Sports

The Clear Lake girls basketball team is on a roll, the Lions picked up two more wins last week, pushing their win streak to three and record to 7-4. CL 60, IF-A 40    Macey Hansen, Brita Hand and Rea Faber delivered a one, two, three punch to Iowa Falls-Alden Tuesday, Jan. 12.     The three combined for 35 points in Clear Lake’s 60-40 victory.    “Our entire team played well against IFA. Nine out of 10 scored and we had three players in double figures. We built a lead and they made a run at us in the third quarter. I was proud of the way we handled IFA comeback. The team took care of the ball, continued steady pressure on defense and not only maintained, but increased the lead,” said Coach Kay Bacon.    Hansen led the team with 13 points, followed by Hand and Faber with 12 and 10.  Hansen also paced the squad in rebounds with seven.    A big second quarter, in which the Lions scored 24, gave the team a comfortable cushion on their home floor.    Ashley Willms and Erika Lovik had seven points apiece for the Lions.  Sara Jo Raner added four, Kathryn Nieman three, and Taylor Diehl and Taylor Thenhaus two points each.    Rachel Kopriva lifted the Lion defense with five rebounds. CL 57, Humboldt 47    The Clear Lake girls earned their third straight victory by outlasting a persistent Humboldt team Friday, Jan. 15.  The Lions broke away in the final quarter for a 57-47 win.    “Our team persisted through three quarters against a feisty Humboldt team,” said Coach Kay Bacon, whose team improved to 7-4 overall and 6-3 in the North Central Conference.  Humboldt dropped to 2-10.

     It was a busy week on the road for the Ventura boys basketball team, as they picked up two conference wins and dropped another. Ventura 51, TRV 22        The Vikings didn’t find much competition at Twin River Valley on Monday, Jan. 11.         Ventura’s speed and high tempo of play were too much for the Thunder.  The Vikings gained a 24-12 halftime lead and never looked back.    “We got off to a slow start, but our defense picked it up late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter,” said Coach Ryan Eastvold.        Ventura’s entire bench got to see action in the second half and contributed to the 51-22 victory.    Leading the way in scoring was Dean Berhow-Goll and Jared Callison, with 16 and 14 points respectively.  Cole Hanley contributed eight, while Cal Huber had seven points.    “We almost had four guys in double figures, which I like to see and everybody got to play,” said Eastvold.  “It was a good victory, but we have to play them again in a week and that will be difficult.”    Hanley led the team in rebounds with nine.  Huber grabbed six, while Callison had four rebounds.  Berhow-Goll and Hanley led the team in steals with five and four respectively.   Ventura 44, W-CL-T 31        Ventura traveled to Crystal Lake on Tuesday, Jan. 12, and defeated the Tigers, 44-31.        The Vikings gained a 14-8 lead by the end of the first quarter, but it was the second quarter where the Vikings really got rolling.  They picked up another 15 points, while the Tigers just two points.  Ventura took a 29-10 lead into the break.

The Clear Lake boys suffered a pair of losses on the road last week, dropping them to 3-7 overall.  After road games at Clarion and Iowa Falls this week (Tuesday and Thursday), the Lions will return home on Friday to host Webster City. Humboldt 66, CL 53    Humboldt went on a 20-2 run to close out their first half and the Lions never recovered in a 66-53 North Central Conference loss Friday.      Clear Lake actually held a 19-14 lead with six minutes remaining in the second quarter when the Wildcats caught fire and ran the score to 32-21 at the half.    “We played three good quarters tonight.  The last six minutes before the half was really the difference,” said Coach Kevin Kahler.  “We didn’t handle their trap very well, and they did a nice job against our zone.”    Three players provided the bulk of the Lions’ scoring.  Chase Crosby made seven of 10 shots from the floor and sunk three free throws for a team-high 17 points.  Ozzie Adams finished with 12 points, including a pair of treys, and Jason Sholly  had 11 points and four rebounds.    Nick Kruger was the leader on the board for the team with six rebounds.  She scored five points.  Alex Uhlenhopp had seven points and four rebounds.  Ben Lloyd added a free throw to the scoring.G-H 60, CL 49    Garner-Hayfield got off to a fast start, then held on for a non-conference, 60-49, victory over the Lions Saturday, Jan. 16.    The Lions found themselves down 11-1 just three minutes into the game, but closed the margin to 33-26 by the half.    “Again, I thought we played three good quarters,” said Coach Kahler.  “It’s tough when you spot a team like Garner a 10 point lead to start the game.  We got ourselves in a hole early and had to play from behind all night.”    The Lions got to within four points in the third, but couldn’t get any closer.

The Clear Lake wrestling team capped a busy week by winning the Wapsie Duals and going 4-0.     Earlier in the week the Lions beat Webster City, 47-9, moving to first place all alone atop of the North Central Conference.  The Lions only lost one match against the Lynx, and that was to third place finisher at State, Tyler Patten.  One month ago the Lions only beat the Lynx 36-25.    The Lions dropped two dual meets to ranked teams last Tuesday at Charles City.  Denver beat the Lions 55-9 and Charles City won 39-25.    “I believe getting beat so bad really woke us up,” said Clear Lake Coach Gary Weber.  “We wrestled our best meet of the year on Thursday after getting pounded on Tuesday.  We are 14-2 now and having a great year.”    Coach Weber provided this recap of the week for this varsity wrestlers:    103: Matt Bieber. Matt went 7-0 on the week and is 19-4 on the year and ranked eighth in the state.    112: Alex Fessler went 6-1 on the week with his only loss coming to the number one ranked wrestler in the state from Denver. He had a big win over his Charles City wrestler.  He is 15-10 on the year.    119: Jacob Colon. Jacob is getting his confidence back after starting with two ranked opponents. Jacob went 6-1 on the week with his only loss coming to the number one ranked kid in the state.    125: Austin Horner. Austin is 19-7 on the year and went 4-3 last week.  He had two ranked opponents. His best match was against Webster where he nearly upset the number three kid in state.    130: Brady Horner. Just like his twin brother, he is 19-7 on the year.  He went 5-2 on the week with both losses coming to state champs. He avenged an early season loss against Webster which shows he is moving in the right direction.

  It was a tough week for the Ventura girls basketball team, dropping three conference match-ups to fall to 4-7 overall and 4-5 in the conference. TRV 28, Ventura 27        It was a very close match-up between the Ventura Lady Vikes and Twin River Valley on Monday, Jan. 11.         The Thunder gained a slight advantage after the first quarter, 8-6.  TRV stretched that to a 17-12 halftime score.      The Lady Vikes came back from halftime ready to play and picked up five unanswered points to tie the game at 17-17.  From there it was back and forth scoring between the two teams with Ventura picking up a one point lead with :30 seconds remaining in the game.  TRV then scored a basket of their own for a one point lead.  Ventura was whistled for a charge with :06 seconds remaining, giving the Thunder possession of the ball and the 28-27 victory.    “We lost on a last second shot.  Our clock management wasn’t very good and it cost us,” said Coach Rod Huber.  “It is something we will learn from.”    Morgan Welp and Hannah Vavrik led the team with six points apiece.  Chelsea Mathews was the second leading scorer with four points.    Mathews led under the boards with seven rebounds.  Vavrik grabbed six of her own, W-CL-T 40, Ventura 22        Ventura’s game against Woden-Crystal Lake-Titonka on Tuesday, Jan. 12, was a tale of two halves.        The first half saw even scoring between the two teams, with the Tigers taking a slight, 19-16 lead into the break.        The second half was all Tigers.  W-CL-T got the momentum going in the third quarter, picking up 11 points while holding the Lady Vikes to two.  The fourth quarter was more of the same, as the Tigers cruised to a 40-22 win.

Men and Ladies League competes    The Men and Ladies League met on Monday, Jan. 18.  Results are as follows:  individual high game, Irene Zuck, 214, Bob Humphrey, 201; individual 3-game series, Irene Zuck, 492, and Bob Humphrey, 545; team high game, Back Yard Deli, 409; team 3-game series, Back Yard Deli, 1,078.  Splits:  Barb Hicok, 2-5-7; Dianne McCabe, 5-10; Karen Humphrey, 3-10; Naomi Nowland, 3-10 and Irene Zuck, 3-10. Lakette Bowling announces winners    The Lakette Bowling league met on Thursday, Jan. 14, at Lake Lanes in Clear Lake.  Winners included:  individual high game, Deb Hudson, 181; individual 3-game series, Kathy Astor, 481; team high game, Voortmann Chiropractic, 724; team 3-game series, Voortmann Chiropractic, 1,985.  Splits: Kim Grube, 3-10x2; Dana Niver, 3-10. Mason City Bowling team competes    The Mason City girls bowling team beat Marshalltown on Friday, Jan. 15, 2,393 to 2,064.  High series:  Samantha McCauley, 369; high game:  Stephanie Fatland, 199.  The Mason City boys team fell to Marshalltown, 2,827 to 2,604.  High series:  Spencer Clausen, two game set of 401; high game, Cody Brandau, 211.  The Mason City JV boys fell, 2,630 to 2,113.  JV high game:  Eugene Cheung, 177; high series, Eugene Cheung, 301.  Currently, the Mason City girls' team has only one loss and has the most pins in the Iowa Conference.

Wichman shoots a hole-in-one    Brenda Wichman, 49, of Clear Lake, aced the #5 hole at Oak Hills Golf Course on Friday, Nov. 27.  She used a seven iron on the 119 yard par three hole.  The shot was witnessed by Tim Wichman and Bruce Hasbrouck.  This was her first hole-in-one and the golf course's 22nd of the season.Wichman shoots a hole-in-one Deadline is Dec. 4 for girls alumnibasketball tournament       An alumni tournament for all former Clear Lake High School girls basketball players has been organized for a second year. This year's event will be played on Saturday, Dec. 26, 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the Clear Lake Middle School. Organizers are looking to increase the number of players from past years to make this a fun event. Both 6 on 6 and 5 on 5 games will be played. Teams will be loosely organized by graduation years.  All players registering will be put on a team. The cost is $25 per player which includes a team t-shirt. Half the proceeds will go to Breast Cancer Awareness and half to the CLHS girls basketball program.  Registration deadline is Dec. 4.  Send checks to Kay Bacon at Clear Lake High School, 125 N. 20th St., Clear Lake., IA. 50428.  For more information contact Becky Ostrander at 641-512-0797; becky21avery@hotmail.com or Coach Bacon. CL Boosters to hold b-ball tourneys    The Clear Lake Booster Club is sponsoring two basketball tournaments.  On Saturday, Dec. 12, a tournament will be held for boys and girls in grades 4th, 5th and 6th.  A 7th and 8th grade boys and girls tournament will be held on Saturday, March 6.  For more information contact Cal Dickson at 641-425-0978 or go to www.mwsports.net.