The Iowa Falls-Alden basketball teams were both defeated at home by Clear Lake Friday, as aired on 99 The Wave. The girls lost 54-36 and the boys fell to the #2 (3A) Lions 84-47.
In the girls game, the teams were engaged in a low-scoring battle early, with Clear Lake leading 8-2 after the first quarter. In the second, the Cadets pulled to within 23-21. But the Lions scored the next 10 points and held a favorable margin the rest of the way. Clear Lake dominated the offensive glass and put up 17 more shots than Iowa Falls-Alden. Head Coach Michael Collison says that was a key factor.
“Before the game, we talked about how Clear Lake was a very very physical team, and we knew that if we could rebound with them, or we felt like we didn’t even need to win the rebounding but if we could just keep it even close, we’d have a good chance to win,” Collison says. “We just struggled with that and even just getting into some of our things, they were just very physical. Our kids played really hard and played with great effort, I think we just didn’t quite match the physicality the way we needed to to win.”
Cidni Phipps led with 12 points and Isabelle Janssen had 11.
In the boys game, Clear Lake was on fire on its way to a 26-13 lead after the first quarter, and the Cadets were unable to get back in the game with their three-point shooting. Clear Lake used its notable size advantage to win physical battles, and put the running clock rule in effect in the fourth quarter.
“They’ve got that number two ranking for a reason,” Head Coach Mike Holm says. “They’re really good. They’ve got tons of athletes. They can score inside, they can score outside, they rebound really well. From day one, I’ve said we’re gonna struggle with big physical teams, and that’s what we had. I said our kids tonight needed to just go play hard the whole time, and that’s what we’re looking at first.”
Kale Kalous led with 22 points and Karsen Kalous had 11.
The Cadets will return to action Tuesday at St. Edmond.
Michael Collison interview:
Mike Holm interview:
