Clear Lake 75
C-G-D 46
The Clear Lake Lion basketball team hosted the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Cowboys on Tuesday, Jan. 23 as the North Central Conference gauntlet continues.
It was a decisive win by the Lions who continue to make their way through the North Central Conference with a 13-0 record after defeating the Cowboys 75-46.
Led by Titan Schmitt with 17 points, the Lion offense leaned on the junior leader plenty in the first half in which the Lions scored 35 points. The defense only allowed 16 total through two quarters.
Adjustments were made by both teams in the locker rooms at halftime, but the Lions continued to extend it’s lead. The team utilized players from the bench who made an immediate impact for Clear Lake.
The Lion offense continued to stay on the gas as they scored 40 points in the second half. The defensive side for Clear Lake only allowed 30 points.
Clear Lake 84
St. Edmond 59
On the road, the Lions traveled to Fort Dodge to face the St. Edmond Gaels.
Just over 20 days ago, the Lions defeated St. Edmond 72-37 in Clear Lake.
The Gaels had hoped a home court advantage would be in their favor, but the Lions proved to be too tough as the undefeated Lions scored 84 to St. Edmond’s 59 points.
It was a high-powered first quarter that saw a combined 57 points with the Lions ahead 35-22 after the first eight minutes.
A little slower in production in the second still saw big numbers as the Lions scored 18, while the Gaels were just behind with 15. Clear Lake held a clear 53-37 lead at the half.
The second half was all Clear Lake as the game got out of hand with the Lions outscoring the home team 25-8 in the third. The bench came into the game in the fourth which saw a St. Edmond surge of 14-6. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Lions won 84-59.
The Lion offense was led by Cael Stephany who scored 20 points on the night and led three others in double digit scoring that saw Thomas Meyer with 18, Titan Schmitt with 11 and Dylan Litzel with 10.
The Lions shot 60.4 percent from the field, including 14-of-26 threes and were six-of-seven from the line.
Leading the boards was Meyer with eight, he also contributed five assists, one steal and three blocks.
Leading the assists was Trevor Theobald, with eight and Schmitt led the team in steals with two.
Consistency is the goal for the Lions as they continue to sit atop the rankings in the number one spot and with an unblemished record.
“We are trying to stay consistent,” said Lion head coach Jeremey Ainley. “Offensively we have been doing some pretty good things and defensively we need to clean some things up but doing some good things and need that to continue.”
The Lions are running the North Central Conference “gauntlet” right now with five of the next seven being conference match-ups.
Working on fundamentals and taking care of the little things in practice is what coach Ainley would like to see in practices.
“We just need to get some fundamentals, break it down a little bit and slow it down a little bit,” said Ainley. “Our goal is to win the league. They are all big games from here on out and we need to be prepared each game and come ready to play.”
Clear Lake 68
Algona 47
The Lions were on the road once more as they traveled to Algona to face the Bulldogs, Monday, Jan. 29.
It was all Lions as they moved on to a 15-0 record after defeating the Bulldogs 68-47. Thomas Meyer led the offense with a team high 16 points.
Meyer also had six rebounds, three assists, two steals and led the team in blocks with three.
The Lions jumped ahead early with a 10 point lead after the first quarter buzzer, but Algona battled back in the second to outscore Clear Lake by just two points.
To start the second half the Lions made up the points, outscoring Algona 20-16 before slamming the door shut in the fourth with a 13-4 score quarter.
Gavin Anderson was also in double digits scoring with 13 and led the team in steals with three. Titan Schmitt recorded six rebounds.
Dylan Litzen just got into double digit scoring with 10 points, while snatching six boards and he was four-for-seven from the field, to lead the offense field goal percentage with 57.1 percent.
The team shot 46 percent from the field and made three three-pointers and were 19-of-22 from the free throw line.
