CL girls proving why they are ranked second in Class 3A

Clear Lake’s Sara Faber eyes the basket as she makes her way between two West Fork defenders.  Faber ended the night with 17-points.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake girls, ranked second in Class 3A, tacked on two more wins last week.  The Lions soundly defeated West Fork in a non-conference match-up, then demolished Clarion-Goldfield-Dows in the North Central Conference opener for both teams.

CL 62, West Fork 30

The Lions made quick work of the West Fork Warhawks Tuesday, Nov. 27, in their first home court appearance.  Clear Lake prevailed, 62-30.

“I was pleased with how well we pushed the ball on offense.  We have some speed on this year’s team and I was happy to see the girls run the floor and make the right decisions,” said Coach Bart Smith.

The Lions were off and running early and held a 19-4 lead after the first quarter of play. They posted double-digit scoring in each period and were in command, 36-12, at halftime.

“Our on ball defense was pretty good, but we need to continue to better on our defensive rotations and not getting out of position,” noted Coach Smith.

Almost all of the Lions got their name in the scorebook, led by Sara Faber with 17-points.  The junior also fed her teammates with a team-high five assists. Sophomore Chelsey Holck was also in double figures with 13 points.

Lexi Fasbender added nine points, Julia Merfeld had eight and Ali Maulsby was good for five points in the win.  Freshman Emily Theiss put in four points, while Kaitlyn VanderPloeg, Zoe Fasbender and Mikayla VanderPloeg scored two points apiece.

The Lions were sound on the boards, with Faber, Merfeld, Holck and Kaitlyn VanderPloeg each grabbing four rebounds.

CL 71, C-G-D 38

A balanced Lion team was simply too much for Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Friday night, Nov. 30.  Clear Lake rolled to a 71-38 victory in the NCC tilt.

“We had a really good start to this game.  We made shots early that allowed us to get into our press and dictate the tempo,” said Coach Bart Smith.

The Lions left the Cowgirls in the dust with a 32-7 first quarter effort.  By halftime the margin was 47-17.

“I felt like we made shots because we made the extra pass or got the ball to the middle of the defense by a pass or by attacking it off the dribble,” added Smith.

Sara Faber and Julia Merfeld were a strong one-two punch for the Lions, putting in 20 and 19-points respectively. Lexi Fasbender was also a top scorer with 11 points.

The list of contributors continued with Ali Maulsby scoring seven, Emily Theiss five, and Chelsey Holck, Zoe Fasbender and Rowan Fread with three apiece.

“This team is really unselfish and are looking for the right options.  This needs to continue,” said Coach Smith.

Kaitlyn VanderPloeg controlled the boards with nine rebounds.

And while he was pleased with his offense, Coach Smith said there is work to be done on defense.

“I wasn’t impressed with our half court defense when we took the press off.  We weren’t matching up well and we were giving up easy opportunities for them.”