Clear Lake Falconhoops

Bellaire 82 – Clear Lake 63
Area Playoff
February 24, 2006

Clear Lake came into the Pearland gymnasium as noticeable underdogs as they faced the highly ranked Bellaire Cardinals in the 2006 Area playoff game Friday night. The Bellaire bunch is ranked 5^th in the region and 10^th in the state and it was easy to see why. Led by their outstanding guard, junior Jai Lucas, the leading scorer in the region with a 22.2 points per game average, Bellaire touted a 26-5 record coming into the contest. But their renowned guard was just the tip of the iceberg. Backing up Lucas and sharpshooter guard Emmanuel Igbinosa (#32) were Bellaire’s two 6’9” post men, one 6’8” forward, two 6’7” forwards, one 6’6” forward and a 6’5” forward (statistically, it is impossible to have that much height on one team without recruiting your athletes). Surely the tallest lineup in the Houston area, one has to wonder when you see them play, why Bellaire is not ranked higher.

But someone forgot to tell the Clear Lake Falcons they were supposed to lose the game against the bunch of towering trees from Bellaire. To say that Clear Lake was prepared and mentally ready would be an understatement. Just as it had shone in the previous outing against Deer Park, the team’s preparedness was glaringly obvious. They were as ready as they could be.

After an impressive showing in their previous bittersweet victory over Deer Park, the skeptics were doubtful about Clear Lake putting good games back-to-back and some expected an embarrassing blowout when the Falcons faced the highly ranked Cardinals. With Lake’s big man 6’5” Jimmy Witten overshadowed by all that height and starting point guard Armie Lewis out with a broken toe, some expected it to be over early. All that doubt evaporated quickly when the Falcons came out and immediately showed Bellaire what Clear Lake basketball is all about.

First Half
With the Lake crowd outnumbering the Bellaire following almost four to one, Clear Lake’s side of the gym won the noise contest and boy did the team give them something to make noise about. The game was tied four times in the first quarter as the teams jockeyed for control. Because their outside shots were not falling, Bellaire started trying to capitalize on their inside game but Lake’s Jimmy Witten had something to say about that. Witten had six points in the first quarter and six defensive rebounds in the first half to help to partially diminish the dominance of Bellaire’s 6’9” post man, #50, junior Isaiah Rusher. Lake’s guard play during the first half was very smart at times but there were lapses. The Falcons’ determination and desire were evident and the difference in talent between the teams was barely evident as the Falcons played their hearts out. The score at the end of the first quarter was 15-12, Lake up by 3.

In the second quarter, Witten’s intensity continued while Justin Kurtz got on track and nailed three three’s and Kendrell Thompson found his range with 3 for 3 from the field as well. Even the team’s trainer, Jaime Marshall, was playing a superlative role. With 5:15 remaining in the second quarter, with blood on his left elbow, Jimmy was fouled on a defensive rebound after 1 and 1 went into effect but the referee stopped the game when he noticed the blood from a previously unnoticed scrape. With the ref about to call for a substitution after waiting a short time, Jaime bandaged the elbow amazingly fast, Witten went to the free throw line and sank both free throws to put Lake ahead 23-19. With just over 3:16 remaining in the quarter the score went to 31-22 when Justin nailed an impossible, off-balance, awkward three pointer that never should have gone in. Then a free throw by Jimmy put Lake up by 10. It was 35-22 when Justin hit a trey on an assist by RJ Turner. The Clear Lake crowd went from skeptical to surprised to encouraged to hopeful as their team got on track in the second quarter and dominated the quarter for 5½ minutes as they outshone the favored Bellaire bunch. Elation among the Clear Lake supporters was widespread at this point. Then Bellaire started to battle back with seven unanswered points. A free throw by sophomore Steven Hartman and four more points by Bellaire closed out the scoring for the half at 36-33, Lake up by 3. (In the first half Bellaire shot 17 free throws which resulted in 9 points; Lake garnered 6 of 12). Against the team ranked #10 in the state (out of over 320 teams), Clear Lake dominated the first 13 ½ minutes of the game with their superior play. It was great to watch!

Second Half
Things started out well when an assist from RJ allowed Kendrell to nail a trey to make it 39-33. Two layups by RJ and a clever one by Andy Leveque brought the score to 45-43 before the Cards tied it at 45 with 2:30 remaining in the quarter. From that point it was mostly all Bellaire. The height and talent advantage showed and Bellaire guard Jai Lucas was unstoppable. The Cards sank 11 unanswered points before the quarter closed at 45-56. Clear Lake was outscored 23 to 9 in the quarter.

The fourth quarter belonged to Bellaire as they scored at will. Jimmy Witten fouled out with just under five minutes remaining in the final quarter on what looked to be a flakey, bad call by a very senior official. Not that it mattered but a previous call had assigned a foul to Jimmy instead of the offending Falcon player so Jimmy went from 3 to 5 fouls in a hurry it seemed. Final score was 63-82. Bellaire's Jai Lucas led all scorers with 24 and Emmanuel Igbinosa(#32) had 22. Bellaire advances to the regional quarterfinals to face Kingwood on Tuesday night.

Season Reflections
One of the more noticeable attributes of this very young Clear Lake squad has been their inconsistency. They have been among the most inconsistent teams Lake has had with key players often not able to put good games back to back. Not unusual for a young team. That’s one of the factors that make high school basketball what it is. With their balanced outside shooting, when they were on, Lake could beat all but the very upper echelon teams in the state. When they were off, they could lose at home to Alvin for the first time in the history of the school.

Without a 6’8” or taller big man on the squad for the first time in many years, Lake should probably have lost more games. They did not because of such factors as: 
          Justin Kurtz at 6’4” played like 6’7” or taller with reckless abandon; Justin sacrificed his body as much or more than any of his predecessors. With his strength and quickness he sometimes made outside shots that should never have gone in. 
          Savvy, frequently intelligent offensive ball by Jimmy Witten and Jon Gilmer whom the crowd expected to outdo their taller opponents because they often did; 
          The jumping ability of Kendrell Thompson, Armie Lewis, and RJ Turner (not to mention their ball handling skills); 
          Strength off the bench from players like Andy Leveque, Ross Maha.and Fulton Brisco. Ross made a difference almost every time he was in the ball game. He stood out with his work ethic, his determination, and his “you are not going to shove me out of the way” grit. It is doubtful that there has ever been a Falcon varsity player who has had more support and encouragement from his teammates (even if he does want to be an Aggie). Andy came in and surprised his opponents with his skills in every game. The intensity and determination in his face could be seen all over the gym from the first time he touched the ball. Fulton played such solid, error free basketball so many times you could almost feel the crowd relax when he had his hands on the ball. 
          And let’s not forget 6’4” Christian Enriquez who was there when he was needed. With Jimmy’s foul troubles and Jon’s injury, Christian bounced from the Varsity to the JV and back but he provided some very key rebounds. And do not forget about his almost uncanny ability to nail the three point shot from the wing. From the summer before his ninth grade year, Christian has worked so hard and improved his basketball skills immeasurably. One of the most improved players in recent memory. 

This was a very young team with only three seniors. With a 24-12 season record, six of Lake’s losses were to teams ranked among the top teams in the state. Two losses were to teams close to the cusp of being ranked (Milby, North Shore in quadruple overtime). One loss was to a highly ranked team in Kentucky. They may have seemed inconsistent but they sure made us proud. Not bad at all for a team that was not supposed to make the playoffs.

Individual Scoring:

Justin Kurtz 21
Kendrell Thompson 14, Jimmy Witten 12 (7 rebounds), RJ Turner 8 (8 assists), Andy Leveque 6, Fulton Brisco 1, Steven Hartman 1

Did not play: Jon Gilmer, Armie Lewis

Turnovers: 19

FALCON STATS	made	attempts	%
2's	14	31	45.1%
3's	6	21	28.6%
free throws	17	30	56.7%

(Bellaire was 17 of 31 from the free throw line)

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	15	36	45	63
Bellaire	12	33	56	82

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	Final
Clear Lake	15	21	9	18	63
Bellaire	12	21	23	26	82

REBOUNDS	LAKE	BELLAIRE
Offensive	4	16
Defensive	19	20

Clear Lake 59 - Deer Park 42
February 21, 2006

In only their second game since losing their beloved coach, the Deer Park Deer came up against a methodical Clear Lake squad who picked them apart from the opening tipoff. With two quick baskets by forward Kendrell Thompson and then three baskets by team captain Justin Kurtz, it was 9 to 2, then 11 to 4 before the Deer even blinked. Justin kept sneeking in the back door for open shots. A basket by Mr. Dependable, Fulton Brisco, on an assist from Justin and another basket by Justin made it 15 - 4 at the end of the first quarter.  Very savvy team ball and solid post play by Jimmy Witten during the game helped make the Falcons a formidable adversary. Witten had five defensive rebounds and 2 assists in the first quarter.

The second quarter showed more balanced scoring from the Falcons with contributions from RJ Turner, Andy Leveque, and Ross Maha in addition to continued scoring from Fulton, Justin, and Kendrell. Andy started the quarter by weaving through traffic in the paint to go in for a layup. Then two free throws by Ross made it 19 to 4 only 48 seconds into the quarter. Midway through the quarter Justin caught the Deer defense unaware as he fired a pass to Kendrell who was all alone under the rim for another two to bring the score to 27-10. At the half it was 31-17.

The second half was more of the same as the Deer Park squad struggled to cope with Lake’s success while Clear Lake continued to control the tempo.A quick basket by Deer Park before Kendrell answered with two quick baskets to add five to the tally.36-19, Lake up by 17 with only two minutes gone in the third quarter. With 4:40 remaining in the quarter three successive baskets by Deer Park’s 6’6" junior, Nathan Walkup, made it 38-26 to give the Deer Park fans some hope. But then treys by Kendrell and Christian Enriquez brought the score to 44-29. With 2:30 remaining in the quarter and the foul count at a lopsided 5 to 1 against Lake, the Falcons went to their spread offense to troll for fouls and easy baskets. Three free throws by Lake rounded out the scoring for the quarter. 47-31 Lake (the Falcons hit a most respectable 12 of 15 from the charity stripe for the game).

A basket by Fulton at the start of the fourth quarter brought the score to 49-31. With the foul count now a more reasonable 7 and 5, the play where Justin floats across the court from wing to wing back and forth continued. After a few sweeps across Justin was up to his old tricks as the ball would instantly find him at the basket for an easy layup. It was fun to watch. Justin scored nine successive points off layups and free throws thanks to astute play by Jimmy Witten and Andy Leveque. With just over a minute remaining in the quarter, sophomore Steven Hartman, a name you will hear mentioned a lot in the next two years, entered the game for his first varsity playing time. Hartman got his chance when he was fouled. He made a free throw for his first score on the varsity level and finished the Lake scoring at 59-40. A final basket by Deer Park ended the game at 59-42. Justin Kurtz , with 22 for the night, missed game high honors by one point as Deer Park's Nathan Walkup went 8 of 10 from the free throw line for a game high 23.

Armie Lewis was suited up but saw no action due to a toe injury he sustained in the Galveston game. It is not yet known if he will be available for the Bellaire game on Friday.

When Billy Carlisle played at Baylor, he was number 14. In attendance at the game was a large student following from Deer Park, mostly adorned in yellow T shirts in honor of Billy. The shirts had the #14 on the front and Billy’s credo, “Do the right thing” on the back. From T-shirt sales, over $9000 was raised for the college fund for the three small Carlisle boys who were in attendance at the game proudly wearing their yellow T-shirts. God bless Billy Carlisle and his family.

The Falcons advance to the Area round of playoffs where they will face Bellaire High School Friday night at Pearland High School at 7 p.m. Bellaire is ranked 5th in the region by the Houston Chronicle and 10th in the state.

Individual Scoring:
Justin Kurtz 22 (7 of 7 two pointers, 6 rebounds),
Kendrell Thompson 18,
Fulton Brisco 7,  RJ Turner 4, Christian Enriquez 3, Andy Leveque 2, Ross Maha 2, Steven Hartman 1,  Jimmy Witten 1 (7 rebounds, 5 assists)

FALCON STATS	Made	Attempts	%
2's	16	30	53.3%
3's	5	13	38.5%
free throws	12	15	80.0%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	15	31	47	59
Deer Park	4	17	31	42

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	Final
Clear Lake	15	16	16	12	59
Deer Park	4	13	14	11	42

REBOUNDS	CLEAR LAKE	DEER PARK
Offensive	2	9
Defensive	22	14

Galveston Ball 74 - Clear Lake 62
February 18, 2006

A traffic accident on the southbound side of the freeway coming to Galveston delayed many Clear Lake fans arrival at the Galveston Ball High Scholl gymnasium by as much as 1 1/2 hours. But the Clear Lake fans already in the gym may have been just as aggravated. The second place Falcons got out quicked, out shot, out rebounded, and out manuevered as they fell to the third place Ball High Tors Friday night in the last game of the regular season. Ball High may be flat when they face some opponents but they always get up for Clear Lake. With the most liberal substitutions seen all season,  the Tors led by as much as 15 early in the fourth quarter as they took it to their archrivals from the mainland.

Halfway through the first quarter it was tied at 8 but the Falcons could never gain the lead. At the half it was still a ball game with the Falcons trailing by only 3, 31-28, due in no small part to savvy play by Jimmy Witten and Kendrell Thompson. Clear Lake shot 1 of 12 from outside the arch in the first half with team captain Justin Kurtz going 0 for 6 in the half from three point land.

Throughout the contest the Tors relied on their inside game exactly as they had in the previous meeting of the two playoff-bound teams and it worked. Until late in the game, the Falcons were ineffective in stopping the penetration by the Tors with their last second dishing off under the basket or the close range, high percentage shots from eight feet or less.  The quicker Tors did that better than any team in the district this year. Late in the game when it did not work, they nailed a few threes with ease or ran their spread offense and worked for an opening.

It is not that the Falcons, as a team, played poorly. They did not. They tried hard most of the night but the Tors play simply made Clear Lake's defense seem ineffective at times and slow to adjust (similar to the first game). Combined with ineffective defense and poor shooting by the Falcons from three point range (3 of 19), the inclement weather and the traffic on the freeway were not the only unpleasant experiences of the evening.

In other district action, Alvin upset Pearland at the buzzer 49-46 and Clear Creek walloped Brazoswood 80-54.

For the first round of playoff action the Falcons face the Deer Park Deer Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Stoney Phillips Field House in Pasadena. There will only be one game. Clear Lake will be the home team. 

Individual Scoring:
Armie Lewis 19, Kendrell Thompson 19,
Fulton Brisco 8, Jimmy Witten 8, Andy Leveque 4, Ross Maha 2, Justin Kurtz 2

Turnovers: 11

FALCON STATS	FG made	FG attempts	%
2's	20	38	52.6%
3's	3	19	15.8%
free throws	13	18	72.2%

SCORE BY QUARTER	1	2	3	4
Clear Lake	15	28	42	62
Galveston Ball	19	31	56	74

LINESCORE	1	2	3	4	Final
Clear Lake	15	13	14	10	62
Galveston Ball	19	12	15	18	74

REBOUNDS	LAKE	THEM
Offensive	8
Defensive	10

The 2005 Clear Lake High School Basketball Banquet was held Wednesday evening, March 29, at the Johnson Space Center Gilruth Center in the Alamo Ballroom.

The parents of the varsity players, in devotion to their player sons, provided some video highlights and had the banquet hall very festively decorated in honor of the successes of the 2004-2005 varsity team (check out the bags holding the balloons in the photos in the ALBUMS Section).

The evening consisted of dinner, recognition of the many people who contributed to the success of the basketball program, season reviews and team recognition for all five teams by the respective coaches, and the awards announcements for Falcon Hall OF Fame 2005 Inductee, George Wang Hustle Award, and Varsity MVP award.

As an added bonus, the seniors were honored by fathers Gene Pearce and Steve Oswald. Gene presented an impressive, in-depth numerical comparison of the seniors' scoring and won/loss stats for their entire high school career (and some going back to the seventh grade). Former astronaut Steve Oswald reviewed some accomplishments and the future plans of the seniors.

VIP's in attendance included Superintendent Dr. Sandra Mossman, Principal Linda Rawlings, coaching legend Bill Krueger, and Hall of Famers Jim Saxe, Jim Williams, and Leo Sarabia.

Former Clear Lake Varsity coach Bill Krueger introduced former Falcon George Wang as the 2005 Hall of Fame inductee. George provided a brief motivational speech to the players and parents on the attributes derived from playing basketball and their value as you proceed through life. George is the player after whom the annual Hustle Award is named. Former coach Jim Saxe, last year's Hall of Fame inductee, originated the award and has provided scholarship money to the George Wang Hustle Award winner since 1978 (Coach Saxe owns and operates the Clear Lake Putt Putt Golf Course on NASA Road 1). This year David Pearce received the George Wang Hustle Award (presented by varsity coach Lynn McDonald), and co-captain Gordon Abner was chosen by his teammates as the team MVP.

Feb. 12, 2006, 1:03AM
Heart attack kills Deer Park coach
Carlisle, 51, stricken at game; Tuesday's schedule in 23-5A, 24-5A moved for service

By EMILY DAVIS
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle