Lions remain perfect

(Above) Clear Lake’s Jack Barragy applies some heavy defensive pressure against a Forest City ball handler.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake boys basketball team is a perfect 10.  The Lions started 2019 with two more .  They defeated Humboldt to move to 6-0 in the North Central Conference, then topped a good Forest City team on Saturday.

The Lions will kick off a three game home stretch this week.  They will take on Waverly-Shell Rock Thursday, Hampton-Dumont on Friday and Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Tuesday, Jan. 15.

CL 68, Humboldt 51

Coach Jeremey Ainley said the first game after a break can be rough. “You worry that you will lose a little bit of the mojo you had going before break and it feels like the first game of the season a little bit.”

But the Lions lost none of their mojo.  They handled Humboldt on the road, 68-51.

Clear Lake jumped out to an early 15-10 lead in the first quarter with solid shooting and good defense.

“In the second quarter we lost our edge defensively and just traded baskets,” said the coach, whose team took a 32-28 lead into halftime.  “We challenged the guys a little at the half to get the edge back on the defensive end and we did.  We got stops 10 of the first 12 possessions of the half.”

The Lions were up 14 going into the final quarter and cruised to a 68-51 win.

“We held them to 31 percent shooting and 18 points in the paint, which was a major factor in the game,” pointed out Coach Ainley.  “It is always nice to get a win, but a conference road win is extra special with how hard they are to achieve.”

The team was led in scoring by Carson Toebe with 14 points.  Drew Enke had a nice all-around game with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.  Jaylen DeVries had a great game with 11 points and 13 rebounds.  Kody Kearns gave the Lions a strong performance off the bench with 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Tate Storbeck finished with eight points, while Jack Barragy, Ryan Thomas and Jared Penning had four points apiece for the Lions.

“Overall, it was just a great team performance,” added the coach.

Clear Lake is leading the North Central Conference with a 6-0 record.  Webster City is next at 4-1, followed by Algona and Humboldt at 3-2.

CL 67, Forest City 55

The Lions hosted Forest City for a Sat

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urday afternoon non-conference tilt.  Coach Ainley called the matchup  “a good checkpoint of where we are in the season” because the Indians (9-3) are also off to a good start.

“We knew they would play a lot of different defenses to confuse us and make us try to slow it down,” said Coach Ainley.  “I thought we handled them very well.”

The Lions were steady throughout the game and posted a 67-55 win.

Clear Lake got off to a good start defensively and built a 12-7 lead after one quarter.  In the second, they started to shoot it well from outside and were able to  build a 30-20 lead.

The teams traded a lot of baskets in the third quarter and some foul trouble contributed to the Lions giving up some uncharacteristic baskets inside.

The team finished strong with good shooting and critical stops in the final eight-minutes which allowed them to pull away for the 12-point victory.

Tate Storbeck shot it well and led the Lions with 20 points, including five three-pointers.  Carson Toebe put in 18 points and finished with nine assists, while Drew Enke had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.

The team got great performances off the bench, with Kody Kearns putting in eight points and Andrew Formanek seven.

“It was a great team effort and good win for us,” said Ainley.  “I was pleased with how well we shot it against their zone and moved the ball to get good shots.”

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