Clear Lake girls overcome adversity and bounce back

(Above) Clear Lake Head Coach Bart Smith gives his team some pointers during a recent game.  Clear Lake picked up three big wins and are now ranked eighth in Class 3A.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

The Clear Lake girls bounced back from a difficult week with three victories which will hopefully provide the momentum needed for a run in the post-season.

The Lions dropped from sixth to eighth place in the latest Class 3A Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union basketball rankings after falling to 13th ranked Humboldt and third rated Crestwood.  The losses were punctuated by the loss of their leading scorer, Emily Snelling, who sustained an injury in the Humboldt game.

CL 50, Algona 41

The Lions regrouped from their losses and posted a statement win over North Central Conference rival Algona Monday, Jan. 30, on the road.  Their 50-41 victory kept them undefeated in the league, while Algona slipped into a tie with Humboldt at 10-3.

“Our girls did any amazing job defensively,” said Coach Bart Smith.  “We shut down two of their top three scorers and were able to get some big stops toward the end of the game.  Sara Faber and Gretchen Jones stepped up in a big for us.  Sara made shots and Gretchen handled their pressure and got us into our offense.  This was a well rounded game for us and everybody contributed in one way or another.”

Faber was the leading Lion scorer with 22 points on 7/11 shooting.  The freshman also had seven rebounds.  Jones also had seven boards to go with her two points.

After a close first half which ended with Algona holding a 24-20 lead, the Lions poured it on the second half.  They evened the score by the end of three periods and outscored the Bulldogs, 18-9, in the final frame for the win.

Jessica Faber was in double digits with 14 points and seven rebounds.  Julia Merfeld added five points, Jordyn Barragy had four and Chloe Mueller finished with two.

CL 48, IF-A 39

The Lion lineup continued to step up in a 48-39 victory at home against Iowa Falls-Alden the next night.

“These girls keep surprising me every night.  With this back-to-back game they showed great effort and ground out a win without any preparation,” said Coach Smith.  “It was another team effort win.”

Chloe Mueller answered the scoring bell for the Lions and made open shots.  The junior paced the team with 15 points on 6/10 shooting which included three treys.

“She’s capable of doing that every night,” said Smith.

The coach also praised the play of freshman Julia Merfeld, who scored six points.

“Julia is stepping up and scoring off the bench for us.  She is giving us great minutes.”

The Lions jumped out to a 16-11 lead after one quarter and were in control, 27-18 at the break.  The Cadets outscored the Lions in the final frame, but it was not enough.

Gretchen Jones put in nine points for the Lions, followed by Jessica Faber with eight, Sara Faber with six, and Jordyn Barragy with four.

CL 55, St. Ed’s 40

The team wasn’t quite as sharp, but they did enough to defeat St. Ed’s on the road Friday night, 55-40.

Clear Lake doubled the score on the Gaels in the first period, 14-7, and went into the locker room ahead 24-17.

“I thought we were a little flat to start this game, but turned it on in second half,”