Curse continues at State for Lions

(Above) Senior Jordyn Barragy drives the lane to lay up a shot in the Class 3A State Tournament first round game.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

Clear Lake’s first round State Tournament curse continued Tuesday, as the fifth ranked Monticello defeated the third ranked Lions, 61-50.

Clear Lake Coach Bart Smith said qualifying for the State Tournament was a goal, but to date no Clear Lake team has gotten past the first round. “That fueled us all season and propelled this team,” he said.

The Panthers led by as many as nine-points in the third quarter and again with just under five-minutes remaining, but each time the Lions fought back.  After closing the gap to three-points, 51-48, midway through the final quarter Lion shooting turned cold.  Meanwhile, the Panthers began to pull away and sealed the deal with free throws down the stretch.

Monticello was 16-for-22 from the free throw line, compared to Clear Lake’s five-for-six.  The 11-made free throw difference turned out to be the winning margin.

Clear Lake jumped out to a 3-2 opening lead, but that was the only time the Lions were ahead.

At halftime Monticello was on top, 33-26.

Jordyn Barragy posted a double-double in the game.  The senior scored 20 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.  Sara Faber put in 12 points and had eight rebounds for the Lions.

Monticello used its height to challenge the always-tough Lion defense.  Senior Lauren Ries, who stands 5’10”, paced the Panthers with 22 points.  Jordan Kuper, a 6’2” sophomore, had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Taylor McDonald had 14 points and was eight-for-eight from the free throw line.

The Lions shot a 38 percent in the game and were just seven-for-25 from behind the arc.  Monticello shot at a 49 percent clip, and made seven of 12 three-point attempts.

Rebounding was nearly even for the teams, with Clear Lake getting 27 rebounds to Monticello’s 29.

Clear Lake says good-bye to three seniors.  Jordyn Barragy, Gretchen Jones and Chloe Mueller finished their high school basketball careers at State.

The Lions ended the season with a record of 22-3.

Monticello (20-5) advances to play the winner of the Tuesday night game between Red Oak and Sioux Center.