Lions remain perfect in NCC

The Clear Lake boys suffered a pair of non-conference losses last week, but bounced back with a win over North Central Conference rival Webster City to go 7-4 overall and remain a perfect 6-0 in the NCC.

The Lions were slated to host Hampton-Dumont last night (Tuesday, Jan. 20).  They will be on the road to Fort Dodge to play St. Ed’s Friday then return home to take on Iowa Falls-Alden Tuesday, Jan. 27.

New Hampton 75, CL 61

New Hampton, 12-1 overall and 4-1 in the Northeast Iowa Conference, beat up on the Lions Monday, Jan. 12.  The Chickasaws used a strong first half to outscore the Lions, 75-61.

“We knew going in it would be a great test for our basketball team.  They have been on a great run the last couple of years and it would take a tremendous effort to come out of there with a win,” said Coach Jeremy Ainley.  

The coach called New Hampton a very physical team and said he didn’t think the Lions adapted to the way the game was playing out very well.  

“Brock Adams played well with 16 points and Parker Truesdell also shot it well and had a good all around game,” said Ainley.  Truesdell finished with 10 points, three assists and three steals.  In addition to his points, Adams had four assists and six steals.

“New Hampton was able to take us out of some of the things we wanted to do and that was disappointing,” said the coach.

The Chickasaws jumped out to a 17-12 first quarter lead and outscored the Lions by 10 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 41-26 lead.

Devin Uhlenhopp also finished in double figures for the Lions with 10 points and three steals.  Matt Stephany and Thomas Storbeck had seven points apiece, while Tamarik Lee had six.  Tanner Storbeck and Justin Sholly got into the scorebook with three and two points respectively.  Stephany and Lee topped the team in rebounds with four apiece.

Forest City 70, CL 58

The Lions had an off night Thursday, facing Forest City in another non-conference tilt.

Clear Lake jumped out to an early lead and, according to their coach, got a false sense of hope on shooting three-pointers.   “We have some guys capable of shooting the ball, but we kinda lost track of who we are and what we need to establish inside,” said Coach Ainley.

Forest City was able to come back from an 11-2 deficit and knotted the score at 17-17 after one quarter.  Even play continued to halftime, as the Indians held a 35-31 advantage.

“I personally made some adjustments at half that we shouldn’t have and got us off track,” said Coach Ainley. “Forest City made some shots and were not able to get it all back in the end.”

The Indians outscored the Lions 18-9 in the third quarter and the Lions were not able to catch them.

“We needed to play with more energy and were not able to sustain it,” said the coach.

Brock Adams played a great game with 23 points and 10 rebounds.  Matt Stephany also played a solid game with 12 points and six rebounds.  Thomas Storbeck put in eight points, Tanner Storbeck five and Devin Uhlenhopp four.  Parker Truesdell, Justin Sholly and Tamarik Lee had two points apiece.

CL 80, Webster City 70

The Lions’ mojo returned Friday night for their conference match-up with Webster City.  The home team came out with a lot of energy and got off to a great start.  The team went on to post an 80-70 victory.

“Our defense caused some turnovers and we executed better than we did Thursday night,” said Coach Ainley.  “We were able to get up by 14 and weather a couple of runs by Webster City in the third and fourth quarters to end up winning by 10.”

The coach was pleased with the play of his bench.

“Our bench play was great with guys like Parker Truesdell, Jake Ho