LAKEPORT >> Clear Lake didn’t have the outside game to go along with its inside game on Wednesday night during a 55-50 non-league varsity boys basketball loss to the Maria Carrillo Pumas at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport.
“We definitely had an advantage inside but we went away from it in the fourth quarter,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said.
Center TJ Marcks led the Cardinals with 12 points, none of which came in the final period, and center Lucas Stahr added 10 points, only four of which came in the fourth quarter when Maria Carrillo outscored Clear Lake 12-9.
“We had a tough time getting the ball inside to them,” De Leon said.
Once Clear Lake’s guards begin to find their shooting touch, the Cardinals should be just fine, according to De Leon.
“We’re not shooting the ball well right now, but that’s going to come. We’ve been working a lot on defense and rebounding … the scoring will come,” De Leon added.
Between Marcks and Stahr the Cardinals (3-4) didn’t give the Pumas many second-shot opportunities although Maria Carrillo shot the ball well enough that it didn’t need many second chances. Stahr finished with 12 rebounds, eight of them coming on the offensive boards.
“He was working his butt off,” De Leon said. “TJ did a good job posting up and taking the ball to the rim.”
Two other elements of Clear Lake’s game that were sub-par against the Pumas were ballhandling — they committed 15 turnovers — and free-throw shooting – they made just 13 of 27 shots.
The Cardinals are right back at it Thursday night when they host Sonoma Academy in varsity-only action starting at 6:30 p.m.
Clear Lake did win the junior varsity game 68-51 behind 22 points from Darius Ford, 15 from Joey Mendonca and nine from Jason Johnson. The Cardinals are 7-0 on the season.
