Clear Lake Falconhoops

Saturday, November 27, 2004 It all started as the "Gordon Abner Show" when Michael Abner, former Falcon varsity hoopster and older brother to Gordon, along with a crowd of loyal Falcon followers (still mostly stuffed from their Thanksgiving dinner leftovers) witnessed in amazement as Gordon put on a clinic in the first quarter scoring the first 12 of Lake’s 22 first quarter points against the Buffalos. With 4:10 left in the quarter, “G” had single handedly outscored the Milby Buffalos 12 to 11 in a come from behind effort that had to make his brother proud. When Abner wasn’t slicing his way to the basket for a layup, he was shooting a trey or a free throw. “G” made 3 of 6 in his four trips to the charity stripe in the first quarter. Milby seemed to realize they could not stop the Falcon ace without fouling him. Abner scored 15 of Lake’s 22 first quarter points. The Gordon Abner Show closed the first quarter ahead of Milby 22-17. The contest remained close in the second quarter with Lake holding on to a narrow margin still up by 4, 35-31 at the half. In usual Falcon fashion, Lake quickly increased their lead in the third quarter. It started when Kendrell Thompson made a terrific spin move under the basket in the first of his two quick buckets to expand the lead to 39-31. A layup by, you guessed it, Gordon Abner, made it 41-31 Lake at 6:41 remaining. Lake maintained their 10 point lead throughout most of the quarter until the last minute. With less than 57 seconds remaining in the 3rd, Gordon Abner takes it to the hoop big time with a monster NBA-style stuff to increase the lead to 51-38, the largest lead of the game. The quarter closed at 51-42, Lake up by 9. Early in the fourth quarter, Gordon took what was a textbook example of a charge under the Milby basket when his opponent went in for a layup but the inexperienced official called it a blocking foul on Gordon (an unbelievably bad call but there were more to come). With this being his fourth foul, Abner was resigned to the bench. Milby narrowed the gap and kept it close. With 3:55 remaining Armie Lewis hit two free throws to make it 58-53 Lake (Armie shot a total of 17 free throws in the game, ten coming in the fourth quarter). Knowing he has four fouls, G re-enters the ball game for only about 15 seconds when the ref calls another super flakey call and Gordon fouls out with 3:35 remaining. Abner finished the game with a game-high 22 points. Without their leading scorer and with Milby narrowing the gap, Lake’s concern for the outcome intensifies. At 2:50 remaining Milby steals the ball and hits a trey to gain the lead, 59-58. Armie Lewis’s free throw ties it at 59 and then again two charity tosses by Lewis knots it at 61 all before Armie fouls out with 59 seconds remaining in regulation play. When Milby misses the second free throw of a bonus, a timely, key rebound by Mark Murphy, whose intensity level really cranked up at the end of the ball game, may have saved the day. A bad pass by Lake and poor shooting by Milby closes regulation play at 61 all. In the overtime Murphy has fierce determination in his eyes. He ties it at 63 with a layup at the 2:05 mark and then blocks a shot. With 54 seconds ticking on the clock in the overtime period, Kendrell makes a spectacular move to score a layup. 65-63 Lake. With 22 seconds left, Milby scores a putback to tie it at 65. With less than 7 seconds showing, Murphy scores a layup on an in-bounds pass from Kendrell to make it 67-65 to win the game. WOW! This ball game exemplified what high school basketball is all about: a long time rivalry dating back over many years; superbly conditioned young athletes focused on their task; well matched competition; two determined, driven teams both intent on winning; two masterful coaches in a strategic game of basketball chess; a close contest where the lead changed back and forth multiple times; the game’s outcome not decided until the waning seconds in overtime; and the sweetness of a Falcon victory that only comes from defeating a perennial basketball powerhouse like Milby. This was not the Milby team of last year who went undefeated to claim the state 5A championship in Austin with Jawaan McClellan at the helm but it was still a sweet victory. Scoring for the Falcons: Gordon Abner 22, Armie Lewis 13, Kendrell Thompson 13, Mark Murphy 8, Brandon Wynn 6, Lee Mazurek 2, David Pearce 2, Jordan Villarreal 1. 2’s: 16 of 40 (40%)(dismal) 3’s: 5 of 13 (38%)(okay) Free Throws: 20 of 42 (48%)(more practice)