CL girls move record to 4-1

(Above) Clear Lake’s Lexi Fasbender guards a West Fork player during Tuesday night’s game. -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

The Clear Lake girls improved their record to 4-1 last week with wins over West Fork and Hampton-Dumont.

“This week really tested our girls mentally and physically and I was pleased with how we performed all week,” said Coach Bart Smith.  “We still need to work on things, but it’s a start to the season.”

This week the Lions dive into North Central Conference action by hosting Algona Friday, Dec. 9, and Clarion-Goldfield Tuesday, Dec. 13.

CL 56, West Fork 35

After an exciting victory over 4A power Waverly-Shell Rock the night before, Coach Bart Smith said he was a bit worried about how him team might respond.

The Lions didn’t disappoint.  They posted a solid 56-35 win over West Fork in a non-conference battle played Nov. 29.

“I thought our effort was good after a well fought win the night before.  Our starting five logged a lot of minutes and played hard the night before and this game challenged us mentally,” said Coach Smith.

The Lions broke out to a 20-9 first quarter lead, then slowed down in the second quarter for a 26-15 halftime lead.  Steady play throughout the third and fourth quarters was the difference in the 21-point victory.

“We were short on shots the whole game and I would have liked to have seen our girls try and attack the zone better instead of settling for threes,” said Coach Smith. “Thirty-one three attempts is too many.”

The Lions made just seven of their 27 attempts from beyond the arc.

Emily Snelling was the leading scorer for the Lions with 20 points.  She also paced the team on the boards with 10 rebounds and had six steals.

Sara Faber was also in double digits with 12 points, followed by Jordyn Barragy with nine.  Jessica Faber added six points, Lexi Fasbender had three, and Gretchen Jones, McKenna Backhaus and Mikayla Vanderploeg each had two points.  Chloe Mueller didn’t score, but dished out five assists and had six steals.

“We haven’t worked a ton on zone offense yet, so it was good for us as a team to get that game on film and learn some things,” said Coach Smith.  “Good effort, good win, but we need to execute a little bit better versus a zone.”

CL 72, Hampton-Dumont 50

Emily Snelling poured in 33 points, had 11 steals and nine rebounds, helping the Lions to a 72-50 victory over Hampton-Dumont Dec. 2.

Both teams had good offensive output in the early going, with the Lions holding a 24-19 lead after the first quarter of play.  The Lions began to pull away in the second with good defense and outscored the home team 26-190 for a 50-29  halftime lead.

“We did a nice job attacking their half court trapping defense.  We were able to get the ball in the middle to Emily where she made some good decisions,” said Coach Bart Smith.  “Our girls also moved the ball around in the first half and got some open looks from the perimeter.”

Jessica Faber also had a good night for the Lions with 11 points.  Jordyn Barragy had seven points, Sara Faber and Chloe Mueller each had six, and Julia Merfeld put in four points.  Gretchen Jones finished with three points and McKenna Backhaus had two.