Clear Lake Falconhoops

Clear Brook Edges Clear Lake 61-59 In A Thriller February 15, 2005 Can you spell EXCITING? Tonight in the Clear Brook gym the Wolverines defeated the Clear Lake Falcons 61-59. It was only fitting that it took a terrifically exciting basketball game for the Brook bunch to win their third victory over Clear Lake in the history of Clear Brook basketball. The game tonight was as thrilling as everyone expected. The Falcons had previously beaten the Wolverines twice this season, once in the CCISD Tournament and in the first round of district play. To beat a team as good as Clear Brook three times in one season is a tough task. The rivalry inside the mostly packed gym seemed as big or bigger than the Clear Lake – Clear Creek showdown which is saying something. The officiating was provided by a junior ref (first year on the varsity level), an intermediate ref (6th year on the varsity level) and a seasoned veteran ref (more than 20 years on the varsity level). The quality of the refs was better than Lake has seen most of the season. In the first half, the refs did an excellent job. In the second half, unfortunately, it was not nearly as good. The refs took the game away from the players and then relinquished it back by refusing to make any calls for several minutes, no matter how obvious the violation. Then they took it away again. What’s up with that? In the first quarter Brook stepped out to a 12-7 lead. At the 2:43 mark after an awesome block by Gordon Abner, Scott Oswald came down and drained a trey to knot it at 12 all. Thirty-five seconds later Scott hit another three to put Lake ahead 15-14. The lead changed five times in the first quarter before ending at 19-16 in Lake’s favor. Both teams executed well and it was a game of real hustle throughout the quarter. Midway through the second quarter it was 19-27 as Clear Lake’s superior play began to add up. Lake extended their lead to 13 and closed the quarter up by 12. The Falcons showed determination and poise as they dominated the Clear Brook Wolverines on defense. Brook scored only 7 points (only 2 field goals) in the quarter. At the halftime break, second year Brook coach David Martinez changed his strategy and came out attacking the basket from the center of the paint and going right at Lake's big man, Mark Murphy, to get him in foul trouble. Midway through the quarter Lake was up by 12 when Brook turned on the afterburners. Out hustling Lake three times consecutively, they beat Lake back down the floor and scored three quick baskets in the paint and narrowed the lead to 41-45 in Lake’s favor with 1:47 remaining. With just over one minute remaining, Armie Lewis got the ball stolen the second time and Brook’s #21, Daryl Cloud, drove to the basket for a layup to tie the game at 45 all. The quarter ended at 47-45, Lake up by 2. Brook outscored Lake by 10 points in this quarter. With just over one minute remaining in the third quarter, it was as if the refs decided the fans and players had had enough good officiating and started making more bad calls or no-calls on both sides. At 6:45 remaining in the fourth quarter, Brook went ahead when Drew Washington hit a three to make it 48-47. This primed the see-saw pump and the lead changed hands with every possession. The lead changed 11 times in the final period. At 1:33 left in the game and Lake down by 2, 59-57, Armie Lewis coolly stepped to the free throw line and made Lake’s only two successful free throws of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 59. After Armie’s two free throws, Brook went to a slowdown game and played for one shot for one minute and twenty seconds. With ten seconds remaining they went to Drew Washington, Louisiana Tech signee, who drove straight at the basket with his signature shot, but missed. Justin Kurtz came up with a huge rebound and was knocked to the floor face down. With 10.45 seconds remaining and the game tied, Justin missed the front end of a one and one free throw, Clear Brook rebounded and Scott Oswald was called for a foul immediately. With Ryan Umeh at the line and 9.45 seconds remaining, he sunk both free throws and put the Wolverines ahead to win 61-59. Umeh had missed three previous free throw attempts. With almost 10 seconds remaining, Lake still had time to regroup and score but a last second desperation shot by Scott Oswald missed its mark. Lake only shot one free throw in the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, they shot 5 but missed 3 and lost by 2. Clear Brook shot 10 free throws in the second half and made 6. The final two points of Clear Brook’s were made on free throws. The turning point in the ball game was at 2:47 remaining in the game when Mark Murphy was called for his fifth foul, a legitimate call. His third and fourth fouls he did not commit however. Mark had one foul assigned to him incorrectly and his fourth he never touched the player. It was simply a bad call. Unfortunate as it may be, it happens. Murphy’s presence had been a significant factor in the first half and a critical one in the second half due to his defense and timely rebounding. Once Murphy left the game, the game went from Clear Lake having only a tiny advantage to Brook having a slight advantage. Both teams played very well. Clear Lake slightly outplayed Brook in almost every aspect of the game except free throws and offensive rebounds (Brook beat Lake on the offensive boards 13 to 4). Neither team deserved to lose. If the officials had done their jobs as well as the players, it would have been an even greater basketball game. The refs called most of the second half of the game as if it were a college game instead of a high school contest. Who knows why? The playoff picture. Clear Brook finishes the regular season in second place with a district record of 10-2. Assuming a victory at home on Friday over Brazoswood, Clear Creek will finish in first place with a record of 11-1. Clear Lake (6-5 in district) faces Galveston Ball at home on Friday in their final game. A victory will keep the Falcons in third place allowing them to enter the playoffs. Other news: Lee Mazurek did not suit out for the Clear Brook game due to an injury sustained in practice last week. It is unlikely that he will play in the game against Galveston Ball. Scoring for the Falcons: Scott Oswald 19 (game high), Justin Kurtz 16, Gordon Abner 10, Mark Murphy 6, Kendrell Thompson 6 (6 rebounds), Armie Lewis 2 (6 rebounds, 5 assists). Score by quarter 19-35-47-59 Us 16-23-45-61 Them Scoring in each quarter 19-16-12-12 US 16-07-22-16 Them 2’s: 22 of 33 (67%) very good! 3’s: 4 of 14 (29%) not good enough Free throws: 3 of 6 (50%) not good enough

January 4 Pearland 38 at Clear Lake 37 Clear Brook 80 at Galveston Ball 56 Brazoswood 35 at Alvin 43 Clear Creek open January 7, 2005 Clear Lake 70 at Brazoswood 50 Alvin 32 at Clear Creek 57 Clear Brook 52 at Pearland 36 Galv Ball is off Jan 11 Clear Creek 57 at Clear Lake 47 Brazoswood 49 at Clear Brook 62 Pearland 57 at Galveston Ball 52 Alvin off Jan 14 Clear Lake 53 at Alvin 46 Clear Brook 52 at Clear Creek 66 Galveston Ball 47 at Brazoswood 65 Pearland open Jan 18 Clear Lake 68, Fort Bend Bush 64 (non district) Clear Creek at Galveston Ball Alvin 50 at Clear Brook 61 Brazoswood 53 at Pearland 48 Jan 21 Clear Brook 59 at Clear Lake 71 Pearland 53 at Clear Creek 66 Galveston Ball 52 vs Alvin 57 Brazoswood open Jan 25 Clear Lake 60 at Galveston Ball 55 Clear Creek 44 at Brazoswood 42 Clear Brook off Alvin 39 vs Pearland 72 START OF SECOND ROUND January 28 Clear Lake 62 at Pearland 66 Galveston Ball 75 at Clear Brook 90 Alvin 25 at Brazoswood 33 Clear Creek open February 1 Brazoswood 46 at Clear Lake 52 Clear Creek 67 at Alvin 60 Pearland 50 at Clear Brook 58 Galveston Ball open February 4 Clear Lake 50 at Clear Creek 52 Clear Brook 54 at Brazoswood 49 Galveston Ball 46 at Pearland 56 Alvin open February 8 Alvin at Clear Lake Clear Creek at Clear Brook Brazoswood at Galveston Ball Pearland open February 11 Clear Lake open Galveston Ball 62 at Clear Creek 79 Clear Brook 75 at Alvin 54 Pearland 36 at Brazoswood 40 February 15 Clear Lake 59 at Clear Brook 61 Clear Creek 48 at Pearland 46 Alvin lost at Galveston Ball (score unknown) Brazoswood open February 18 Galveston Ball 63 at Clear Lake 64 Brazoswood 52 at Clear Creek 73 Pearland 36 at Alvin 33 Clear Brook open

Falcons Squash Yellowjackets 63-48 February 8, 2005 When you hit 100% of your free throws in a 5A basketball game, you expect to win. When you shoot over 50% of your 2’s and over 40% of your treys, you should usually win. Combine that kind of accuracy with consistent aggressive defense from the opening tipoff and you tend to dominate. That is the short version of the Clear Lake victory over Alvin Tuesday night. Tonight in the Clear Lake gym the varsity team put together a complete game. Too bad for the Alvin Yellowjackets, who thought they could spoil the Falcons' playoff hopes. The Jackets were bolstered by their recent encounter with Clear Creek, the District leader. Alvin had played Creek to double overtime before losing by 7 only one week ago. Creek had beat Lake by only 2 just last Friday in a thriller so Alvin knew they had a chance. What Alvin did not know was how mentally and physically prepared the Falcons would be. Lake was so focused and so motivated. Okay, so Clear Lake has a much more talented team than Alvin. Surely. But that is not the reason Lake won. It was the way they played. The Falcons took control of the game from the opening basket and never let up. They played the kind of first half that has been missing most of the season. Their defense was consistently tenacious. Their offense was measured and shrewd. It was like the Falcons remembered how Alvin had led at halftime in their previous meeting and they were not going to let it happen again. Who knows what Coach McDonald used to motivate his players or what they themselves had resolved to accomplish? Whatever it was, it worked well. Bottle what is left and save it for the Clear Brook game next week when the Falcons will need to put together another complete game to trump the Brook bunch. Due to intense defense, the first quarter was a series of miscues for Alvin that the Falcons would match with well executed, unselfish plays resulting in scoring. The defense from Jordan Villarreal, Scott Oswald, Armie Lewis, and Andy Leveque, scooting around the floor with the quickness of hummingbirds in a feeding frenzy, was awesome . The defensive display put on by the Lake squad in the first half was what is referred to in southeast Texas as “mighty fine”. A first quarter score of 23 to 5 attests to the effort applied by the Falcons. Andy scored 7 of his 13 points in the first quarter. Mark Murphy led all scorers with 18 points, six of them garnered in the first quarter (Murphy scored 13 in the first half). Justin Kurtz was sidelined early with a potential injury and did not re-enter the game. The reserves got in the game early and this led to balanced scoring across the entire squad. The refs were letting them play and in the second quarter the abundant amount of uncalled fouling on both sides continued and became more noticeable. Lake extended their lead to 25-5 when Armie hit a jump shot from the left side. At 5:09 a steal by Jordan Villarreal and a coast to coast drive made it 27-9. After Jordan's successful free throw and only nine seconds later, a steal by David Pearce as Alvin was attempting to inbound the ball and a pass to Lee Mazurek who quickly zipped it to Andy to add two more brought the score to 30-9 for the largest lead of the game. Several well executed plays on both ends of the court by Lee Mazurek throughout the game had to please the coach as it did the fans. The first half ended with Lake up 17, 37-20. By midway through the third quarter, Gordon Abner had his second dunk and the squad was really having fun. Then Andy hit two free throws to return the lead to 21 points, 43-22. The foul count got kinda lopsided at 8 and 2 (8 for the Falcons) as the refs tightened it up in the second half. The third quarter closed at 47-33. With two minutes gone in the final period, Alvin narrowed the gap to 11, 50-39 before Lake changed their offense to a slowdown to consume time and score more certain baskets. By the final three minutes the Falcons had pulled away again and increased their lead to 18 (despite the 11 to 6 foul count). The final score was 63-48. Teamwork, impressive court awareness, accurate passing and shooting (due to good shot selection), and aggressive, intense defense resulting from lots of hard work and lots of hustle made this game a very satisfying victory. In other action Clear Brook beat regionally ranked (#10) Clear Creek 56-49! See what happens when the Chronicle calls you "perfect in district play" and you get your name in the paper for being only one of two 5A schools in the region undefeated in district play (Fort Bend Marshall, ranked #1 in the state in several polls, is the other). Scoring for the Falcons: Mark Murphy 18, Andy Leveque 13, Scott Oswald 9, Gordon Abner 6, Kendrell Thompson 5, Armie Lewis 5, Jordan Villarreal 3, Lee Mazurek 2, David Pearce 2 Score by Quarter: 23-14-10-16= 63 US 05-20-13-15= 48 Them Score after each quarter: 23-37-47-63 US 05-20-33-48 Them 2’s: 21 of 41 (51%) 3’s: 3 of 7 (43%) Free throws: 12 of 12 (100%)

Creek over Lake 52-50 February 5, 2005 If the fans were charged for admission based on the quality of the game played, everyone would have had to shell out much more than two dollars per person Friday night at Carlisle Field House for the game between cross-town rivals Clear Lake and Clear Creek. Everyone got their money’s worth and then some. For over thirty years it has almost always been a great game and this was no exception. In the first round matchup in the Lake gym, Creek dominated Lake late in the game and some expected Creek to dominate again. However, those who reflected back to Alvin playing Creek to double overtime last Tuesday knew Lake’s chances were better than the oddsmakers might calculate. Throw in the "anything's possible in high school basketball" reasoning and the game was certainly up for grabs. In the first quarter Clear Lake took an early lead 8 to 4 before Clear Creek came back and tied it at 10 all with 2:19 remaining in the period. Neither team scored for the remainder of the quarter. The foul count was 2 for Creek and 5 for Lake. The second quarter started with Justin Kurtz making a pass in to Mark Murphy for a layup from the left side to put Lake up 12-10. By one minute into the quarter the foul count was 2-7 (7 on Lake). Yes, Creek was shooting bonus free throws one minute into the second quarter! It was tied again at 14 just over two minutes into the period when Justin again made a quick pass in to Murphy for the layup. Just like last game, Mark Murphy’s very aggressive play led him to be the team’s second leading scorer again tonight (Murphy had 12 points and 7 rebounds). At the 5:33 mark, Justin committed his third foul and was resigned to the bench. Midway through the quarter it was 19-14, Creek up by 5 and a foul count of 2-9. At 3:40, after the refs noticed the foul count, Creek’s Ray Kraemer was awarded his third foul and had to sit out as well. With 3:20 left in the period, Creek was shooting two free throws with each foul. The Wildcats increased their lead to six before Lake narrowed it. In the waning seconds of the half, with Mark at the line shooting two after being fouled while shooting, a technical foul was called on Creek (must have been something said by a player while they lined up for the free throw?). Mark made both free throws but Kendrell Thompson was allowed to shoot the technical free throws. Kendrell made the second one to close the first half at 26-23, Creek up by 3. In the first half the Falcons were 9 of 27 from the field (1 of 8 from three point land). After a close, exciting two point contest in most of the first four minutes of the third quarter, midway through the quarter Kendrell, on his way to a game high 15 points and the highest shooting percentage from the field for his team, tied it at 34 and Gordon Abner tied it again at 36 with a putback. The quarter closed with Creek up by 3, 41-38. After Creek gained an initial lead of 5 points early in the fourth, the final quarter was a one or two point ball game the remainder of the quarter. At 4:15 remaining, Scott finally hit a trey to put Lake ahead 45-43 but Creek answered with a three as well to put them up 46-45. Lake regained the lead at the 3:05 mark when Kendrell drove the right side of the lane one more time to score and put the Falcons up 47-46. At 2:40, a strange foul call on Gordon put Kramer at the line to tie it at 47 and then put Creek up by 1 (Ray Kraemer is their leading free throw shooter averaging 85% from the charity stripe). Creek’s Lance Pevehouse hit a two to make it 50-47, Creek by 3 at 1:38 remaining. Then Justin Kurtz buried his only three to tie it at 50. With 32 seconds left, a foul called on Murphy put the Wildcats’ Chris Spencer at the line. Although he was shooting 1 and 1 and missed the first, the referee blew the whistle and awarded him another free throw. It seems Armie Lewis, despite being behind the three point arc, clapped and the referee decided it was distracting to the free throw shooter, so another free throw was awarded. Fortunately, the boy missed both free throws. A desperation shot by Lake (with 1.47 seconds remaining) fell short. The final score was 52-50. (Lake missed four free throws in the final four minutes of the game). The Lake-Creek rivalry is what personifies a Friday night high school basketball game. The ingredients of this game included two well prepared squads staffed with superb athletes conditioned to what may well be the peek physical condition of their lives (for some of them); each of the two veteran coaches anticipating the strategic moves of his opponent due to the numerous times they have faced each other; a mostly packed field house with ardent fans cheering their team to victory; a close contest, with numerous ties (six times) and lead changes, which goes down to the last shot before the outcome is certain; and seasoned officials administering the regulations of the game in a competent, judicious manner. Well, the game had almost all those ingredients. All but the part about competent, seasoned officials. Unfortunately, the teams were saddled with two very junior officials and another who must have been junior but since he was a stranger, it is difficult to say. Some of his calls made him also look like a beginner at times. There were numerous “iffy” calls made on both sides and there were more than a few critical no-calls by the refs. Example: The worst no-call of the game was when, very late in the game with the score separated by two points, a foul is called on the Falcons under the Falcon basket when the player with the ball was fouled. Creek proceeded down the court to shoot the free throws but sharp shooter Lance Pevehouse, a better free throw shooter, stepped to the line rather than the player who was fouled. The fledgling refs not only overlooked this until it was pointed out to them by Scott Oswald, they failed to call a technical foul on Creek for the noticeable infraction (Rule 10, Section 3, Article 7f). Suffice it to say if you swapped out this set of refs for a seasoned set, there would have been a very different ball game. Perhaps with the same outcome, perhaps not. That is not to say the officials should be used to explain the Falcons loss. They should not. But they did do a bad job of officiating at times. These boys deserve better. In other district games Pearland beat Galveston Ball and Clear Brook defeated Brazoswood. Scoring for the Falcons: Kendrell Thompson 15 (6 rebounds), Mark Murphy 12 (7 rebounds, 2 blocks), Gordon Abner 8, Scott Oswald 6 (6 rebounds), Justin Kurtz 5, Andy Leveque 2, Armie Lewis 2 Score after each quarter 10-23-38-50 US 10-26-41-52 Them Score by quarter: 10-13-15-12 US 10-16-15-11 Them 2’s: 18 of 39 (46%) 3’s: 3 of 17 (18%) Free throws: 5 of 12 (42%) Footnote: the scoring presented in the Houston Chronicle is provided by the home team scorekeeper. In this case, the Clear Creek scorekeeper. The scoring and stats provided here are a compilation of those kept by the Clear Lake scorekeeper, the Clear Lake statistician, and those independently recorded for this website (total of four sets of eyes). Sometimes discrepancies between the home scorekeeper i.e. the Chronicle line scores and our stats do occur but I tend to trust our stats especially when the independent website stats and the Clear Lake stats agree. Infrequently, the official stats recorded by the Clear Lake staff are not available to the website the night of the game. In this case, only the website stats are used. For this game both the Clear Lake stats and the website stats were available.

Clear Lake Prevails Over Brazoswood 52-46 February 1, 2005 After a sluggish start and poor shooting from the field (3 of 15) in the first quarter, Clear Lake got on track. At 2:25 remaining in the first half, Lake tied the game and went ahead when Kendrell Thompson, on his way to a game high 18 points, tied it at 18 with the first of two successful free throws. The second one put the Falcons ahead for the first time since the first basket in the game. Despite dogged persistence from the Buccaneers, the Falcons would not relinquish the lead from that point. After a breakaway steal and a basket by Andy Leveque, a dunk by Kendrell, and a forceful jumper from the middle of the paint by Mark Murphy, the half closed at 25-20, Lake up by 5. After the first quarter there were some terrific displays of good defense from the Falcons especially from Jordan Villarreal and Scott Oswald. The Falcons went 1 of 10 from three point land in the half. In the second half, Clear Lake maintained control but just barely. Two minutes into the third quarter, the Falcons increased their lead to 8 when Mark stole the ball and passed to Kendrell for a drive to the bucket. 30-22 Lake. The third period ended with Lake up by 5, 34-29. With just under two minutes remaining in the game it was 42-39, Lake leading by a skimpy 3 points when Justin Kurtz hit two free throws to add a little more pad. Then at 1:19 Scott drove to the middle of the paint and dished off to Mark Murphy who took it strong to the hoop from the right side to score two more. 46-39. The Falcons were 8 of 15 at the free throw line in the final quarter. Final score was 52 to 46. Despite poor shooting from the field (19 of 53) the Falcons made the right plays at the right times and clung to a narrow margin to defeat the Buccaneers. The Falcons had 33 rebounds, 7 steals, and only 3 bad passes. The days when playing Brazoswood in basketball assured a victory are fading away. With their new coach, Rob Shivers at the helm, Brazoswood is becoming formidable competition. Just ask Pearland. Pearland lost to Brazoswood in the first round of district play. With the third position for the playoffs appearing to be a race between Pearland and Clear Lake, the Brazoswood win over Pearland may be huge. It is not time to call Brazoswood a powerhouse yet but they are evolving in the right direction. With not much talent under the age of 20, Coach Shivers has done an admirable job. In other district action Clear Brook defeated Pearland 58-50 (THANK YOU, BROOK), and Alvin played Clear Creek to double overtime before losing 67-60! (Creek may have played without Ray Kraemer). Scoring by quarter 09-16-09-18 US 13-07-09-17 Them Score after each quarter 09-25-34-52 US 13-20-29-46 Them Scoring for the Falcons Kendrell Thompson 18 (7 rebounds), Mark Murphy 9 (6 rebounds), Scott Oswald 9 (4 steals), Justin Kurtz 7, Gordon Abner 5, Andy Leveque 4, Armie Lewis (6 assists, 5 rebounds). 2’s: 18 of 40 (45%) 3”s: 1 of 13 (8%) Free throws: 13 of 21 (62%)