There was a slight delay to the start of the season for the Clear Lake boys, but the wait was worth it, as the Lions defeated Charles City in double overtime, 69-64.
Coach Jeremey Ainley said he was a bit nervous about how his teams’ first outing on the road against a very good opponent would go after their scheduled opener with Fort Dodge was called off on Tuesday.
“We started out a little hesitant and needed a timeout to regroup a little and settle in,” said Ainley. “We came out of that and started to get some better looks at the rim and settle in defensively a little.”
Charles City (1-1) held a 13-9 lead after one quarter, but the Lions found their footing and got some good looks inside and outside. They outscored the Comets 21-11 in the second quarter for a 30-24 halftime lead.
The Lions continued to attack after the break and switched defenses up a little to keep the Comets guessing. The strategy worked and Clear Lake was able to extend the lead to eight going into the fourth quarter.
“In the fourth we got some stops, but unfortunately did not do a great job on the defensive glass and gave them way too many opportunities at second chance points and subsequently let them back into it,” said Coach Ainley.
The coach said he felt his team had a couple of chances to put the game away in the first overtime, but the opportunity was lost with a couple of missed shots and bad turnovers.
In the second overtime the Lions were down four early, but Cael Stephany delivered a huge three pointer and Ben Loge had a steal and run out to give the Lions the lead.
“Down the stretch we executed just enough and got some timely shots and hit some big free throws to pull out a great road win,” said Ainley.
Stephany was six-for-11 from behind the three-point line and led the team with 22 points.
The coach noted Thomas Meyer had a solid game and gave the team a spark in the first half and finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. Travaughn Luyobya finished with 12 points and nine assists. Titan Schmitt helped to get the team on track in the second quarter and collected 10-points. Loge had four points and three assists in the win and Dylan Little chipped in a free throw.
“Overall, I was very pleased with the effort for the first game — we battled adversity and showed we might have some grit this year,” said Ainley.
Lion fans will have a chance to see the team in action at home this week, as they host Waverly-Shell Rock in a non-conference game tonight (Thursday, Dec. 8). Tip-off is set for 7:15 p.m.
