First round win for CL girls

(Above) Clear Lake’s McKenna Backhaus looks for an open player during Saturday night’s game against Dike-New Hartford.  The Lions defeated the Wolverines and move on to play Humboldt tonight at home. -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

If offense wins games and defense wins championship, the Clear Lake girls are on their way.

The Lions, ranked eighth in Class 3A, opened post-season play with a defensive gem Saturday night against Dike-New Hartford.  They advanced to play Osage tonight (Wednesday, Feb. 15) with a 38-18 victory.

The two teams scored just six points apiece in the opening quarter and the Wolverines clung to a scant 13-12 lead at halftime.

“We were a little passive in the first half,” said Coach Bart Smith.  “I thought we weren’t the aggressor and that’s why we were in the situation that we were going into half.”

The second half was much more typical of Clear Lake basketball, with the Lions holding their opponent to only five second half points while scoring 26 for the 20-point win.

“The girls settled in and started to be more aggressive and were looking for their shots,” said Coach Smith.  “Defense got us this win.  I was pleased with that.”

Sisters Sara and Jessica Faber provided the bulk of the Lion offense with 14 and 12 points respectively.   They also topped the rebounding stats, as Jessica grabbed nine boards and Sara had five.

Julia Merfeld put in nine and Jordyn Barragy scored three points and had three rebounds.

The Lion defense recorded 12 steals, paced by Sara Faber with four.

“Dike Hew Hartford is a good team.  When the seedings came out, I was surprised that they were an eighth seed.  They had a good record and they lost to a fourth rated team by seven and then beat a number nine team at the end of the season.  We beat a good team in the first round of tournaments,” added the coach.

The Lions will tip off against Osage at 7 p.m. tonight in the Clear Lake High School gymnasium. The winner will meet either Humboldt or North Polk Saturday, Feb. 18, in a game to be played at 7 p.m. at Clarion.