Lions now ranked 7th in Class 3A

(Above) Clear Lake’s Mallory Leisure (left) and Kiersten Baalson play tight defense in Friday night’s game against St. Edmond’s.  The Lions dominated St. Ed’s in a 61-20 romp.  -Reporter photos by Chris Barragy

The Clear Lake girls continued to build their resume with two more wins last week.  The Lions, now ranked seventh in Class 3A, lead the North Central Conference wit a 5-0 record; they are 10-1 overall.

Clear Lake 61, St. Ed’s 20

It was all Clear Lake, as the Lion handled visiting St. Ed’s (3-6, 1-4) Friday night, Jan. 6.

“I thought we came out ready to play.  We had good intensity and focus to start, which is good see after coming out of break,” said Coach Bart Smith.

Despite the fact that the Lions outscored the Gaels 22-3 in the first quarter and were ahead 39-11 at the break, Coach Smith said he felt the Lions left a lot of points on the floor by missing some easy scoring opportunities.

“We need to convert those and finish around the rim with some contact,” said Smith.

Senior Emily Snelling recorded a double-double in points and steals.  She put in 29 points and had 13 steals in the win. She was also among the leaders on the boards with five.

Jessica Faber was also in double digits with 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Coach Smith noted he was pleased to see Jordyn Barragy be a little more aggressive offensively and looking for her shot.  Barragy scored 10 and had four rebounds.  “She needs to continue that type of play for us to be the best team we can be at the end of January,” he said. 

The remainder of the Lions scoring was provided by Sara Faber with seven.

Clear Lake 55, Forest City 32

The Lions continued to roll against Forest City the next day, 55-32.  Clear Lake’s defense was effective against a solid Indian team, which fell to 7-3.

“This was our best defensive game versus a team that had some scoring threats,” said Coach Smith.  “We limited their best weapons, Hannah Anderson and Brea Dillavou, to single digits in scoring.”

Smith credited Chloe Mueller with having her best game of the year at both ends of the floor.

“She had the task of guarding Anderson all afternoon and made it tough for her to score, but also was aggressive offensively and was able to hit some threes for us.  She needs to continue that scoring mentality,” he said.

Mueller finished with 10 points and four rebounds.

After a close first quarter, the Lions held the Indians in check in the second quarter and had a 25-15 lead at halftime.

The lead was 11 after three and the Lions finished strong, outscoring the visitor 18-6 in the final period.

Emily Snelling was the Lions’ leader with 17 points to go with her nine rebounds.

Sara Faber had eight points, Jessica Faber six, Gretchen Jones five points and Jordyn Barragy three points.

Reserves Taylor Krull scored three points and Lexi Fasbender had two.  Jones put in one point.