Lions stay perfect in NCC; Edged in defensive battle by R-S

Eyes on the prize - Jordan Mayland    takes aim at the basket during Clear Lake’s battle with Roland-Story.  The 12th ranked Norsemen topped 10th ranked Clear Lake in a Class 3A defensive showdown.-Reporter photos by Chris Barragy.

by Marianne Gasaway

It’s all about the energy in these final weeks of the basketball season.  The Clear Lake girls have been ramping up their intensity as the second half of the season marches on and last week it yielded a 17-point win over a conference rival and a last second loss to another of Class 3A’s rated teams.  The Lions are now 7-3 overall and 6-0 in the North Central Conference.

Clear Lake will make up a game with St. Ed’s on Thursday night, Jan. 20, then travel to Humboldt for a rematch on Friday.  Monday they will step out of NCC play and compete against Class 4A’s ninth rated team, Waverly-Shell Rock.  Tuesday, Jan. 25, the Lions will be at Clarion-Goldfield-Dows.

CL 55, Humboldt 38

Coach Bart Smith said he was pleased his team was able to “get away with a win” Monday, Jan. 10, at Humboldt.  After a lackluster first half, the Lions found their game and posted a 55-38 victory.

“We were flat the first half,” said Smith.  “Our defense had little energy and urgency to start the game and that set the tone for the first half.  The third quarter was much better.  Better urgency, better defense and that’s when we got into a nice rhythm.”

Despite their start, the Lions held a 28-18 halftime lead and were in firm control after three, 46-32.

The Lions distributed the ball well, with three players finishing in double digits.  

Jaden Ainley led the way with 21-points and five rebounds. The senior also had four steals.  Jordan Maryland put in 11-points to go with her four assists, and Emily Theiss finished with 10-points. 

Center Xada Johnson didn’t score, but dished out three assists and had three rebounds in the win.

Reserve Annika Nelson played some valuable minutes with six-points, three assists and four rebounds.  Reese  Brownlee came in to score a field goal and Autumn VanHorn drained a free throw.

Humboldt slipped to 5-2 in the NCC and 8-6 overall.

R-S 36, CL 34

Roland-Story drained a three-pointer with 10-seconds to go to lift 12th ranked (3A) Roland-Story to a 36-34 victory over Clear Lake Thursday night.  The Lions’ Jaden Ainley had a good look on a last second shot from the top of the key but couldn’t connect.

Ainley finished as the Lions’ top scorer with 15 points.

“I was the best defensive energy game we’ve had after break.  I thought we guarded really well and played defense with some urgency. We just came up short at the end,” said Coach Bart Smith.  “Roland Story is a very good team that can shoot the three really well.”

The coach took solace in knowing the Lions battled a good team, but can

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play even better.

“We lost this game on aspects of the game we can fix.  Our sureness with the ball wasn’t good, which resulted in 17-points for them off of our turnovers.  We need to be better offensively with our decision making”

Smith called his teams’ play in the third quarter their best offensively this year.

The Lions found themselves down 11-7 after the first quarter of play and defense by both teams was staunch in the second period.  The Lions outscored the Norsemen 6-5 in the period to close the halftime gap to 16-13.

In the third, the Lions took the lead by outscoring the visitor 17-12, but the fourth quarter was more of a defensive battle.  R-S held the Lions to four points in the period.

“I was happy with how our girls handled the last possession for us,” explained Smith.  “They were great in the timeouts and executed the plays we wanted to get a good shot.  We had a great look, we just came up short.”

In addition to Ainley’s 15-points, the Lions received 10-points from Emily Theiss.  Xada Johnson had five and Brooklyn Eden finished with two points.  Ainley and Johnson were leaders on the boards with six rebounds apiece.  Jordan Maryland led the team with four assists. 

Madi Bauer was the only R-S player to finish in double figures.  She had 11-points.

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