Clear Lake Falconhoops

 Clear Lake 64 – Compton Dominguez 66

What a great basketball game. It was the kind that diehard hoops fans live for. Compton Dominguez, the highly rated powerhouse (#13 in the state of California), and Clear Lake, an unknown Texas team coming into the tournament, met to do battle in the semifinal round of the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Clear Lake Team is the disciplined, methodical team basketball we play rather than the individual star player standout teams that play mostly a one-on-one game. Only one other team in the tourney falls into the very disciplined group.

Dominguez brought their D1 6’ 5”forward, #24 and their 6’9”post man #44 to the party and Clear Lake brought their 6’5” magician, Jimmy Witten and Andrew Gorie. Perhaps some did not expect the “small” Texas boys to play with the big kids. Dominguez is loaded with talent but their season has just started.

In the first quarter Clear Lake missed its first three attempts at the basket which was not a good sign. At 5:36 remaining in the quarter Dominguez made two free throws for the first score of the game. Then they nailed a three to make it 0 to 5. Armie Lewis then hit a three pointer to get Lake on the board before their 6’9” big man scored with ease to make it 3-7. Fulton Brisco hit a jump shot from the left side to add two for Lake. RJ Turner hit a contested shot in the paint to make it 7-9 with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter. Lake pulled ahead with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter when RJ snuck down and made a lay up, after Kendrell made a layup to tie it. Then another layup by RJ put Lake ahead 13-9 with 16 seconds left in the quarter.

35 seconds into the second quarter Christian Enriquez nailed a three from the corner to make it 16-9. At 7:08 they hit a long jumper to make it 16-11. Two free throws by Armie Lewis made it 18-11. Dom then hit a very contested three to put it at 18-14 before Anthony Bilcic coolly hit a three from the top of the arc to put it at 21-14 with 6:15 remaining. Dominguez was scoring much easier than Lake with almost all of their points coming from within six feet from the basket while Lake was relying on perimeter shooting. With 4:25 remaining and the score at 21-16, Kendrell Thompson calls timeout and walks off the court with a limp. With 4:02 left Lake went to 1 and 1 free throws with the foul count at 6 and 7. Armie made both free throws to make it 23-18. Jimmy Witten toughed out a basket from underneath but Dom is scoring with ease from twelve feet away or less. With 2:40 left in the half, Jimmy, working really hard, put up a shot from underneath, got his own rebound and made the putback. 27-22 Lake. A layup by Dom narrowed it to 27-24. At the 1:45 mark Kendrell hit a turnaround jumper before Armie made an unassisted layup to bring it to 31-26.  Another basket by Armie before they nailed a three made it 33-29. With 3.5 seconds remaining in the half Armie got fouled under their basket on the inbound pass. His two free throws made it 35-29. An exciting first half with Lake holding a slight edge throughout most of the half.

Jimmy stole the ball from them at the beginning of the second half. Lake’s defense forced another turnover in the first minute of the third quarter. A basket by Jimmy made it 37-29 before Dom scored 5 unanswered points. At the 4:30 mark the second of two free throws by RJ after driving to the basket and getting fouled made it 38-34. Dom is still scoring their goals in the paint with relative ease. A three by Dom’s #24, who has future NBA written all over him made it 38-37. Wow what excitement! A loose ball at midcourt picked up by Armie and flung down to RJ for a quick layup made it 40-37 at the 3:30 mark. With 2:47 left in the third quarter a foul by Christian put them at the charity stripe where they tied the game for the first time (at 40). At the 2:20 mark a long three puts Dominguez up 40-43, their first lead since early in the first quarter. A reverse layup by Anthony Bilcic narrowed the gap to one. At 1:35 Andrew Gorie took a charge to give us the ball back. Christian drove the lane for a layup to put Lake back in the lead with 1:23 remaining. Dom ties it again with a free throw. Then Anthony drains a three to put Lake ahead 47-44.

Clear Lake has the best all around three point shooters in the tournament especially when you consider their phenomenal performance in the opening game (71% from the field) but adjustments in Dominguez’s defense had shut down Lake’s superb three point shooting. At the beginning of the final quarter Armie Lewis quickly outmaneuvered his opponent to get a clear three point shot which he nailed to make it 50-44, a great way to start the last period. Dominguez’s 6’9” post man fouled out at 7:19 which gave the Clear Lake crowd a sigh of relief although he had not been a major factor in the game they kept expecting him to be. Two free throws by Armie and a Fulton layup made it 54-44, Lake by 10 to force a quick timeout by Dominguez. At 5:27 remaining in the game Jimmy Witten was called for his fourth foul and was taken out of the game. Six quick points by them brought it to 54-50. Two free throws by Andrew Gorie and two by Armie Lewis made it 58-53 with 4:10 showing on the clock. Two Dom free throws narrowed Lake’s lead. With 3:37 remaining Kendrell nailed a three to make it 61-55. With the foul count at 10 and 9, one of two free throws for Dom made it 61-56. As expected it was now time for Dom’s #24, Mr. NBA, to go to work. He nailed an effortless three from the same spot he had made the others to bring it to 61-59. With 1:31 remaining Dom tied it at 61 with a basket from underneath. With 59 seconds left as Armie was picking up a ball Lake was stealing on Dominguez’s end of the court, he was called for traveling. Not sure he did but it was a critical call that would determine the outcome of the game. Dominguez nailed another three with 38 seconds to go ahead 61-64. A Lake timeout at 28 seconds allowed a strategy planning session. With the ball in play RJ passes from the top of the key over to Kendrell on the left wing. Kendrell launches a very high arching shot that was nothing but net. Tied at 64. Dom called timeout with 13.4 seconds remaining for their final play strategy. They drive down after a few passes and score in the paint from right in front of the net with 1 second left on the clock. After a timeout Lake inbounds the ball under pressure to Kendrell at midcourt. Kendrell flings the ball toward the goal but it is just short. RJ is there to receive the ball but time expires before he can get the shot off. Lake loses by 2, 64-66. A really great basketball game.

Lake plays for third place Friday at 6:40 p.m. local time against Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute from Ontario, Canada. They are ranked 2^nd in Canada.

Individual Scoring:
Armie Lewis 20, Kendrell Thompson 10,
RJ Turner 9, Anthony Bilcic 8, Jimmy Witten 6, Christian Enriquez 5, Fulton Brisco 4, Andrew Gorie 2

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	15	34	44.1%
3's	7	18	38.8%
free throws	13	16	81.2%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	13	35	47	64
Dominguez	9	29	44	66

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	Final
Clear Lake	13	22	12	17	64
Dominguez	9	20	15	22	66

REBOUNDS	LAKE	THEM
Offensive	8
Defensive	10

Clear Lake 96 - Luezinger 85
Clear Lake Plays Their First Game Using A Shot Clock

A myriad of firsts occurred today when Clear Lake began its participation in the 17^th annual Torrey Pines Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament in San Diego, California.

1. first time to play in California
2. first time to play in a tournament which seeded the Falcons on both the winner’s side and the consolation side at the same time.
3. first time to play in a game using a shot clock (35 seconds)

The tournament actually started on December 26, but our Texas UIL has a rule that requires the players to be off for five consecutive days at Christmas to allow the players’ families to have an opportunity to travel at Christmastime. This means no practices or games during that blackout period. So the Falcons were not able to play on the first day of the tournament (which was the fifth day of the blackout period). As a result most of the other teams played on Tuesday but not Clear Lake. Instead, due to some creative bracketing by the tournament director, only the Falcons were seeded on both the winner’s and loser’s side of the bracket at the same time in the prestigious National Division.

In Game 1 on the Consolation side of the bracket, Clear Lake faced Luezinger High School from Lawndale, Ca. Luezinger is a very good team who lost their first round game to a highly ranked Christian Life Academy 62-47. Regardless of the outcome of Lake’s first tournament game, Clear Lake would return to the winner’s side of the bracket and Loezinger would advance on the Consolation side. Luezinger had a bigger, more physical team and is probably as good or better than any other team in District 24-5A with the exception of Pearland.

If the warmup was any indication, the rust that comes from five days with no practice meant Clear Lake would likely struggle in their first game. They were cold as ice. The concern that the Falcons would be rusty in their initial outing quickly faded as the only team from Texas in the tournament came out and played their best offensive game of the season. They also played one of their worst defensive games but they still prevailed.

In the first quarter a great move by Jimmy Witten toward the basket for Lake’s first goal gave the vocal contingent from the Lone Star State encouragement. A three point goal by Kendrell Thompson, his first of six for the game, got the Lake fans smiling even more. With 4:54 remaining in the first quarter, it was 6 to 14, Lake up by 8. A basket and a free throw by RJ Turner made it 12 to 20 before Luezinger went on a six point run to make it 18 to 20. Two free throws by Christian Enriquez, who had perhaps the best game of his high school career, closed the quarter at 18 to 22, Lake up by 4.

At 6:25 in the second quarter Luezinger went ahead for the first time 23-22. Lake regained the lead at the 5:40 mark when an astute Christian Enriquez pass found Fulton Brisco under the goal. The savvy Brisco was at the right place at the right time on offense throughout most of the game and was 7 of 11 from the field. An assist from Fulton to Armie Lewis who sank a two pointer from the three point arc at the top of the key made it 23-26, Lake up by 3. Until this point the vocal Clear Lake contingent was about the only observers for the contest but the crowd grew when the Christian Life Academy team came in to observe and scout the Falcons in the swanky Cathedral Catholic High School gym complex. At the 3:25 mark RJ Turner drove the basket from the left side to make it 25-30. Two successive treys by Anthony Bilcic, who had an outstanding game and went 4 for 4 from the field, made it 25-36 at the 2:28 mark before Luezinger hit a trey as well. Fulton nailed a trey with ease from the right wing to make it 32-44. The first half ended at 35 to 48, Lake’s highest point output for a half this season. Defensively the Falcons stood around and watched a lot, especially on defensive rebounding but excellent shooting from the field and really good offense enabled Lake to command the lead. The Falcons shot 10 of 14 from the field in the second quarter.

The second half started just like the first one with Jimmy Witten making an impressive move under the basket to score. The scoreboard changed to 38-56 when Kendrell drained another trey after two baskets and a free throw by Jimmy. Then a trey by Anthony, his third, made it 42-61. With 1:42 remaining in the third quarter Lake increased their lead to 20 points when Cody Kinsey hit his jumper from the corner as he was fouled. He sank the free throw. The quarter closed at 51-69.

In the fourth quarter the Falcons continued their impressive shooting going 12 of 18 from the field. The Luezinger squad scored much too easily from the paint on Clear Lake throughout the game and Lake fouled too much but you could not have asked for a much better offensive performance. Luezinger’s #2 just killed Lake and made our defense look puny throughout the game as he scored a game high 25 points. They also hit 19 of 25 free throws compared to Lake’s 7 of 11. The game finished with a final score of 85-96 but was closer than it sounded. Two 48 point halves for the Falcons certainly made the scouting Christian Life Academy team sit up and take notice.

Individual Scoring:
Kendrell Thompson 24,
Fulton Brisco 16, Jimmy Witten 13, Anthony Bilcic 11, Armie Lewis 10,
RJ Turner 9,Christian Enriquez 8, Andrew Gorie 8

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	25	35	71.4%
3's	13	21	62.0%
free throws	7	11	63.6%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	22	48	69	96
Luezinger	18	35	51	85

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	Final
Clear Lake	22	26	21	27	96
Luezinger	18	17	16	34	85

REBOUNDS	LAKE	THEM
Offensive	4
Defensive	14

Clear Lake 56 – Christian Life Academy 50

In Game 2 of Day Two of the event, the Falcons faced the winner in the first round game, Christian Life Academy out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana (ranked 4^th in the state of La.). Since the other teams had played on the first day and Lake had not, Clear Lake played two games when the other teams played only one. In addition the rust that comes from not practicing for five days gave the Christian Life squad another obvious advantage. Not that they needed any. The weapons in their arsenal included multiple obvious Division I prospects.

Coaching and disciplined team ball would be the keys to the narrow victory over the highly ranked Louisiana squad. From observing Lake’s game earlier in the day, the CLA bunch saw clearly that if they could shut down Lake’s # 32, Kendrell Thompson (which they did), they could prevail. But they did not anticipate the methodical skill with which Clear Lake can confront and confound their opponents when they play well.

The game started with Armie Lewis stepping up to what would be an impressive showing. On assists from Kendrell, Armie hit two treys back to back to start things out right. That set the stage and inspired his teammates. The game was close throughout the first quarter with Lake maintaining a narrow lead. The quarter closed at 16-15, Lake by 1. Lake’s defense looked weak but our offense looked pretty good in the quarter. Lake went 6 of 14 from the field.

During the second quarter at the 6:25 mark, the game was tied (at 18) for the first of two times in the game. A basket by Fulton Brisco allowed Lake to regain the lead. A basket by RJ Turner, a layup and a free throw by Kendrell, and one of Christian Enriquez’s signature three’s brought the score to 28-23. Another layup by RJ Turner and a jumper from the corner by Cody Kinsey  finished out the quarter with Lake up 32-24. Jimmy Witten got a noticeably large dose of thrown elbows from CLA’s #21, David Ndoumba, throughout the game starting in the second quarter. This would become a significant factor as the game progressed. This was probably due to Witten’s superb play and the frustration that comes from #21’s inability to contain him at times.

In the third quarter Lake went 3 of 16 from the field but improved man-to-man defense helped contain the Crusaders from the bayous.Two key baskets and a free throw by Andrew Gorie maintained the Falcons slight lead throughout most of the quarter. CLA tied the game at 39 with 55 seconds remaining in the period before two free throws by Christian ended the quarter with Lake up by 2, 41-39. Lake was outscored 15 to 9 in the quarter. Considering the obvious talent of the CLA squad (two 6’7” forwards and two 6’6” forwards who could play), Lake must have outplayed someone on defense.

In the final period when CLA cranked up their defense, Lake trailed for the first four minutes of the quarter. The final quarter should be called The Armie Lewis Road Show. Lewis scored 12 of Lake’s 15 in the quarter to barely keep Lake ahead. Lewis scored all of the field goals for the team and 3 of the 6 free throws in the last quarter.  Armie hit a trey and Fulton Brisco made a free throw with 1:47 left to give Lake a narrow lead. With one minute remaining Lake was up by six, 52-46. CLA scored on a putback to narrow the lead to 4. Two free throws by Christian put Lake up by 6. With 22.2 seconds remaining the CLA coach received a technical foul which resulted in Lewis making both free throws. The final score was 56-50, a very good win against a talented team.

 Lots of hustle, two key steals by Kendrell and unselfish assists from his teammates enabled this win. Outstanding work on the boards by Jimmy Witten (7 rebounds, 3 assists) despite the elbow abuse 9and some negligence of the officials at times) made a noticeable difference as did excellent support off the bench.

Epilogue

Almost all of the teams in the National Division are ranked teams in their respective states (some nationally ranked). These two tournament games highlighted the fact that any one of the Lake players is capable of stepping up to make a major contribution which could make the difference between victory or defeat against a formidable opponent. Lake does not have the hand picked stars like most of the teams in the National Division of this tournament but they do have a well rounded, disciplined team who can play with the best of them.

Observations on the shot clock.

For many years California has used a 35 second shot clock in high school. The result of this is virtually no post play which seems to be disappearing anyway, much more penetration by the guards, a lot of mostly one-on-one basketball, i.e. less team ball and more “me” ball. Put another way, it looks more like AAU basketball. Although I have always been against a shot clock on the high school level, a 35 second clock seemed to make little difference. Only twice in two games did the shot clock or its buzzer affect the Falcons.

Individual Scoring:
Armie Lewis 18,
Fulton Brisco 7, Christian Enriquez 7, Jimmy Witten 6, RJ Turner 6, Kendrell Thompson 5, Cody Kinsey 2

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	16	39	41.0%
3's	4	15	26.6%
free throws	12	16	75.0%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	16	32	41	56
Christian Life Academy	15	24	39	50

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	Final
Clear Lake	16	16	9	15	56
Christian Life Academy	15	9	15	11	50

REBOUNDS	LAKE	THEM
Offensive	5
Defensive	13

Clear Lake 67, Angleton 50 (non-district game)

Despite Angleton’s somewhat spotty record this season (14-10), the Wildcats were believed to represent a formidable obstacle in the path of the Clear Lake Falcons in their quest to go undefeated for the remainder of the season. Even though it was a non-district game and only the bragging rights were at stake, both teams played hard and wanted the win badly. 

In the initial quarter the main thing that kept Clear Lake in the game was good defense and poor shooting from Angleton. Their shooting was almost as bad as the 3 of 12 from the field that Lake demonstrated. With 3:33 remaining in the quarter Angleton scored their first field goal to make it 3-2 over Lake after numerous misses on both ends of the court. Isaac Reid, Angleton’s 6’5” man child, destined for Loyola University (Baltimore) to play for Coach Jim Patsos’s Greyhounds, asserted himself early and Fulton Brisco, whose job it was to guard Reid, got two quick fouls. Reid scored the Wildcats first 6 points before Kendrell Thompson, who had previously drained a three, passed to Armie Lewis on the right wing to nail a three. That put it at 6-10, Lake up by 4. Despite only making three baskets in the quarter, Lake would never relinquish the lead from this point.

Lake played well in the first half and was up 21-31 at the half. The outcome at this point was still very uncertain. The foul count was very lopsided in Angleton’s favor. Six of Lake’s eight steals came in the first half. One of the Galveston Chapter based officials repeatedly redefined what traveling meant which put an interesting twist in the game. It seemed to mean if Christian Enriquez had the ball but was not bouncing it.

In the third quarter Angleton really stepped up the intensity. Angleton’s coach, Tommy Penders, son of current U of H Head Coach Tom Penders, knew that the game could easily get away from them. He had ample cause for concern. Midway through the quarter, the Cats narrowed the gap to three 33-36 before Lake started to pull away. A three by Cody Kinsey and three baskets by Jimmy Witten increased Lake’s lead to 10 again. In this quarter, with the exception of Isaac Reid, the Wildcats were noticeably outclassed by the more talented Clear Lake squad. It began to really show from this point as the game progressed. Without Reid, it would have been a runaway. Jimmy Witten expected to be challenged by Reid who was last year’s District 24-4A Defensive Player of the Year. Witten dug down deep and had a standout performance with seven rebounds and nine assists in the game. Jimmy scored 7 points in each of the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters as he played his usual unselfish basketball. Some  of Jimmy’s assists in the second half  were from fast breaks. With Lake’s main outside ace, Kendrell Thompson adding 7 in both the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters as well, as the end of the third quarter approached, Clear Lake appeared to have things under control. With a cross court pass from Kendrell, Anthony Bilcic nailed one of his characteristic three’s to close the quarter with a score of 37-52. Lake was playing loose and under control.

Anyone who really appreciates high school basketball would agree that the latter part of the third quarter and the fourth quarter were the kind of Lake basketball that make an ardent Lake fan’s face light up. Good defense, hard work, moving the ball back down the court quickly and with proficiency, unselfish team basketball at its best with almost everything going right were the prevalent attributes of the contest. Spreading the floor and having the patience to wait for the easy basket paid off as well.

With 2:40 remaining in the game and the score at 45-61, a fast break with Jimmy in the paint making a behind-the-back pass to Kendrell for a score on the left side of the basket would make most highlight reels. That made it 45-63, the largest lead of the game. With Andrew Gorie going strong to the hoop and Kendrell weaving through traffic to make a great layup, this team basketball was great fun to watch.

Season record 19-5

Individual Scoring:
Kendrell Thompson 26, Jimmy Witten 16 (7 rebounds, 9 assists),
Andrew Gorie 8, Armie Lewis 6, Cody Kinsey 6, Anthony Bilcic 3 (4 rebounds), Fulton Brisco 2

Did not play due to injury: Steven Hartman, RJ Turner (RJ was suited up)

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	20	29	68.9%
3's	7	22	31.8%
free throws	6	11	54.5%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	10	31	52	67
Angleton	7	21	37	50

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	Final
Clear Lake	10	21	21	15	67
Angleton	7	14	16	13	50

REBOUNDS	LAKE	THEM
Offensive	5
Defensive	21

Clear Lake 71 – Clear Brook 63

There are many high school coaches today who feel that with the way the game has changed i. e. the tendency toward the disappearance of post play and the increased emphasis on ball handling for the forwards as well as the added emphasis on rebounding and blocking out for the guards, that there is no longer any difference between a guard and a forward. In fact, there are some Clear Lake coaches who feel that way. Although this writer has not yet aligned his thinking to agree with that, the trend is certainly in that direction. Witness the increase in the number of teams that start a big man and four guards and their success. Fortunately, Clear Lake does not have to test that theory. Or do they? With high caliber guards like RJ Turner, Armie Lewis, and Steven Hartman, the forwards can be forwards and the guards can be guards even though their respective roles blur as they move about the court. Except when two of your guards are hurt and one is in foul trouble. That is the situation Clear Lake was in Tuesday night in the game against Clear Brook in the Brook gym.

With the Falcons returning from their successful outing in San Diego and feeling very good about their performance against some big time competition, things were looking good. That is until RJ Turner, Lake’s ace point guard, dislocated his shoulder in practice on Monday. Combined with Steven Hartman’s earlier injury that sidelined him for the entire season, you begin to wonder if the Falcons are really destined to achieve the greatness that they are obviously capable of.
Fortunately,
Cody Kinsey was available to be moved up to fill in for Steven in mid-December;
Lake’s forwards are capable ball handlers who think like guards when they need to;
Clear Lake has a Kendrell Thompson who can shoot the lights out from three point land;
Clear Lake has a Jimmy Witten who, at 6’ 5”, is the one of the tallest, smartest, most clever 6’5” players in the region;
Lake has the most balanced outside shooting across the entire team of any team in the district.

The game against Brook began as a Kendrell Thompson extravaganza. Thompson scored a game high 28 points for the outing (1 point off his season high 29 against Klein). He scored all of Lake’s points in the first quarter, all 16 of them. After missing his first two attempts from beyond the arc, Kendrell nailed four in a row. But it did not look that promising initially. Lake missed their first five shots at the basket before they got on track with Kendrell’s first trey.

To say that Clear Brook was prepared for Lake would be an understatement. Brook’s new head coach, Jason Pillow (in his first year as a head coach at a 5A school at age 34), is a former Clear Lake standout varsity player who was bouncing a basketball when he started walking. He knows Lake well from many different perspectives. He started his team in a 1-3-1 defense to minimize Lake’s outside shooting success. But like many in the crowd, he probably did not imagine how elusive Kendrell would be. After the first two baskets by Clear Brook and five misfires by Clear Lake, Lake moved into the lead when the Kendrell Thompson Show arrived, After three ties in the quarter Lake maintained the lead until late in the third quarter. At the end of the first quarter it was 12-16, Lake up by 4.

In the second quarter Brook switched to a man-to-man defense to stop Kendrell. It worked. Thompson scored one three point basket in the quarter. But Jimmy Witten cranked it up. Witten scored 9 of his 16 total points in the quarter and was mostly unstoppable inside as he got Brook’s post man in foul trouble and then took their reserve post man to school. Lake’s defense was again weak as Brook’s guard, Anthony Miles, was mostly unstoppable. Miles scored at will (22 for the game). Armie Lewis got in foul trouble which did not bode well for the third quarter. At the half it was 25-33, Lake up by 8.

Lake had a poor third quarter. Playing with no guards on the floor for almost the entire quarter, Lake minimized their turnovers (only 1) and their baskets (only 3). Two baskets by Christian Enriquez and one by Jimmy Witten was it. A solitary free throw by Fulton made the 8 points for Clear Lake while Brook scored 16 and tied the game with 1:19 remaining in the quarter. Lake regained the lead on the next basket but it was knotted at 41 at the end of three.

The fourth quarter was close with Clear Brook taking the lead 50-49 with 3:20 remaining in the quarter and again at the 1:07 mark. The exciting game was tied three times in the last 67 seconds. A clutch free throw by Jimmy tied it at 54 with 46 seconds left. Clear Brook took a time out to set up their play.With Lake in a man-to-man defense,  #12 (Miles) drove the lane and scored to put Brook ahead. Jimmy was fouled on his successful putback which tied it at 56 with 6.1 seconds remaining in regular play. Brook called another timeout to ice Jimmy. Witten missed the free throw and Brook’s last second desperation long shot missed. 56 All at the end of regulation play.

In the overtime period Lake took control and scored three baskets before Brook could score. First Jimmy drove from the free throw line to easily score a layup (more schooling). Then a blocked shot by Jimmy on Clear Brook’s second attempt gave us the ball. Next, on an assist from Christian, a trey by Kendrell from the left side. Then a rebound by Armie after a three point miss by Brook. Armie quickly brought the ball down the court, passed to the left to Christian, then back to Armie. Lewis spied Fulton under the goal with his man beat. A pinpoint pass to Fulton for two more. Lake up by 7, 56-63. A basket by Brook made it 58-63 at the 2:21 mark. Three desperation fouls by Brook allowed six successful free throws by Armie, Kendrell, then Armie again. A final basket by Armie made it 63-71. An outstanding basketball game between two worthy rivals.

Individual Scoring:
Kendrell Thompson 28 (16 in first quarter), Jimmy Witten 16 (11 rebounds), Armie Lewis 11(5 assists),
Christian Enriquez 8, Fulton Brisco 7, Andrew Gorie 1

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	13	31	41.9%
3's	9	24	37.5%
free throws	18	23	78.3%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4	OT
Clear Lake	16	33	41	56	71
Clear Brook	12	25	41	56	63

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	OT	Final
Clear Lake	16	17	8	15	15	71
Clear Brook	12	13	16	15	7	63

REBOUNDS	LAKE	THEM
Offensive	11
Defensive	15