Despite loss, CL girls off to a strong start

(Above) Clear Lake’s Jordyn Barragy (41) and Ellie Biebesheimer (43) protect the basket during Monday night’s game against Mason City.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

Clear Lake Coach Bart Smith is clear about the fact that he doesn’t like to lose.  But even Smith had to admit he came away from Monday’s season-opening loss with a good feeling.  The coach said he saw his young team give a strong performance against Class 4A’s top rated team.

The Mason City Mohawks topped the Lions, 50-40, in a competitive game.

“They scored on our mistakes.  If we control that, it would be a closer game,” said Smith.  “We didn’t execute the way we need to, but we’re off to a good start.  I thought our half-court defense was pretty good and these young girls learned how to deal with pressure and they attacked it.  I loved our performance and effort.”

Clear Lake’s Emily Snelling was the leading scorer in the game with 23-points.  Chloe Mueller, who got her first varsity start, finished with seven points.  The pair helped the Lions match step with the Mohawks in the opening quarter.   Mueller opened the scoring with a three-pointer, which was matched by Mason City’s Mackenzie Meyer, who has already signed to play Division 1 ball at Iowa next year.  Meyer led Mason City with 22 points.

After trading baskets in the first period, the Mohawks were on top, 13-8.

Mueller again started strong as the second quarter opened, sinking a shot to pull the Lions within three, 13-10.  A basket by Gretchen Jones midway through the period pulled the Lions within one, 19-18, but the Mohawks went on a 7-0 run at the end of the first half to take a 28-20 lead into the locker room.

Mason City threatened to put the game out of reach in the third.  They extended their lead to 15, 42-27, by the time the third period buzzer sounded.

The Lions wouldn’t lay down.  The scraped their way back in the final frame, helped by successful free throw shooting, and got as close as seven points with three-minutes remaining.  Feeling the pressure, the Mohawks took the air out of the ball, forcing the Lions to foul.  Clear Lake outscored the Mohawks, 13-10, in the final period, but Mason City held on for the 50-40 non-conference victory.

The Lions effectively reduced their turnover numbers in the second half, committing just six of their 23 in the third and fourth quarters.  Mason City had 17 turnovers in the game, with five coming in the second half.

Clear Lake shot at 32 percent (12/38) in the game.  They were 4/16 from three-point range.

Behind Snelling’s 23-point performance was Mueller with seven, all scored in the first half. Jordyn Barragy added six points.  Gretchen Jones and Ellie Biebesheimer each had two points.

Free throw shooting was a bright spot for the Lions, as they made 12 of 14 attempts from the charity stripe.

“We are way ahead of where we were (with previous teams) at this point,” said Coach Smith after the game.  “There’s going to be some good substance this year because we are ahead of that.”

Clear Lake was slated to host Charles City Tuesday night, Nov. 24, in a non-conference game.  Results and photos of that contest will be featured next week.