These girls are on fire

(Above) Chelsey Holck lines up a shot from behind the three-point arc.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake girls were on fire from the start of their North Central Conference game with Webster City Tuesday night, Dec. 17.  The Lions outscored the Lynx, 23-3, in the opening period on their way to a 60-28 victory.

“I loved our start to the game.  We had a good defensive mindset which dictated our offense,” said Coach Bart Smith.

The Lion defense prevented Webster City (3-4) from ever getting its offense on track.  At halftime, the score was 29-8.

Despite the lopsided victory, Coach Smith said the Lions still have some things to work on over the holiday break.

“Our half court offense isn’t where it needs to be,” he said.  “We are rushing a lot of our decisions and we aren’t reading the defense very well.  At times it’s good but it’s not where it needs to be, we need more consistency.”

The entire Lion roster saw playing time and eight players scored.

Sara Faber led the way with 21 points, which included three three-pointers.  Chelsey Holck was also in double figures with 13 points.  Her line included going four-for-four at the free throw line.

Julia Merfeld and Jaden Ainley scored seven and six points respectively. Zoe Fasbender added five points, Darby Dodd had four, and Emily Theiss and Kaitlyn Vanderploeg had two-points apiece.

Rebounding was dominated by the Lions. They pulled down 12 offensive and 20 defensive rebounds for a total of 32.

“I was very pleased with our rebounding at both ends of the floor,” said Smith.

The Lions improved to 6-0 and are tied at the top of the conference leaderboard with Algona and Hampton-Dumont at 3-0.  Webster City fell to 1-2 in the NCC.