Wins prepare Lions for road ahead

Coach Bart Smith feels, with post-season play beginning Saturday, his Lions team is peaking at just the right time.  Clear Lake chalked up three more wins last week, pushing their record to 17-4.  The Lions will take their first step on the tournament trail Saturday, Feb. 16.  They will host the winner of the Charles City vs. Decorah game played on Wednesday, Feb. 13.  Clear Lake’s victories this week included a four-point win over Charles City. 

Coach Bart Smith is asking Lions fans to wear black to Saturday’s game.  Hopefully the “black out” in the stands will translate to a black out victory for the Lions.

CL 60, Algona 25

A 35-point win over Algona Tuesday, Feb. 5, showed Coach Smith his team has a balanced scoring attack and strong defense.  The Lions shot out to a 15-7 first quarter lead and continued to hold the Bulldogs to single digit scoring in the remaining quarters.

The Lions held a 25-11 halftime lead, then outscored Algona 28-7 in the third quarter.  

The Lions had balanced scoring, with Logan Anderson, Kristen Hewett and Trudy Peterson scoring 17, 14 and 13 points respectively.  

“When we get that (balanced) we are a tough team to beat,” said Coach Smith.  “But I was mostly proud of how we defended.  We pride ourselves in trying to hold teams to two single digit quarters a game.  Tonight we held them to four quarters of single digits.  We need to continue that type of defense the rest of the way out.”

Also scoring for the Lions was Bailey Kibsgaard with six, Megan Loux and Sidney Borrill with four apiece, and Lindsey Loudenburg with two points.

Kibsgaard ruled the boards with 11 rebounds.  Anderson had a team-high five steals, while Loux and Hewett had three apiece.

CL 66, Humboldt 47

“Humboldt was a good team that played hard for four quarters and gave us a good test,” said Coach Smith after Clear Lake’s 66-47 win Thursday, Feb. 7.  He noted the team discovered some aspects of the game which they need to work on, but overall it was a good road win for the Lions.

“We had a hard time defending their post, who gave us trouble all night,” said Smith.  “We need to get tougher down there.”

The Lions broke away from a 46-36 game and sealed the deal in the final quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 20-11.

“The girls cranked  it up in the fourth quarter and did a nice job of finishing the game.  I was happy with how aggressive we were on offense.  We got to the free throw line a lot and we shot extremely well,” added the coach.

Logan Anderson led the way with 23 points, helped by 3/4 shooting from behind the three-point arc and 10/14 shooting at the free throw line.  Trudy Peterson was also in double figures with 13 points.  Her scoring included 5/6 shooting at the charity stripe.

Kristen Hewett and Bailey Kibsgaard put in eight points apiece and Hewett was the rebounding leader with seven.  Kaitlyn Pitzen and Madison Faber came off of the bench to score six apiece.  Megan Loux rounded out the scoring with two points.

The Lions finished the conference season with a 15-3 record, good for third in the standings.  Hampton-Dumont and Fort Dodge St. Ed’s were each 16-2 in the league.  The Lions actually topped H-D both times they met, but fell twice to St. Ed’s.  Clear Lake’s other loss in the NCC was the first game of the season against Iowa Falls-Alden.

CL 48, Charles City 44

The final game of the regular season may have been a preview of the post-season.  The Lions topped Charles City, 48-44, on Saturday.

“Charles City is always a good team for us to play at the end of the year.  They are physical and athletic which is a good game for us to play before tournament time,” said Coach Smith.  “Since we might see them on Saturday, we kept things very plain and generic.”

The Lions started a bit slow, - Read More Via e-Edition