6 of 6 FT's),

Jay 8 (6 of 6 FT's), Steven 6, Cody 5, Kyle 5, Brian 2, Mark 2