Clear Lake Falconhoops

CCISD Classic Dec 2, 2004 Game 1 vs. Klein Oak This afternoon in the first round of play in the CCISD Classic Tournament Clear Lake met a noticeably less talented team when they faced Klein Oak. The right Clear Lake team showed up to play this game and the contrast between how well they played today versus how they played in their previous outing was quite noticeable. The team knew they had to play harder today and they did. Teamwork was evident and it paid off. Even though Lake did not play as well as they can play, this game was Lake all the way. Adding Lee Mazurek to the mix certainly helped. Back from a bout of illness, Mazurek’s speed and shooting noticeably boosted the team. Mazurek went 6 of 8 from the field and scored 13 points. Key rebounds and some quick, sharp passes from Lee that led to scoring by his teammates also helped. Lake's big man, Mark Murphy, still not quite recovered from a bout with the crud that is going around, had an excellent showing. His intensity and focus on his duties shone through over noticeably less talented opposition. The Falcons knew soon after the opening whistle they were a better basketball team than Klein Oak but they played with drive and determination above what might be required to win the game. Despite that, Murphy’s intensity and determination stood out. Filling in for Brandon Wynn, who is out with an injured ankle, was guard Andy Leveque, who was moved up from the JV. Leveque put on such a dazzling display against the Baytown Sterling JV in the previous game Tuesday, it was hard for anyone to question why he was moved up. In this game, Andy sparked his team each time he was on the court with his all-out hustle during every second the clock ticked. Leveque scored 5 points in his first varsity outing. Jordan Vilarreal also had a good outing. The highlight of the game was Jordan crossing the midcourt line and launching a “hail Mary” as time expired in the first quarter. As the crowd held their collective breath hoping for one of those rare shots that go in, you could hear the sound the cord in the net made as the ball swished through. Jordan trotted off the court like it was business as usual. At the end of the first quarter it was 23-9 in favor of Clear Lake. In the second quarter it was more of the same with Clear Lake increasing their margin of victory to 35-17 by the close of the first half. Gordon Abner was his usual, impressive self. He went 5 of 8 on two points shots, two of three from three point land, and a perfect 3 for 3 from the free throw line. Abner led all scorers with 19 points. The final score was 70-50. This was a good win for the Falcons. Not the kind of game where you improve your skills much as a team but a “feel good” win none the less. A win the team needed right now. Scoring for the Falcons: Gordon Abner 19, Mark Murphy 15, Lee Mazurek 13, Jordan Villarreal 7, Armie Lewis 7, Andy Leveque 5, Kendrell Thompson 2, Justin Kurtz 2. 2’s: 24 of 40 (60%) 3’s: 4 of 12 (33%) Free throws: 10 of 15 (67%) For more pictures, see the Falcons on the Court page.

There are some games that Clear Lake is always suppose to win in varsity basketball. Baytown Sterling is one of those games. No one explained to new Sterling Coach Mark Patton that his team was supposed to lose tonight. His players didn’t quite grasp the notion either. They out hustled, out rebounded, out shot and out played the Falcons on both ends of the court most of the game. It wasn’t that Lake played poorly. They didn’t. It was just that Sterling played better. They certainly shot better. If fact they shot the lights out for most of 3 quarters after getting off to a slow start. Lake's defense was ineffective throughout most of the contest because Sterling's outside shooting was accurate and usually uncontested. Perhaps the quickness of Lee Mazurek on the wing might have made a slight difference had he not been out due to illness. If you look at the scoring by quarter: QTR 1 2 3 4 US 10 14 25 20 Them 8 22 26 20 The second quarter was the only quarter Lake got outscored by more than a point, despite the line scores reported in the Chronicle. But in reality, Lake got out shot and out played almost the entire game after the first quarter. Sterling played uncharacteristically better team ball tonight. Clear Lake has been known for its team play for many years but tonight Sterling showed some style and some teamwork that Lake should learn from. Not to mention incredible three point shooting that would have made any coach proud. Justin Kurtz returned to play after being sidelined with his fourth broken nose. Bothersome at first, his face guard did not seem to slow him down most of the game as he scored a team high 18 points. Gordon Abner also had an impressive outing scoring 17 points. Armie Lewis went 9 of 10 from the charity stripe to chip in 15 points. Mark Murphy had another inspiring outing, garnering several key rebounds and scoring 10 points despite seeing limited play in the second half. Scoring for the Falcons: Justin Kurtz 18, Gordon Abner 17, Armie Lewis 15, Mark Murphy 10, Kendrell Thompson 5, Jordan Villarreal 4 2’s: 20 of 35 (57%) needs much improvement 3’s: 5 of 13 ) (38%) okay Free throws: 14 of 20. (70%) needs improvement

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)

How many times have the Clear Lake Falcons lost a game they should have won in the LaPorte gym? Probably 3 out of every 4. Add one more to the total. Wednesday, November 24, 2004, the Falcons saw once more how the LaPorte Bulldogs get fired up against the Falcons. The game started with Lake holding a slight lead until 2:10 left in the first half when a LaPorte trey put them up 24-22. Throughout the half Lake was in no hurry getting the ball down the court against LaPorte's press until the last minute of the half when a long pass from Armie Lewis to Gordon Abner led to a lay-up and a foul. An ugly first half closed at 27-24 in LaPorte’s favor. The second half started with Lake gaining the lead when Gordon Abner hit two free throws and Kendrell Thompson hit a jumper to make it LaPorte 27, Lake 28. A three by Brandon Wynn and a Kendrell lay-in made it 28-33 Lake. The lead changed hands three times before the quarter ended 44-41 LaPorte. Forty-five seconds into the fourth quarter Armie hit a trey to tie the score at 44. The lead see-sawed back and forth for four minutes until it knotted at 51-51. Then the Bulldogs scored 5 before a timely Mark Murphy lay-up. With LaPorte leading, the score at 56-53, and 55 seconds showing on the clock, G leaped up and snared a Bulldog pass. Now the excitement really, really had the crowd into the game. A layup by G made it 56-55 La Porte at the 42 second mark. Then another mark, Mark Murphy stole the ball with 20 seconds remaining. With 12.3 seconds showing on the clock, Gordon drove to the basket and was called for charging by a call that any good Clear Lake fan would call a stinker. But that was not the last time a call would determine the outcome of the game. With the clock stopped, just under 4 seconds left and LaPorte unable to inbound the ball in the requisite five seconds (on Clear Lake’s end of the court), the ref blew his whistle. But rather than call the 5 second infraction which would have given the ball to Clear Lake, he called a foul on Armie Lewis! LaPorte prevailed 56-55. File this one under "Games we should have won". For some, there is little doubt about Clear Lake's ability to beat this LaPorte team when the full Lake squad is in the gym. Many factors could have altered the outcome of this contest. This was the eighth game in eight days. That makes fatigue and bench strength and depth even more of a factor with any team. Sure, Lake has a more talented club but they got outhustled most of the game by a more determined LaPorte squad. Perhaps if Justin Kurtz or Jimmy Witten or Scott Oswald had been able to play, the outcome would surely have been different. If the Falcons had made another free throw (Lake barely made half their free throws). If Lake had received just one more favorable call late in the game, if the referees had not been quite so green (inexperienced), and if a frog had wings..... Scoring for the Falcons: Gordon Abner 13, Armie Lewis 13, Kendrell Thompson 13, Mark Murphy 8, Brandon Wynn 6, Lee Mazurek 2 2’s: 16 of 32 (50%) 3’s: 5 of 13 (38.5%) Ft’s: 8 of 14 (57%)