Lions rally for win

(Above) Darby Dodd brings the ball down the floor against some tight defensive pressure.  Dodd finished the night with 10 points and eight rebounds. -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

With the lead gone and momentum turning, Clear Lake’s Sara Faber did what leaders do.   She put the team on her back and carried it into the semifinals of the Class 3A state tournament.  

Faber scored 26 points, including 11 straight during a key stretch in the second half, and second-seeded Clear Lake turned back number seven seed Davenport Assumption, 60-46, to finish the opening day of the 2020 tournament. 

  Assumption had trailed throughout the game before rallying to take a 27-25 lead with 5:06 left in the third quarter. That’s when Faber began attacking the basket and the tide turned. 

The 5’8” senior, who’ll play at Wartburg next season, drove into the lane to hit two straight runners, then stole the ball and was fouled as she made a layup. She hit the free throw to complete the three-point play but still wasn’t finished. She drove for another bucket, then made a free throw to put the Lions up 35-27 and in the lead for good.  

After an Assumption free throw, Darby Dodd stepped up for the Lions, knocking down two long three-pointers from the left wing and banking in a layup after stealing the ball. All of that added up to an 18-1 run that gave the Lions a 43-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

Assumption ended up going 11 minutes between field goals and never recovered.  

“I wasn’t shooting too well at the beginning, but my teammates and coaches are always trying to hype me up and trying to get me to find my rhythm, get my shot and knock it down when I have an open look,” explained Dodd.  “Sara helped with her driving and kicking it out for threes.”

The Lion bench was also a huge part of the third quarter spurt.

“The bench has been a big impact.  It’s not just one player on this team.  It’s the whole team.  It’s not just five girls; it’s 10 girls,” said Dodd after the game.  “It’s every night somebody else is scoring.  It’s a big lift off of everybody’s shoulders because nobody feels too pressured to do everything on one given night.”

Coach Bart Smith also praised the play of his bench, noting they gave the team a needed spark.

“At the start of the third quarter they were making a run.  I’m sitting on the bench going ‘we’ve got to get the tempo we want.’  And a group went in there—  flying around and making plays.”

Faber said the Lions feel like the “have all the pieces” to make a championship run.

“This year we are closer and have more height.  We can get it into the post and then kick it out or finish— we’re good in both spots,” she said.

Eight players contributed to the Lions’ scoring column.

In addition to Faber’s 26, Dodd finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for Clear Lake, which shot 50 percent over the final three quarters after going 4/20 from the field in the opening quarter.   Julia Merfeld and Chelsey Holck each put in five points. Zoe Fasbender, Jaden Ainley and Emily Theiss scored four apiece and Kaitlyn Vanderploeg chipped in two points.

Natalie Moore led Assumption with 17 points -- 13 in the second half. Dawsen Dorsey and Corey Whitlock each scored seven for the Knights, who made the tournament for the 16th time and have won four state championships.  Assumption, which plays a schedule laden with 5A and 4A teams, finished their season with a 16-8 record.

“It feels good to get one,” said Coach Smith about his program’s first ever win at State.  “Every year is different.  We’ve had some tough matchups over the years, 

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from tall teams to facing the best shooter in Iowa girls basketball five-player history.  It’s nice to be

the team people have to adjust to.”

The Lions will take a 23-2 record into a semifinal game against Sioux City Heelan at 3:15 on Thursday.  Heelan was a 50-38 winner over Des Moines Christian in their Tuesday morning quarterfinal game.  On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Dike-New Hartford topped Jesup, 56-43, and fifth-seeded North Polk defeated the fourth seed, Red Oak, 68-40.

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