Clear Lake girls face tough competition

by Marianne Gasaway

North Iowa is home to some of the top girls basketball teams in the state.  Last week the Clear Lake Lions played back-to-back games against ranked opponents.  The losses dropped the Lions from number two in Class 3A to number four in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Association poll.

Mason City 77, CL 70

Tuesday night, the undefeated and second ranked (3A) Clear Lake Lions hosted Mason City, ranked second in Class 4A.  The game lived up to its potential, as the teams battled to the final buzzer.  In the end, the Mohawks got the win, 77-70.

“This was a fun game,” said Lions Coach Bart Smith.  “Our girls played hard.  We just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch to take the lead and keep it.”

A big second quarter helped Mason City to a 46-36 lead at halftime.  However, halftime adjustments were effective and by early in the third quarter the Lions had stormed back to make it a one-point game, 52-51.

Sara Faber had a huge game for the Lions.  Her 33 points included making 16 of 19 free throw attempts.  Those shots from the charity stripe were instrumental in giving the Lions a 61-60 lead after three quarters of play.

“Offensively we attacked the basket well and made some open shots.  The second quarter is where we let the game get away from us.  They capitalized on their press and hurried us into some mistakes,” said Coach Smith.

Both teams had trouble netting the ball in the early going of the fourth, but back-to-back steals resulting in Mohawk buckets had them leading, 70-64, midway through the final period.  Free throws by Lexi Fasbender and Julia Merfeld got the score to within two points, but Mason City’s free throw shooting down the stretch gave them the win.

Lexi Fasbender finished with 10-points and three steals for the Lions and Merfeld put in nine points.

Zoe Fasbender and Mikayla Vanderploeg each scored eight for Clear Lake.  Ali Maulsby chipped in two points.

Faber was also the leader on defense for the Lions.  She pulled down 12 rebounds.

Algona 66, Clear Lake 61

The Lions were in fight-back mode again Tuesday, as Algona jumped out to a 34-21 halftime lead.

“We didn’t start with energy or a defensive mindset,” said Coach Smith.  “Mentally we weren’t there either, with some of our players not on the same page with some plays and presses.  We weren’t good in the important phases of the game; defense, rebounding, and shooting.”

The Lions gave themselves a

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chance with better play in the

second half, as they outscored the Bulldogs in both the third and fourth quarters, but it wasn’t enough.

“We also need more consistency in some of our scorers.  Sara (Faber) shouldn’t have to score 28 for us every night,” added Coach Smith.  Faber was the leader in scoring, as well as rebounds with 10.

Ali Maulsby put in 12 points for Clear lake, followed by Julia Merfeld with eight.  Emily Theiss finished with three points, while Lexi Fasbender, Chelsey Holck, Jaden Ainley, Kaitlyn Vanderploeg and Zoe Fasbender each had two points.

“It was a good learning lesson for the girls right before break,” added the coach.  “I loved how we fought back and had a chance to win with all break downs that we had.  They never gave up and we are proud of that.”

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