CL girls head into break with perfect NCC record

(Above) Clear Lake’s Gretchen Jones goes air born to lay up a shot in Monday night’s game against Mason City.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

Coach Bart Smith reminds his team that to be the best you’ve got to beat the best.  Last week the Lions battled a tough 4A school as well as conference competition.  They split their contests, going into the holiday break with an 8-1 record.  They lead the North Central Conference standings at 5-0.

Mason City 74, CL 54

The Lions, ranked third in Class 3A, suffered their first loss of the year at the hands of county-rival Mason City.  The Mohawks, who are rated eighth in Class 4A, stymied the Lions early on and ran away with a 20-point win, 74-54.

“Their pressure on defense, and speed and quickness on offense, contributed to a lot of why we let this game get away,” said Coach Smith.  “Their defense forced 20 turnovers in the first half and we could never really get back into the game after the half.”

The Lions had a slow and Mason City jumped out to an eight point lead before Jordyn Barragy connected for Clear Lake’s first score.  The Mohawks outscored the visitor 16-10 in the first and 24-11 in the second quarter for a 40-21 halftime lead.

“I put the girls in some tough spots in our half court offense during the first half that didn’t help our situation,” said the coach.  “A lot of those turnovers were my fault and not putting them in the right offense to make plays.”

The Lions made some adjustments at halftime and settled down in the second half.  Smith said “offensive poise” resulted in a much closer second half.  The teams were within two points of each other in each period.

Sara Faber led the Lions with 15 points, including three three-pointers.  She was 4/5 from the free throw line.  The sophomore also had two steals and two rebounds.

Freshman Zoe Fasbender was also in double figures.  She scored 11-points, lifted by three treys.  She also had three rebounds and a steal.

Gretchen Jones contributed eight points.  Lexi Fasbender and Ali Maulsby had six apiece.  Barragy finished with four points and Chloe Mueller and Julia Merfeld had two apiece.  Barragy paced the team on the boards with six rebounds.

“If we want to be the best and beat the best we have to get better at doing the little things right all the time and I didn’t think we did that very well tonight,” said Coach Smith.

CL 63, Iowa Falls-Alden 46

Monday’s loss didn’t take much wind out of Clear Lake’s sails.  The Lions responded with a good road win over Iowa Falls-Alden Tuesday night.  Clear Lake stayed perfect in the North Central Conference with a 63-46 win.

“We had three pretty solid quarters offensively tonight.  We shot well when they went zone and we attacked and shot well when they went man, so I was happy to see our offense click tonight,” said Coach Bart Smith. 

Jordyn Barragy had her best outing of the season, scoring 25 points grabbing four rebounds and getting a steal.

“Jordyn had a really good night for us.  She scored in a variety of ways and can be a tough player to guard if she continues with that type of offensive production,” said Smith.

Lexi Fasbender also gave the Cadet defense trouble.  She scored 14 points and grabbed five boards.

Sara Faber and Zoe Fasbender chipped in eight points apiece, with Faber dominating the boards and finishing with 11 rebounds.  The remainder of the scoring was provided by Gretchen Jones with five-points and Chloe Mueller with three.

The Lions held a 10-point lead at halftime, 29-19, but the Cadets scraped their way back by outscoring the Lions 17-13 in the third quarter.   The Lions slammed the door in the fourth quarter, 21-10.

“I would have liked to have seen us defend the rim a little bit better,” added Coach Smith.  “We gave up some easy looks early in our press and couldn’t quite put them away in the second half until the middle of the fourth.    Iowa Falls is a good team and you can’t let good teams hang around on the road.  We need to learn to put teams away by getting defensive stops.”

Clear Lake is now off until they travel to Webster City on Friday, Jan. 5.  Saturday, Jan. 6, they will be at Forest City to take on the 10th ranked Indians in a non-conference game. They return home Monday, Jan, 8, to host New Hampton.