League-leading boys looking forward to challenge

(Above) Jaylen DeVries is back on the floor for the Lions after sitting out with an injury earlier this season.  DeVries helped the Lions with five rebounds in their win over Clarion-Goldfield-Dows.-Reporter photo by Chris Barragy.

The Clear Lake boys picked up two important North Central Conference wins last week to remain in a battle for the league crown.

“We are continuing to improve and now we go on the road for three tough road games that will either put us in a position to win the league or make it tough.   We look forward to the challenge!” said Coach Jeremey Ainley.

The Lions are 10-4 overall and 8-1 in the NCC.  Algona is the nearest challenger with a league record of 6-2; St. Ed’s stands at 6-3.  Clear Lake was scheduled to play Algona on the road last night (Tuesday, Jan. 23).  They will be at Crestwood Thursday for a non-conference game and at Humboldt Friday to face the 5-8, 3-5 Wildcats.

CL 87, H-D 53

Coach Ainley suspected his team may be a little rusty after a weekend and Monday snow day, so he was not surprised when the Lions missed some easy shots early on the road at Hampton-Dumont.  Thankfully, the Lions returned to form as the game wore on and took home an 87-53 victory.

“Although we started out fast in the first quarter, we were not finishing very well and missed a lot of easy shots around the basket.  In the second quarter we also were not defending very well and allowed Hampton to get some easy looks, which led to a three-point halftime lead, 35-34.

The Lions actually were down by one point in the third quarter before going on a 15-1 run to give themselves some breathing room.

“In the fourth quarter we got our legs back under us and our defense continued to lead to some easy baskets,” said Ainley.

A great team effort resulted in four Lions scoring in double figures.   Zach Lester led the way with 29 points, seven assists and five steals.  Drew Enke had a great game all around with 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and Jared Penning continues to improve, scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds.

“Sam Pedelty and Tate Storbeck had some big threes that really helped stretch a defense, scoring 12 and six points on three-pointers,” said Coach Ainley.  “I was also happy with our two back-up post players, Andrew Formanek and Ryan Thomas, scoring seven and six points.”

Jack Barragy and Jaylen DeVries rounded out the scoring with three and two points respectively.

“Overall, it was a great team effort and it seems like we are starting to play some good basketball together as the season moves along,” added the coach.

CL 72, C-G-D 67

Zach Lester put the Lions on his back in the fourth quarter and carried them to a 72-67 victory Friday night at Clear Lake High School.  Tied at 50-50 heading into the final eight-minutes, Lester scored the first 19 and ultimately 21 of the Lions’ 22

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fourth quarter points.

Coach Ainley said he knew it would be a hard fought game and it did not disappoint.

The Lions had a quick start were able to take a two-point lead after one quarter, 15-13.

“We were not finishing well at the basket and did not shoot particularly well again in the first half and in the second quarter let our defense down and trailed by three at the half,” said the coach.

In the third quarter the Lions battled back from the 35-32 halftime score to knot the score at 50 after three.

“We had some great looks from outside and missed a couple opportunities down low (in the fourth),” said Coach Ainley.  “Just other than Zach we couldn’t get anything to fall.  We hit just enough free throws down the stretch and got a couple big stops to preserve a hard fought five point win.”

Lester continues to pad his 1,000-plus point career. He finished with 43 points in the game, as well as six rebounds and eight steals.  One of those swipes was a game sealing steal with :15 seconds remaining.  His resulting layup put the Lions ahead by five points.

Jared Penning had a great all-around game with 10 points and seven rebounds and Tate Storbeck made a couple big baskets and finished with 12 points.

Drew Enke didn’t have his best shooting night, but had a great game defensively and also had 11 rebounds and four assists.  Enke and Sean Wendel each scored two points.

Nick Danielson came off the bench to score five points.  Jaylen DeVries did not score, but grabbed five rebounds.

“It was a very tough fought game,” said Coach Ainley.  “I was extremely happy with our team for staying the course and continuing to fight.”

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