Clear Lake Falconhoops

Clear Lake Slips by Alvin 53-46 January 14, 2005 It was UGLY but it is still a “W”. There was a sense of desperation in the air tonight in the new Alvin gymnasium. Perhaps it was the memory of last year's game in the old Alvin gym when a highly ranked Clear Lake team came in against an 11-11 Alvin squad and only scored 2 points in the opening quarter. Perhaps it was the memory of Clear Lake needing overtime to squeek by Alvin by one point to win last year's game, 44-43. Tonight’s district match-up between the Falcons and the Yellowjackets caused the sensation that a lot was riding on this game despite how early in the district season it is. Perhaps it was Alvin's knowledge that they had not beaten Clear Lake in basketball in over two decades but they came within one point last year in the first round of play. Alvin's head coach (and former Clear Lake coach) Eric Aaron could almost taste the victory of his first win over his former boss. Indeed there was a lot riding on the game. With a district record of 1 loss and 1 win, Alvin understood all too well how important a win was if they wanted to keep any hopes of a playoff berth alive. Clear Lake also grasped the importance of a victory even though it is so early in district play and anything can happen. They too are hopeful of a playoff spot. With 3:20 remaining in the first quarter the score was 6-2 in Alvin’s favor after the Falcons came out colder than Christmastime in Poplar Bluff. Will it be a repeat of last year? The Falcons went another two minutes with only one bucket to make the score 10-2 at the 2:02 mark before Kendrell Thompson made a layup to bump the score all the way up to 4 for the Falcons. It was beginning to look like the scorekeeper might get up and make a trip to the concession stand while the ball was in play without missing any action worth recording. With little time remaining in the quarter Scott Oswald drove in to the left side of the paint and passed off to Justin Kurtz who put in the layup to close the quarter at 10-6. Lake went 3 of 9 from the field in the quarter. At 6:30 in the second quarter, Justin blocked a shot under Alvin’s basket and passed out to Scott who drove down and made a layup to bring the score to 13-12, Lake closing, but still trailing. At 5:40 Kendrell plowed into the paint, dished off to Justin who scored to put Lake ahead 14-13. At the midpoint of the quarter it was 17-16 in Alvin’s favor. At 3:23 remaining, Justin drove the baseline on the left side and, as he approached the basket, made a great pass out to Scotty who drained a trey to bring the score to 19-18 in Lake’s favor. With 1:20 left, Kendrell put Lake back ahead 21-20 when he made a layup. The lead changed eight times in the quarter. The half closed with Alvin ahead 22-21. Midway through the third quarter it was 28-27 Alvin. Alvin’s big man, Jonathan Boulos, fouled out with 3:19 left in the third quarter to enable Lake to continue a good job of rebounding in the game. With 35 seconds left in the quarter and Lake trailing almost the entire quarter, Lake pulled ahead 33-32 when Gordon stole the ball and took it coast to coast for a layup. With 20 seconds left, Lee passed in to Andy under the basket and Andy made a brilliant left-handed arching hook right under the basket to bring the score to Lake 35, Alvin 32. Alvin scored one basket to close the quarter at 35-34, Lake up by 1. In the final quarter Alvin would not regain the lead but it was never out of reach until the waning seconds of the game. Clear Lake worked very hard and improved their shooting accuracy from the field in the second half and that is what made the difference. The final score was 53-46 in Lake’s favor. After what seemed like a long string of misses, the Falcons did eventually go 8 of 17 on free throws. Everyone who played scored and the Falcons proved again that shutting down their top scorers is not enough to beat them. All five Clear Lake boys teams won their games against Alvin tonight. In other district action, Clear Creek downed Clear Brook 66-52 at Carlisle Field House and playing at home in the marsh, Brazoswood won their first district game by defeating Galveston Ball 65-47. Pearland was off tonight and did not play a district game. Scoring by quarter: 6-15-14-18=53 US 10-12-12-12=46 Them Scoring for the Falcons: Scott Oswald 10, Justin Kurtz 10, Mark Murphy 7, Armie Lewis7, Lee Mazurek 6, Kendrell Thompson 5, Gordon Abner 4, Jordan Villarreal 2, Andy Leveque 2. 2’s: 18 of 35 3’s: 3 of 8 free throws: 8 of 17