Lions chalk up 10th win

The Clear Lake boys chalked up their 10th win of the season and put themselves in the North Central Conference driver’s seat with a win over previously undefeated St. Ed’s last week.  The Lions beat the Gaels and Clarion-Goldfield by 22 and 30 points respectively to go to 9-0 in the NCC.

  Saturday’s non-conference victory over Forest City put the second ranked (3A) Lions at 10-0 on the season.  The Lions host Iowa Falls-Alden this Friday.

CL 69, Forest City 64

The Lions capped a busy week with a hard-fought 69-64 win over an always-tough Forest City squad Saturday night.

“Forest City is a very good team, and to beat them on their floor is a nice accomplishment,” said Coach Kevin Kahler.  We had to battle through some foul trouble early, but we managed to keep it close and did a nice job in the second half.  Playing in a tight game like this should benefit us down the road.”

Forest City, which slipped to 7-3, had the early lead.  The Indians went up 14-10 after one and 31-27 at halftime.

The Lions used a well-rounded attack to score points inside and out in the second half.  Center Davis Dieken led the way with 18 points on offense and a commanding 13 rebounds.  Brock Adams finished with 14 points and dished out nine assists.  Pete Swensn and Matt Stephany had 13 and 12 points respectively.  Spencer Davidson had six points, Jack Abbas three, JJ Theobald two and Chase Lester one point.

CL 70, St. Ed’s 48

Clear Lake outscored St. Edmond 42-19 in the second half on their way to routing the Gaels 70-48 Thursday night. The two teams entered the game tied for the North Central Conference lead with perfect 8-0 records.  In the end, Class 3A’s number two rated team prevailed over the Class 2A fourth ranked Gaels.

The Lions were 10/13 from the field in the third quarter, including 4/4 from three-point range, as they turned a one-point halftime deficit into an 11-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

Clear Lake coach Kevin Kahler says his team overcame some shooting woes in the first half to blow out St. Edmond in the second half. 

“We got off to a slow start.  Our shot selection wasn’t the best early, but that seemed to improve once we got settled in,” said Kahler.  

The Lions trailed 18-10 after the first quarter, but pulled to within one at halftime, 29-28.