Lions bounce back after a loss; beat H-D-CAL, 68-32

(Above) Joe Faber uses his ball handling skills to make his way out of a high traffic area.  The Lions fell to an undefeated Clarion-Goldfield-Dows team, 49-39.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

Clear Lake came out flat-footed against a hungry Clarion-Goldfield-Dows team and suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday, Dec. 14.  But the team bounced back with a solid victory over Hampton-Dumont-CAL the next night to even their North Central Conference record at 1-1.   C-G-D leads the league at 4-0.  The Lions are now off until next year.  They will travel to Webster City Jan. 7.

C-G-D 49, CL 39

Time off left the Lions a little rusty and it showed against Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Tuesday night in Clear Lake.  The Cowboys improved to 4-0 with a 49-39 win over the Lions.  It was Clear Lake’s first loss, putting them at 3-1.

“A tough game all around,” said Head Coach Jeremey Ainley after the loss.  “Eight  days off and we came out with a lot of rust and not a lot of energy.  All around we just did not shoot it well inside or out.  I thought we defended well enough to win but our offense was a mess. Credit to Clarion -- they came out and beat us at our own game -- toughness, defense and out worked us.”

The game got off to a slow start and the Cowboys held a 7-4 lead after the first eight-minutes of play.  At halftime Clear Lake was on top, 19-18.

“We were able to get a lead at half, but came out flat the third quarter again and couldn’t get over the hump offensively,” said Ainley.

The Cowboys outscored the home team, 19-9, for a 37-29 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lions were unable to shut the visitor down and settled for a 10-point loss.

Travaughn Luyobya led the Lions with 13 points and Keegan Ihde gave the team a spark offensively with 11 points. Thomas Meyer finished with six, Carson Toebe had five and Tucker Jones and Jett Neuberger each scored two.

Meyer was the leader on the boards with seven rebounds.  Joe Faber had five.

“It is a long season and hopefully this game gives our guys a chance to learn from it,” added Coach Ainley.

CL 68, H-D-CAL 32

The Lions shook off their sluggish performance on Tuesday with a lopsided win over Hampton-Dumont-CAL (3-2) on Friday.  Clear Lake won, 68-32.

“A little hangover in the first quarter, but then started to find our grove offensively and got some run outs and some easy baskets,” assessed Coach Ainley.   “I was the most pleased with our energy after halftime, coming out and scoring 27 points.

Especially pleasing was the 14-2 run the Lions had to start the second half.