Ouch! Lions’ leading scorer sidelined with injury in loss to Humboldt

(Above) Sara Faber (4) looks on as Emily Snelling (22) drives to the basket in Friday night’s game with Humboldt.  Despite their loss, the Lions hold a one game lead in the North Central Conference standings heading into the final week of the regular season.-Reporter photo by Chris Barragy.

The Clear Lake girls basketball team, which hadn’t lost a game since its opener against Mason City and had risen to sixth in the Class 3A rankings, was hit with losses, both on the scoreboard and court, last week.  The Lions (14-3), saw their leading scorer, Emily Snelling, sidelined Friday night with a leg injury.  The senior was scheduled to undergo tests Tuesday, but likely will sit out the remainder of the regular season.  The team is slated to play four conference contests in the next week.  The post-season will begin Saturday, Feb. 11.

Humboldt 45, CL 40

Adding insult to injury Friday night was the fact that the Lions simply didn’t shoot the ball well in a 45-40 loss.  The Lions shot a dismal 27 percent from the field. They were just three-for 17 from three-point range and nine-for-18 at the free throw line.

“I thought our girls fought hard until the end.  It’s hard to win when you don’t make shots,” said Head Coach Bart Smith. “I thought we defended them very well and took away their strengths but just missed opportunities on the offensive end to win the game.”

Snelling collected four points before she went out late in the first period.  The Lions had jumped out to a 12-4 first quarter lead, but struggled to get their offense on track after Snelling went out.

“When Emily left with an injury and didn’t return, it took awhile to find our groove and

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get the tempo we wanted,” said Coach Smith.

In fact, the Wildcats went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter which put them ahead 32-27 heading into the fourth quarter.  Clear Lake was never able to get closer than three points.

Freshman Sara Faber came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points.  Jessica Faber was also in double digits with 13 points.  The senior also had two assists, steals and blocked shots.  Jordyn Barragy added six points and le the team with six rebounds. McKenna Backhaus contributed four points and Gretchen Jones had one.

Crestwood 75, CL 51

Third ranked Crestwood was too much for the Lions Saturday.  The Cadets cruised, 75-51.

“We got beat by a really good team that had a lot of weapons on the offensive end,” said Coach Bart Smith.  “They have shooters, a good point guard, two six-footers and players that can score in many different ways.  Our game plan was to control their top two scorers and have someone else beat us.  We accomplished that part of the game plan by holding them under their averages.  They just had a shooter that made open shots.”

Crestwood was off and running early, outscoring the Lions, 22-10, in the first quarter.  A much more even second period made the halftime score 43-28.

The Lions were held to 10 points in the third and could not cut into the Cadets’ sizable fourth quarter lead.

Three Lions were in double figures, led by Sara Faber with 14 points.  Jessica Faber finished with 12 and Gretchen Jones put in 10 points.  Chloe Mueller and Jordyn Barragy each scored six points, and Julia Merfeld added three.

Jessica Faber was the leader on the boards with six rebounds.  She was also credited with four assists and two steals.

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