St. Ed’s hands Lions first NCC loss

The Clear Lake boys were tested last week by an improving Hampton-Dumont team and an upset-minded St. Edmond squad.  The Lions were able to get past H-D, but suffered their first conference loss at Fort Dodge, dropping them to 8-5 overall and 7-1 in the North Central Conference.

CL 70, H-D 63

Three Clear Lake players scored in double figures as the Lions beat Hampton-Dumont 70-63 Tuesday at home. 

The win didn’t come easy, with the Bulldogs racing out to a 27-18 first quarter lead.  In the second quarter the Lions settled into their half-court game and held H-D to 10 points in the second and third quarters.

“We were also able to get some good looks going at the basket,” said Coach Jeremy Ainley.   “Matt Stephany played very well all around with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.  Tanner Storbeck also shot the ball well with 15 points and six rebounds.”

Brock Adams added 13 points for the Lions and Tamarik Lee had nine.  Thomas Storbeck, Jacob Hogan and Parker Truesdell all came off the bench and scored.  Storbeck had five points, while the other two had four apiece.  Devin Uhlenhopp added two points and Alex VanderPloeg had one.

“Down the stretch we didn’t make some great decisions, but were able to hold off a good Hampton team,” added the coach.

St. Ed’s 62, CL 53

“We had by far our worst effort of the season in a very critical conference road game,” said Coach Ainley following a nine-point loss to St. Ed’s Friday.

“For whatever reason we didn’t come ready to play and I take full blame for that.  We were lethargic for three quarters and didn’t take advantage of some mismatches,” said Ainley. 

The Gaels scored 17 in each of the first two quarters, while the Lions had 10 in each.  The lopsided scoring continued even after the break, with St. Ed’s holding a 48-31 lead heading into the final quarter.

“By the time we got a little momentum, it was too late and we paid for it with our first conference loss.  We know that we have some guys in first year positions and we need to be able to handle some success better and be more consistent with effort,” said Ainley.

Matt Stephany again led the scoring.  The senior shot the ball well and finished with 17 points, going 8/11 from the field.  Brock Adams scored 13 points, had seven assists and three steals.

Parker Truesdell was next with eight points.  Devin Uhlenhopp had six, Tamarik Lee four, Thomas Storbeck three and Alex VanderPloeg two points.  

Tanner Storbeck was held scoreless, but grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

The Lions are home twice this week.  Tuesday they were scheduled to host Iowa Falls-Alden (1-10, 0-6) and Thursday they step out of the conference to play Crestwood (8-6).