Lions continue to roll with undefeated season

by Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake boys recorded not only wins— but a road win— last week against North Central Conference opponents.  The victories moved the Lions to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the NCC. Monday night the Lions stepped out of the conference to take on county rival Mason City.  Their final game before the holiday break was at Algona Tuesday, Dec. 18.  Look for photos and results from those games in next week’s Mirror-Reporter.

CL 61, Webster City 52

The Lions gathered strength throughout their game with Webster City Tuesday, Dec. 11.  The team broke away from a 24-20 halftime advantage to win by nine, 61-52.

“We knew it would be a tough road game against a rebuilding opponent with a very good post player,” said Clear Lake Coach Jeremey Ainley.  “We didn’t come out with the same energy we have had in the last couple of games and it showed.  We kind of played at Webster City’s pace and struggled a bit in the first quarter to a 12-12 tie.  In the second quarter we were able to speed the game up a little bit.  The third quarter we had some good energy and were able to build a 43-29 lead.”

Despite being outscored 19-9 in the third quarter the Lynx continued to fight and made some shots to make it a tightly contested game down the stretch.

“We were able to execute down the stretch, make our free throws and come out with a 61-52 road win,” said Ainley.  “Overall it was a nice road win, which are never easy in the conference.  We had nine guys score again and were able to keep rotating and keeping guys fresh which can be huge during a long basketball season.”

Senior Tate Storbeck had a great game with 16 points and a team-high five rebounds.  Carson Toebe finished with 12 points and six assists. Andrew Formanek was also in double figures with 10 points.  He was followed by Drew Enke with nine points, Jared Penning had six, and Jack Barragy, Kody Kearns, Jaylen DeVries and Ryan Thomas each had two points.

CL 74, St. Edmond 52

  The Lions remained undefeated with a strong showing against a highly regarded St. Edmond team Friday night.  Clear Lake won, 74-52.

“It’s always a hard fought game— St Eds has a couple of really good guards and is a preseason conference favorite in the league,” said Coach Ainley.

The Lions were able to set the tone defensively early and jumped out 26-9 lead after one quarter.

“In the second quarter we lost our way a little defensively and let them back into it for a 40-28 lead at half time,” noted Ainley.

The halftime break allowed the Lions to regroup and they started the second half with renewed defensive intensity.  They took control of the game by outscoring the Gaels, 20-11, in the third quarter.  With a 60-39 lead after three, the team was able to cruise until the final buzzer.

“We held them to 33 percent shooting from the field which allowed us to turn defense into offense,” said Coach Ainley.

Tate Storbeck and Drew Enke led the team in scoring with 14 points apiece.  Jaylen Devries had a solid overall game with 11 points and eight rebounds.

The coach noted Carson Toebe is also improving every game and finished with nine points, seven rebounds and nine assists.  It was a also a nice effort from Jared Penning with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Jack Barragy and Carter Backhaus each put in three points for the Lions.  Andrew Formanek, Kody Kearns, Chase Stuver and Ryan Thomas got into the scorebook with two points apiece.

“Overall it was just a nice well rounded win,” added Ainley.   “Lots of guys contributed and overall we are playing some good basketball with a lot of room to still improve.”