Girls recover after stumble against Algona

(Above) Sara Faber is congratulated by her teammates after breaking the all-time leading scorer record at Clear Lake.  She scored 25-points against Humboldt for a total of 1,459 career points.Faber breaks scoring record

by Marianne Gasaway

The week started with a stumble, but the Clear Lake girls finished on a high, pushing their record to 18-2 overall with one game remaining in the regular season.  The Lions begin post-season play Saturday on their home court against Garner-Hayfield-Ventura.  Tip-off is at 5 p.m.

Algona 48, CL 45

The Lions fell for the first time in North Central Conference play this season Tuesday night at Algona, 48-45.  The loss snapped a nine-game win streak for the Lions.

“We came out too flat on the road to get a win against a good Algona team,” said Coach Bart Smith.  “We weren’t ourselves all night.  We had a hard time stopping their dribble drive to the basket defensively and then offensively we didn’t execute.  We still battled, though, and had a chance to win.”

Three point leads were common in the game, as Algona outscored the Lions, 10-7, in the opening period.  After an even second quarter in which each team scored 12, it was Clear Lake’s turn to top the Bulldogs by three.  They outscored Algona 17-14 in the third to begin the fourth quarter in a 36-36 tie.

The Bulldogs pulled out the win in the final quarter, 48-45.

Sara Faber led the Lions in scoring with 10-points, followed by Darby Dodd with eight and Chelsey Holck with seven-points.  Jaden Ainley and Zoe Fasbender scored six apiece, while Ali Maulsby and Kaitlyn Vanderploeg each had three-points.  Julia Merfeld rounded out the scoring with two.  

Vanderploeg was the leader on the boards with six rebounds.

CL 48, GHV 25

The Lions had probably their worst shooting night, but strong play on defense lifted Clear Lake to a 48-25 win over Garner-Hayfield-Ventura Thursday, Feb. 6.

“The girls continued to play defense though and fought through the shooting struggles,” said Coach Bart Smith.  “I thought Ali Maulsby and Kaitlyn Vanderploeg gave us a well-needed spark off the bench.  Ali hit some threes and Kaitlyn had a good inside presence for us.”

Vanderploeg finished with a team-high 13-points and eight rebounds, while Maulsby finished with 12-points.  She was three-for-five from behind the three-point line.  She was also three-for-four at the free throw line.  Sara Faber also finished in double digits with 13-points to go with her eight rebounds.  

Also figuring in the Lions’ scoring was Chelsey Holck with four points and Jaden Ainley, Emily Theiss and Lexi Fasbender each with two -points.

Faber, Ainley and Theiss each had four steals in the game.

Jayden Frank lead the GHV team with 13 points, the only Cardinal player to get double-digits.

CL 70,  Humboldt 39

Sara Faber put her name in Clear Lake’s record book with a strong performance to lead the Lions past Humboldt, 70-39, Friday night.

Faber became the all-time leading scorer in Clear Lake girls basketball history during the game.  With her 25-points in the game, Faber broke the record of 1,447 points held by Megan

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Keefe since 2002.  Faber now has scored 1,459.

Coach Bart Smith was absent from the game, due to illness, but said his coaching staff made great halftime adjustments and his players executed better in the second half to earn the win.

“We didn’t take care of the ball in the first half and that’s why we struggled to go on a scoring run,” he said.  I am very happy for our team with this win.  Our bench players had a big contribution to this win tonight.”

Humboldt hung with the Lions early and only trailed by two after the first quarter, 11-9.  At halftime Clear Lake was ahead, 29-22.

Strong defense allowed the Lions to distance themselves in the second half.

Although Faber’s 25 points were the highlight, the balanced attack and depth of the Lions was also impressive.  Ali Maulsby, Jaden Ainley, Emily Theiss and Kaitlyn Vanderploeg all came off the bench and scored nine-points apiece.  Chelsey Holck and Lexi Fasbender also came in to score six and three-points respectively.

  Vanderploeg had a team-high 11 rebounds.

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