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WhataBurger Classic in Fort Worth

Posted by Donald Wilkerson at Dec 28, 2003 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
See the Tournament News Page for info on the latest Falcon action in the Fort Worth Tournament.
As expected, Clear Lake faced a disciplined, well rounded ball club in the Duncanville Panthers in the first round of the Fort Worth WhataBurger Classic. The Panthers came in with a 12-3 record compared to the Falcons 12-4. The teams were evenly matched and it was obvious from the tip-off. Lake gained an early lead and maintained it. Clear Lake played their game and started off strong with Scott Oswald hitting 2 3's in the first quarter and good strong inside play by Dan Rieke. Lake was up 20-16 at the end of the first quarter. The game continued to be close with Clear Lake usually leading but due to strong outside shooting Duncanville tied the game twice in the last 3:50 of the second quarter. At the half it was Lake up by 2 with the score at 37-35. In the third quarter Connor Atchley's intimidating presence continued to be obvious. No stats yet on blocked shots, etc. but he was a force. Lake was up by 14 at one point but Duncanville finished out the quarter ahead 56-47. In the 4th Lake maintained their composure and regained the lead despite some questionable calls by the referees. It appeared for most of the 4th quarter that the refs would steal the game from Clear Lake who was out-playing Duncanville. Because of unbalanced foul calling by the officials, Duncanville was shooting 2 foul shots on every foul less than a minute into the fourth quarter. The foul count was 3-10 in Duncanville's favor at that point. In what could only be described as one of the flakiest calls of the season, one of the refs called a technical foul on Clear Lake coach Lynn McDonald for an almost unnoticeable suggestion that a jump ball should have been called when the official had called a foul on Clear Lake. Fortunately, of the four free throws, Duncanville made only one. With 56.9 seconds remaining in the game the foul count was Duncanville 5, Clear Lake 18!! Lake hung on to prevail over a very determined Duncanville squad 67-63. Dan Rieke led his team with 8 of 11 shooting for a total of 17 points. Scott Oswald and Connor Atchley each had 11. More details to come when the stats are available. Lake next faces Trevor-Brown out of Phoenix Arizona at 12:30 Tuesday. If they are successful in defeating the Arizona squad and Fort Worth Dunbar wins their second game at 11 a.m. against Arlington Martin (which is expected by most), then Clear Lake will face off against Dunbar at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
A brief explanation of each column is at the bottom of the page of stats. OFFENSIVE STATS G - number of games played Prd/Min/Avg Min (ignore these 3 columns) FGA - field goal attempts (includes 2's and 3's) FGM - field goals made FG% - field goal percentage FTA - free throws attempted FTM - free throws made FT% - free throw percentage made 2ptA - 2 point attempts 2ptM - 2 point shots made 2pt% - 2 point shot percentage 3ptA - 3 point shot attempts 3ptM - 3 points shots made 3pt% - 3 point percentage made PTS - total points scored AvgPts - average points per game A - assists AvgA - average assists PF - personal fouls TRAV - traveling violations Stol - number of times ball was stolen from player DD - double dribbles BP - bad passes LV - lane violations ( 3 second violations) Turnovers - sum of the previous 5 DEFENSIVE G - games played OR - offensive rebounds DR - defensive rebounds TR - total rebounds AvgR - average rebounds per game Stl - steals CD - charges taken AS - altered shots BS - blocked shots
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Clear Lake uncoils Spring 81-54

Posted by Donald Wilkerson at Dec 19, 2003 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
This feature is supposed to describe the outcome of the Spring game but I cannot pass up the opportunity to describe what we witnessed again today. It is a beautiful thing to watch as a high school basketball team evolves from a bunch of young athletes of varying skills who just love to play ball to a team which functions as a well-oiled machine, all the parts finely honed, doing their job, working together in synchronization to produce a desired product or effect. What a great thing to witness. The Clear Lake boys varsity team is something to behold. They are not yet as good as they are going to be before the season is over and I would expect we will see continual improvement each week but I am here to tell you, they are truly impressive. Neither of their last two games has tested the depth of their ability but the greatness is showing through anyway. We are now almost at the halfway point in the season. As hoped, the team has continued to mature and transform into a cohesive oneness where individualism gives itself up to unselfish teamwork, coupled with a never-quit attitude and a winning mindset that only comes from the disciplined, hard work of preparation. Another way to say it is the team is REALLY beginning to come together. In every game the pattern consistently emerges. They play very hard and they play together. They know their role and they perform it consistently and with confidence. Time after time, you see the individual give it up for the team. They are a TEAM. Their last home game in the year 2003 was played today against Spring High School. Okay, so Clear Lake obviously had a better team than Spring. But the game was more than just one team dominating another. There was the greatness of a champion displayed by each Clear Lake player more than once in the last two games that stats do not reveal. Great moves to the basket by Micah, or Ross or Connor, or Dan; great timing on their shot blocking by Aaron, or Chris, or Connor or Dan; cutting drives to the basket by Dennis and Nandi and Ross and Armie and Scott; the savvy to go for the lay-up instead of the dunk by the big men; tough, determined, get in there and dig it out rebounding by Micah and Gorden and Chris and Connor and Dan and Aaron. WOW. These two games had it all. Scotty or Dennis “out-quicking” the defender all the way down the court. Brilliant execution by Dennis and Nandi; unselfish play time after time; the beauty of watching Dennis or Dan or Micah or Gorden weave their way to the basket or “out finessing” their opponents; the “stop and pop” pull up jumpers by Scott or Dennis or Ross. Man, I get excited just thinking about how great they can play before the season ends. The Falcons have room for improvement in several areas. All teams do, but Lake is ready to walk into the gym in Fort Worth with their heads held high and proclaim “Bring on what you got, we’re ready”. Oh, yeah, the Spring game. Aaron Greenwood returned from his ankle sprain. 21-4 Lake at the end of the first quarter. Lake dominated every aspect of the game. 36-18 at the half. 63-34 after 3. Final score was 81-54. Good, balanced scoring across the team. Improved determination to get the ball inside at times. Still too many turnovers (28). Connor Atchley led all scorers with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Considering how little playing time he had, he probably would have had 20 or 25 rebounds had he played the entire game! Dan Rieke and Nandi Wijay each had 11 points. They both continued to amaze their competition and the crowd with their quickness at times. Very aggressive, tenacious defense (17 steals). 68% 2 point shooting; 23% 3 point shooting (ouch); 60% on free throws (ouch). On paper, not a stellar performance and the coach may be wringing his hands but I see a team coming together. image
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Clear Lake defeats North Shore 61-48

Posted by Donald Wilkerson at Dec 15, 2003 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
When can you remember a North Shore team scoring only 15 points in one half? Maybe never. Ranked 14th in the greater Houston area, the North Shore Mustangs, in their dark red "away" uniforms looked like a bunch of reindeer during their warm-up Tuesday night in the Lake gym. But there was no Dasher, no Dancer, no Prancer to be found, and there was certainly no Comet on the court as the Clear Lake Falcons dominated a lackluster Mustang team once the game got under way. Fresh from their appearance in the Fort Bend Outback Classic Tournament last weekend, the usually speedy Mustangs suffered from the “I just played 5 games in 3 days” blues as the Falcons held them to 9 points in the first quarter, 6 points in the second, and 9 in the 3rd period. With the score at 31-15 at the half, there was little doubt about the outcome of the game early on. The Mustangs were 5 for 20 in the first half. The Falcons were rested and ready. Their defense was tenacious, their offense assertive. Even with the absence of 6’8” forward Aaron Greenwood, they tacked on another 19 in the 3rd to make the score 53-24. But the tournament-weary Mustangs cranked it up in the fourth quarter outscoring the Falcons 24 to 8. The final score was 61-48. Connor Atchley led all scorers with 18 points. Dan Rieke added another 13. Each had 9 rebounds. image