by Marianne Gasaway
A pair of lopsided victories have moved the Clear Lake boys to 12-1 overall and kept them in the fight for a North Central Conference title. The Lions and Webster City are both 7-1 in the league; Humboldt is 8-1. Clear Lake defeated Webster City, but fell to the Wildcats. They will be on their homecourt for rematches with both teams. Clear Lake will host Humboldt Tuesday, Feb. 7, and Webster City Friday, Feb. 10.
A poll released Monday, Jan. 30, by the Iowa High School Athletic Association ranked Clear Lake second in Class 3A. Webster City is ranked seventh and Humboldt is ranked 10th.
CL 64, C-G-D 23
In the first of two games against the conference’s bottom tier teams, the Lions roped Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, 64-23. The Cowboys fell to 3-11 overall and 1-10 in the NCC.
“I thought we came out a little sloppy and let them dictate the pace for the first couple of minutes of the game. They were trying to slow it down and we allowed it to happen,” said Clear Lake Coach Jeremey Ainley. “Once we got the ball moving— and more importantly we started moving, we were able to attack the rim with great shots instead of settling for shots.”
The Lions bounced back from the slow start to take a 17-6 lead after one quarter. They were up, 36-12 by the break and continued to hold the Cowboys to single-digit scoring in the second half.
Travaughn Luyobya and Titan Schmitt led the offense with 13-points apiece, followed by Gavin Anderson with 11.
“Travaughn and Titan both really paced us getting to the rim and setting up other guys to lead us and I thought Gavin Anderson came in and gave us a spark on defense that helped start a couple runs,” said Coach Ainley.
Cael Stephany and Thomas Meyer added eight and six-points respectively, while Branden Kuhlmeier had four, Trevor Theobald three, and Ben Loge, Dylan Litzel and LJ Bryant scored two apiece.
The Lions out-rebounded the Cowboys, 35-15, paced by Luyobya’s eight boards. The senior also had four of Clear Lake’s 16 steals in the game.
“Overall, it was a good win — defensively I was happy holding them to four single digit quarters and really controlling the game from that standpoint,” added Ainley.
CL 76, St. Ed’s 50
The Lions had their foot on the gas from the start of Friday night’s game with St. Ed’s. They streaked to a 22-7 first quarter lead and never looked back in the 76-50 victory.
Clear Lake’s quick start was fueled by great inside looks for Thomas Meyer, who finished with 18-points, as well as outside shots from Cael Stephany. Stephany drained seven of 14 shots from behind the arc to finish with a team-high 24-points. Travaughn Luyobya was also in double digits with 17-points and 13 assists.
“In the second and third quarters we did not do as well defensively and gave them too many open looks at the rim. Luckily for us, we were making shots so we were able to maintain our lead,” said Coach Ainley.
After trailing 43-22 at the half, the Gaels found renewed energy in the second half and outscored the Lions in the third, to cut the margin to ?? points. It was 58-40 heading into the final quarter. They cut the lead to 10-points before the Lions ramped back up their press to building the lead back to a comfortable margin.
In addition to praising his top three scorers, Coach Ainley noted Trey Olthoff came in and gave his team a spark off the bench. The senior scored two points and had four rebounds in the win.
Gavin Anderson came in to contribute eight points. Titan Schmitt scored five and Dylan Litzel added two to round out Clear Lake’s scoring. Meyer was the leader in rebounds with eight.
“It was a nice win to keep advancing through the season and keep goals intact,” said Ainley.
Before it’s matchups with Humboldt and Webster City, the Lions were scheduled to be on the road at Algona Monday, Jan. 30, and at Garner-Hayfield-Ventura Thursday. They will host Iowa Falls-Alden Friday.
