Lions remain perfect

The Clear Lake boys basketball team, ranked fifth in Class 3A, rolled past a pair of North Central Conference teams last week.  The Lions are now 4-0 overall and in the conference and will travel to Eagle Grove for a Friday, Dec. 20, game before the holiday break.

CL 72, Webster City 59

For the first time this season the Lions trailed at the half, but you can’t keep a good team down. They re-grouped and topped Webster City, 72-59.

“Our shot selection in the first half wasn’t the best.  I thought we rushed a lot of shots early  and didn’t attack the basket like we needed to.  Defensively, we got beat on some back cuts because we were overplaying,” said Coach Kevin Kahler.  

Webster City’s offense lifted the team to a 22-17 first quarter lead.  By halftime, the Lynx were up, 34-31.

Halftime adjustments resulted in an entirely different second half.  The Lions outscored Webster City 25-12 in the third and continued superior play in the final frame for a 13-point win.

“In the second half, I thought we executed much better.  We were taking better shots, and we did a much better job defensively,” said Coach Kahler.

Davis Dieken had a career performance in leading the Lions.  The senior connected on 14 of 18 shots from the field and made four of five free throws for 32 points.  He also pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds, had two steals and a blocked shot.

And while Dieken demanded attention inside, senior guard Spencer Davidson lit up the basket from the perimeter.  He finished with 18-points, including a pair of treys.  

Matt Stephany finished with eight points and eight rebounds and Brock Adams put in five points and dished out 10 assists.  Pete Swenson added four points, Chase Lester had three and Tamarik Lee had two points to round out the Lions’ scoring.

CL 68, H-D 45

Getting better every day is the goal for the Lions, and Coach Kahler said his team is doing just that.  Friday the Lions beat Hampton-Dumont, 68-45.

“I thought we did a much better job defensively, especially with our rebounding.  We know that we need to get better defensively, and I thought we did that against Hampton-Dumont,” said Kahler.  

The coach said his team still needs to work on taking better shots and making fast breaks and  free throw opportunities count.  The Lions shot just 50 percent at the line against the Bulldogs and missed some lay-ups, he noted.

The Lions broke out to a 12-7 first quarter lead and held the Bulldogs to single digits in the first two periods.  Clear Lake led 27-15 at the half.

Spencer Davidson paced the team with 12 points and Davis Dieken and Matt Steph- Read More Via e-Edition