Clear Lake Falconhoops

Talk about a BIG Win! The Clear Lake Falcons came on strong in a well orchestrated team effort to defeat the Harvard Westlake Wolverines from North Hollywood, California 95-79 to claim the Third Place trophy in the Fort Worth WhataBurger Tournament on New Year’s eve 2003. (See the last paragraph for some facts on the top-grade California team). Dennis Cerny, in his best game so far this year, stepped up to lead his team and demonstated what a floor general he can be. (see stats below). Excellent team play, strong defense (14 steals) a reduced turnover count, balanced scoring and solid free throw shooting all combined to produce the win and the highest score for the Falcons this season. The crowd, which grew to approximately 2800, did not bother the Falcons as they played relaxed and confident. Numerous fouls were a problem however (foul count was 12-6 in the first half). Dan Rieke got in early foul trouble due to the tightly called game and a couple of flakey calls. Excellent long range shooting from Scott Oswald ( 5 of 5 from 2 point range), strong inside play from Connor Atchley ( 9 of 11 from 2 point range), consistent attacking of the basket by Dennis Cerny, and timely, dependable scoring from the reserves (throughout the game) led the Falcons to a 43-37 halftime lead. In a tightly called second half, the Falcons were up 57-51 at 2:09 remaining in the 3rd quarter. There were at least 4 instances of Lake players taking charges which should have been called in the game but the refs refused to call any of them. Both Atchley and Rieke got in foul trouble and were forced to sit out some in the second half. As usual, Nandi Wijay and Micah Walker made their presence known with key critical plays. With 1:32 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Gordon Abner hit 2 free throws. Then a full court pass from Aaron Greenwood to Chris Mitchell resulted in Chris hitting a 2 at the buzzer to put Lake up 65-54 at the end of 3. At this point you could feel the momentum shifting in Lake’s favor. Hardly a minute into the 4th quarter, Chris Mitchell hit the front end of 2 free throws, missed the second but got his own rebound and put it back in. Then you could really feel the momentum shift strongly in Lake’s favor and there was no looking back. With everyone contributing, Lake scored 30 points in the fourth quarter to claim 3rd place. The final score was 95-79. Scoring was as follows: Dennis Cerny had 21 points, 8 assists, 6 steals and was 11 of 14 on free throws. Wow! All Tournament selection Connor Atchley had 21 pts., Scott Oswald had 12, Chris Mitchell 9, Aaron Greenwood 8, Dan Rieke 7, Nandi Wijay 7, Micah Walker 4, Ross Mahler 3, and Gordon Abner 2. Armie Lewis did not play due to a death in the family. FYI: the Harvard Westlake team had 6’5” guard Oregon-bound Bryce Taylor (ave 28.5 ppg.) selected to the all tournament team. 6’9” all state player and Division I prospect Evan Harris anchored the middle along with 6’8” sophomore Alex Stepheson. The team has 2 Division I signees as well as one commitment to Princeton and one to Harvard.