Clear Lake girls lack rhythm; fall to Humboldt, 61-55

Clear Lake had a hard time finding their rhythm in their first game back from the holiday break Jan. 9.  Humboldt took advantage of Lion mistakes and came away with a 61-55 North Central Conference win.  The loss dropped the Lions to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the NCC.

“We weren’t able to match their energy in this game,” said Clear Lake Coach Bart Smith. 

The Wildcats jumped out to a 19-13 first quarter lead, but the Lions began to claw their way back in the second quarter, outscoring the home team 14-11.  Humboldt held a 30-27 halftime lead.

“Give Humboldt credit, they did a nice job of switching up defenses and not allowing us to get into an offensive rhythm,” continued Coach Smith.  

The Wildcats concentrated their defensive pressure on senior guard Kaye Faber, holding her to 10 points.  The defensive tactic opened the door for Lindsey Loudenburg to shoot more.

“They limited Kaye Faber a lot of touches, which allowed Lindsey to have the game that she did,” said Coach Smith.  “I thought Lindsey did a nice job scoring and keeping the game close but we just didn’t take care of the ball again to get the win on the road.”

Loudenburg was the high scorer for the Lions with 21 points.  Sidney Borrill put in nine points, while Emily Snelling had eight.  Katie Hewett scored four and Kylie Bottjen had three points. 

Hewett grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Snelling was the leader in steals with four.

It’ll be a busy week for the Lions.  Monday night they were at New Hampton for a non-conference tilt.  They will plat at home Thursday and Friday, Jan. 15 and 16 against Forest City and Webster City.  Tuesday, Jan. 20, they will host NCC leader and third ranked (3A) Hampton-Dumont.