CL girls suffer first loss of the season

by Marianne Gasaway

Ninth ranked (4A) Waverley-Shell Rock handed the Clear Lake girls their first loss of the season last week, but the Lions responded with wins over Humboldt and Forest City.  Clear Lake, which had been ranked second all season, dropped to fifth in Class 3A with the loss. They are now 9-1 overall and 5-0 in the North Central Conference.

W-SR 58, CL 35

Waverly-Shell Rock found a way to stifle the usually potent Clear Lake offense in a 58-35 game played Jan. 6.

The Lions started a bit cold on the road, but stayed close to the Hawks in the first quarter.  The home team led 12-8 after one quarter and 28-23 at the half.

The real difference came in the second half, when the Lions were held to just five points in the third quarter and seven in the fourth.

Chelsey Holck was the only Lion to finish in double figures scoring.  The junior put in 11-points.

Sara Faber and Darby Dodd each had eight-points.  The duo, which usually strike with accuracy from behind the three-point line, were each two-for-six from behind the arc.  Ali Maulsby contributed four-points and Emily Theiss and Zoe Fasbender had two-points apiece.

Theiss was the leader on the boards with five rebounds.

CL 65, Humboldt 44

The Lions took out their disappointment with a solid win over Humboldt Friday night, Jan. 10.  Sara Faber poured in 25-points in Clear Lake’s 65-44 victory.  The Lion senior had a hot hand, sinking 12 of 19 field goal attempts.

Inspired by their home crowd, the Wildcats held a 17-14 first quarter lead, but the Lions quickly sucked the air out of the gymnasium by holding the Cats to just one-point in the second quarter.  Clear Lake held a 27-18 first half lead.

From there, the Lion steadily did their thing and kept Humboldt from mounting a challenge.

Julia Merfeld and Kaitlyn Vanderploeg each put in eight-points for the Lions.  Vanderploeg led the team on the boards with seven rebounds.

Emily Theiss finished with six-points and had a team-high four steals in the game.  As a team, the Lions recorded 19 steals against the Wildcats.

Darby Dodd chipped in five points and Chelsey Holck and Jaden Ainley put in four apiece.  Zoe Fasbender and Layne Lester rounded out the scoring with three and two-points respectively.

CL 65, Forest City 58

Faber again powered the Lion offense in a 65-58 non-conference victory over Forest City Saturday afternoon.  The senior racked up 29 points on offense and made six steals defense to lead the team.

The Lions offense rolled with 26 first quarter points and were in charge at halftime, 38-24.  Forest City made some good adjustments in the locker room and outscored the visitor, 21-15, in the third quarter, but the Lions withstood the charge for the seven-point victory.

Darby Dodd also finished in double figures for the Lions.  She had 12-points.  Jaden Ainley came off the bench to put in nine-points and Chelsey Holck had five points to go along with her team-high eight rebounds.  Julia Merfeld also had five-points.  Ali Maulsby chipped in three and Zoe Fasbender had two-points.