by Marianne Gasaway
Clear Lake secured a share of the North Central Conference title with a 64-46 victory over Webster City (16-2, 10-2) Friday, Feb. 10.
“It was a big game — great home court environment with a ton of fans that were terrific the whole night and I thought we fed off it and played well,” said Coach Jeremey Ainley.
The Lions (18-1, 12-1) came out strong and established themselves in the paint early and defensively made it tough for the Lynx to get good looks at the rim.
Clear Lake took a 16-10 first quarter lead and was up 27-19 at the break.
“We were a little sluggish on offense and didn’t quite score as effective as I thought we could, but in the second half we did a better job of running in transition and getting into the paint better,” said Ainley. “Defensively, I thought we did a lot better job of defending the paint and contesting shots.”
The coach praised the play of Ben Loge and Titan Schmitt on defense. The pair worked hard to hold Webster City’s leading scorer, Jaime Grossoehme, far below his average.
Travaughn Luyobya led the Lions with 26-points.
“Travaughn really pushed tempo, finished well at the rim and distributed when need to with 11 assists,” said Coach Ainley. His effort broke the school record for assists in a season held by Jeff Vaage from 2005.
Cael Stephany also had a great night, scoring 18 points.
“Cael continued to make good looks at the rim — they put a lot more emphasis on Titan after he scored 22 points down there (in the Jan. 17 meeting of the teams) and it left Cael open and he capitalized,” said Ainley.
Thomas Meyer controlled the paint and put in nine points.
“Dylan Litzel gave us great offense off the bench with seven points, but defensively was everywhere with seven rebounds and four blocks — a huge performance in a big game,” added Ainley.
Loge and Schmitt completed the scoring with two points apiece.
The win provided the sixth conference title for the Lions in Ainley’s nine years at the helm.
“Our first goal is basically accomplished — now to continue to improve on the season and go into two more games this week,” he said.
CL 92, St. Ed’s 35
The Lions tuned up for the big win over Webster City by pummeling St. Edmond, 92-35.
“It was a good chance to play some guys and get a tune up before the two teams in the conference pushing us came to town Tuesday and Friday. I thought we had a nice workman-like attitude and sans the second quarter, where we tried some new things and had some confusion, I thought we handled it really well and played a very clean overall game on offense and defense.”
The Lions set the tone for the game early with a 29-point first quarter. The Gaels scored 17 in the second quarter to make it to double digits at the half. Clear Lake went into the locker room comfortably in control, 47-22.
Travaughn Luyobya paced thet eam with24-points and Cael Stephany put in 17. Thomas Meyer finished with nine, Titan Schmitt eight and Ben Loge four.
“Travaughn attacked well and did some good things,” said Coach Ainley. “It was good to have Cael come out shooting well and make some outside shots and the rest of the team really played well.”
Gavin Anderson led the reserves with seven points, followed with Taylor Plagge with six and Branden Kuhlmeier, Trey Olthoff and LJ Bryant with four apiece. Derek Erpelding scored three points and Trevor Theobald had two.
“It was nice to get some extra guys some playing time and get them a chance to showcase how hard they work, as well.”
CL 69, Humboldt 52
Humboldt handed the Lions their only loss of the season back in January, so Tuesday’s game in Clear Lake was circled in red.
“We knew after our first meeting that we would have to play a lot better defensively and guard a lot better and I thought we did — holding a team averaging 77 points a game to 52,” said Coach Ainley. “I thought we really set the tone in the first quarter, establishing our inside game, and then on defense really contesting shots.”
When the Lions traveled to Humboldt Jan. 13 they gave up 40-points in the paint; this time, only 20-points were allowed.
“Offensively, we controlled the paint and had a nice game offensively to really play very efficient offensively,” added Ainley.
Thomas Meyer dominated inside with 18 points and led the team in rebounds with nine. Travaughn Luyobya scored 14 and distributed 10 assists. The senior also made three steals.
The coach pointed out that Cael Stephany continued to shoot it well, which opens things up for his team. Stephany finished with 14 points. Titan Schmitt played a nice game defensively and attacked the rim for six-points. Ben Loge added two.
The team showed its depth with Dylan Litzel and Gavin Anderson coming in to score eight and seven-points respectively.
“Dylan and Gavin continue to give us a great spark off the bench defensively, but also offensively as well,” said Ainley. “It was a great team win for our guys in a terrific environment.”
