CL girls in a tie for NCC crown

(Above) Clear Lake’s Mikayla Vanderploeg takes a shot during Friday night’s game against Hampton-Dumont.  You make the call, was she blocked or fouled?  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

By Marianne Gasaway

Clear Lake improved to 9-3 last week with a 40-point victory over Hampton-Dumont.  The win keeps the Lions in a tie for the North Central Conference crown with Algona and Iowa Falls-Alden, each with records of 6-1.

CL 64, H-D 24

The Lions lit up the gym on Friday night, Jan. 11, and treated the home crowd to a 64-24 victory over Hampton-Dumont (5-7).

Defense was the name of the game, as the Bulldogs were held to single-digit scoring in each quarter.

“I was really pleased with our half court defense in this game.  We were never really in a bad position defensively throughout the night,” said Lions Head Coach Bart Smith.  “Sometimes when we press we put ourselves in some tough positions to play defense, so we concentrated on just playing half court defense.  Our girls created more turnovers than we do when full court press.”

Offensively, the Lions were well-balanced.  Sophomore Chelsey Holck came off of the bench to score a team-high 24-points on eight-for-10 shooting from the floor.  Sara Faber was also in double digits with 11 points.

Lexi Fasbender contributed eight points, followed by Julia Mefeld with six, Zoe Fasbender five, and Kaitlyn Vanderploeg four points.  Jaden Ainley and Ali Maulsby put in three points apiece.

Coach Smith said he was pleased with the Lions’ efforts on the boards.  His team had 28 rebounds, 20 while win defense, compared to

Merfeld pulled down six rebounds to lead the team.  Faber had five, and Holck, Kaitlyn Vanderploeg and Zoe Fasbender each grabbed four rebounds.

Merfeld was also the team-leader in steals with six.  As a team the Lions recorded 13 steals against the Bulldogs.

“We are rebounding a lot better, but we need to take care of the ball better,” said Coach Smith.

This week the Lions will have a tough NCC battle at Iowa Falls-Alden (12-1, 6-1 ) Friday, Jan. 18.   Conference competition continues Tuesday, Jan. 22, at home versus Webster City (4-8, 2-4).