Lions face tough opponent in GHV Cardinals

(Above) Clear Lake’s Zach Lester attempts a shot over GHV’s big guy, James Betz.  Betz dominated in the game with 20-points and 12 rebounds.  Also pictured is Clear Lake’s Thomas Storbeck and GHV’s Ryan Meyers.

The Clear Lake Lions faced a tough opponent on the road when they took on Garner-Hayfield-Ventura on Monday night, Jan. 3.

The Cardinals took an early 5-0 lead, before the Lions found the basket two minutes into the game.  With 1:16 remaining in the first quarter, GHV took a hefty 20-9 lead.  Clear Lake connected on a three-point shot and another basket to end the quarter trailing, 23-14.

The scrappy Cardinals outscored the Lions by eight points in the second quarter to take a comfortable, 45-28, lead into the half.

“We knew going into the game it would be a heck of a challenge with their size and experience back,” said Clear Lake Coach Jeremy Ainley. “With it being the first game after break we didn’t quite know how we would respond.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have a great defense effort and they controlled the boards and did not shoot the ball very well.  They also shot it very well from outside in the first half and were able to build a half time lead.”

The second half started slowly for both teams, with neither team being able to buy a bucket.  It was 3:42 into the half before Clear Lake finally connected on a field goal.  James Betz went on a six-point unanswered run to stretch the GHV lead to 51-31.  The third quarter ended with the Cards leading, 56-34.

“At the start of the third quarter, we were able to get some stops on the defensive end but turned it over too many times and couldn’t mount a comeback,” said Coach Jeremy Ainley.

Clear Lake picked it up in the fourth quarter and opened with a three-point basket.  The Lions outscored the Cardinals 16-13 in the final quarter, but it was GHV that claimed the victory, 69-50.

“I thought Clear Lake created some difficult match-ups for our team,” said GHV Coach Joe Albertson.  “We had to guard talented shooters and break their press.  Anytime you can score 20 plus points in a quarter, you are either shooting very well or are getting multiple chances each possession.”

Clear Lake had trouble controlling GHV’s big guy, James Betz.  Fouling him didn’t slow him down, as he was 6/8 from the free throw line.  Betz ended the night with a game high 20-points.  He also had 12 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.

Johnathan O’Connor also reached double digits for the Cardinals with 13-points.  He also led the team with four steals and two assists.

Nick Joynt was a leader under the boards, pulling down seven rebounds.  He also had three assists and two steals to go with his six-points.

Ryan Meyers contributed seven-points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

“James, Nick and Ryan were on the glass all night and Johnathan sparked our defense with multiple steals,” said Albertson.

Ainley said Clear Lake will need to get better defensively as they prepare for the final weeks of the regular season and look for a post-season run.

“ We are very young at some positions and there will be some inconsistencies,” he said.  “Drew Enke had a great game for his first career start and shot it well with 16 points.”

Enke was the scoring leader for the Lions. Thomas Storbeck and Zach Lester were also in double figures with 14 and 11 points respectively. Jaylen DeVries chipped in four points, Jared Penning had three and Cody Matz added two.

Storbeck pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Lions.