Lions pull away in close victories

(Above) Clear Lake’s Kody Kearns puts up a shot during the Mason City game Monday night in the Mohawk gym.  Kearns had nine points for the Lions.  Clear Lake topped the Mohawks, 67-64 in a hard fought battle.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake boys improved to 3-1 with a pair of victories last week.  The Lions took the lead down the stretch to earn a three-point win over county rival Mason City, then began conference play on the road against Iowa Falls-Alden.

This week the Lions hosted Webster City Tuesday and are on the road again Friday to play St. Edmond in their final game before the holiday break.

CL 67, Mason City 64

Coach Jeremey Ainley said he expected a hard-fought battle between two veteran teams when Clear Lake traveled to Mason City for a non-conference tilt.  He got just that as the Lions outscored the Mohawks 20-10 in the final quarter to leave with a 67-64 win.

“They have very quick guards that we were going to have to deal with, and they had to deal with our size and strength,” said Ainley.

The first quarter was back and forth, with the Mohawks holding a 15-14 lead at the buzzer.

“We were able to get some easy looks inside, but unfortunately could not convert at the free throw line and were not able to build a lead,” said Ainley.  “In the second quarter we didn’t do a very good job of defending and gave them way to many easy looks and let them go into the half up 38-32.”

The coach said his team lacked “a defensive attitude” and was on the brink of getting blown out in the third period.  The Mohawks were able to stretch their lead to as many as 16 before the Lions regrouped and switched up some defenses.  Clear Lake made a run to close the deficit to seven points heading into the final period.

The Lions continued to ride their defense and finally started to shoot with some confidence in the final quarter.

After a back and forth final two-minutes that saw the lead change twice, Jack Barragy hit his fourth three-pointer of the night  to put the Lions on top.  The defense then provided two big stops to end the game with the win.  Barragy finished with 13-points and was a perfect 4/4 from beyond the arc.

Andrew Formanek controlled the paint with 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Lions.  Carson Toebe gave the team a spark and got the offense a little more up-tempo, finishing with 11 points and six assists.

Jaylen DeVries had a great overall game with seven points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Kody Kearns added nine points for the Lions.

“Overall, it was a great team effort and one that we really grew up in,” said Coach Ainley.  “Our backs were against the wall and we fought back and really showed some heart.  This team is starting to figure things out an starting to take the next step.  We were able to beat Mason City at all three levels this year at the high school level, which is a pretty good accomplishment for a smaller school like us.”

CL 60, IF-A 55

The Lions survived an early season tough road test on Friday, the 13th.  Clear Lake saw its lead slip away briefly in the fourth quarter, but responded with good defense and key baskets for a 60-55 North Central Conference win.

“Iowa Falls is always a tough place to play and we knew our first conference road trip was going to be a task,” said Coach Ainley.   “They are much improved and can really shoot the ball from outside.  We knew we would have to rely on our defense to carry us. They play a 2-3 zone so

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we wanted to get the ball inside against their zone.”

The Lions started out the first quarter getting some good looks at the basket, as well as some offensive rebounds and second chances to go up 19-17 after one quarter.  They continued to pound the ball inside and got some great looks on their way to a 34-28 halftime advantage.

The Cadets took advantage of Lion turnovers in the third quarter and outscored the visitor 16-11 to pull within one, 45-44, through three quarters.

Momentum was continuing to swing the Cadets’ way early in the fourth and the home team briefly took the lead.   

The Lions responded with some timely defensive plays and took the ball back inside for some easy baskets to seal the game and pull out a very good five-point road win.

Andrew Formanek had another good game inside and finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.  Jaylen DeVries played a great overall game with eight points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.

“Jack Barragy hit some timely shots to finish with 11 points, but more importantly had a great game defensively on their leading scorer, who took 26 shots to score 21 points,” noted Coach Ainley.

Carson Toebe also played a solid game with 11 points and seven rebounds and had some great defensive plays down the stretch.

“Overall, it was a good early season road test for us and a chance to continue to get better,” said Ainley.  “We are now back to full strength health wise with the addition of Nick Danielson and really looking to continue to improve.  We need to keep getting better.”

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