CL Hawks Boys Basketball Split Pre-Thanksgiving Games
Canyon Lake continues to work on their chemistry after integrating their football classmates and injured players into a season that continues to show improvement. This last pre-Thanksgiving contests, The Lake, split their two games with a win over Fox Tech and losing to the Marion Bulldogs on Tuesday.
Seniors Rico Griffin and Trent MacRoberts look forward to a good season.
“After that first quarter we did a good job,” Head Coach Lucas Chapman stated in talking bout their game with Marion. “Our defense got much better and I loved our effort to get back into this game.”
One common thread was seeing how Rico Griffin has upped his game as this 3-year varsity player is averaging over 20 points in the first 4 battles.
This past week, Griffin pitched in 53 points and averaged over 10 rebounds to spearhead what could be a break out year as this season matures.
“Our chemistry will make us stronger and give us more confidence,” Senior Griffin said in response to how this team compares to the previous two squads. “Having a strong bench will allow us to play down hill and that helps in setting a good tone for myself…so our bench has everyone doing their job.”
A good group of Basketball Gym Rats are helping in this integration that will result in better results during this pre-district part of the schedule.
Rylee Spaulding, Tuff Cantu, Ben Rowe and Patrick McAuliffe among other Hawks will help in jettisoning this group of players when these players reenters the hardwood next week.
In the Hawks loss to Marion, the Bulldogs were able to shoot over 65% from the floor in their first quarter to forge out for a 8 point advantage, 20-12.
CL reversed those numbers in those two middle quarters as both schools entered their final frame tied, 38 all.
Let’s Go Hawks!!
Griffin scored 18 points in those two periods while Trent MacRoberts continued to increase his minutes returning to the line-up after being cleared for action after mending an injury.
MacRoberts finished with 10 rebounds and just missed his double-double by 2 points on 4 of 6 shooting.
“This team is great,” MacRoberts said and then talked bout how strong this year’s bench has been. “Everyday we improve and are starting to trust each other…if we need a break then we just trust the guys behind us and that allows us to play our ball.”
McAuliffe and Cantu will be the beyond the arc catalyst as these two players combined in scoring 25 points in those couplet of games.
Big Man, Rylee Spaulding, finished the week with a double-double on Monday scoring 15 points and securing 11 rebounds.
The Hawks will not be the same type of team that has graced the Hawk Nest these past few years as CL’s damage in scoring points has been a result of their half-court offense inside the 3 point line.
Way to Go Hawks!!
In the two contests Canyon Lake shot a remarkable, 57% in that first win and 51% in their loss to Marion. That strategy was good for 26 offensive rebounds instead of those one and done shots from beyond the arc.
The Hawks free throw shooting has improved from the start of the year and that too, could be a good sign in winning those close battles.
Canyon Lake jumped out to an 8 point lead with their win and continued to enlarge that lead by 11 more points in those middle periods. That helped in staving off Fox Tech after a furious rally back to single digits in that final 8 minutes and a Hawk 16 point advantage.
CL will be on the road next Tuesday against Brooks Academy and then both the Junior Varsity/Freshman and Varsity will enter their first tournaments when the JV-Freshman travel to Burnet on Thursday and Varsity tip-off on Friday in Marion.
This year will have some fun times at the Hawk Nest and having the fanbase get out of the Christmas shopping spree and take a deep breath with some round-ball action.
Way to Go Hawks!!
1 2 3 4 Final CL Hawks 19 21 18 21 79 Fox Tech 11 17 11 26 65 3pt tot rebounds fgm-fga fgm-fga ftm-fta pts or-dr tot a s b to Rico Griffin 15-21 0-1 1-2 31 5-11 16 5 2 0 3 Patrick McAuliffe 4-10 1-3 0-0 9 3-4 7 0 4 0 3 Trent MacRoberts 3-6 0-1 0-0 6 0-3 3 2 1 1 1 Tyler Pauly 0-1 0-0 3-4 3 0-2 2 3 1 0 4 Ben Rowe 1-5 0-1 2-2 4 2-2 4 5 1 0 3 Kyle Morris 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 Peyton McMullen 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 1 0 0 0 Pearse McCullagh 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 1 1 1 0 4 Colton Winters 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Nic Rivera 0-4 0-2 1-2 1 1-1 2 1 2 0 1 Tuff Cantu 4-8 0-2 0-0 8 1-1 2 0 0 0 0 Rylee Spaulding 6-8 0-0 3-5 15 3-8 11 1 1 0 2 Totals 34-68 1-10 10-15 79 15-34 49 19 13 1 22 Percentages 50% 10% 67% ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 2 3 4 Final Marion 20 8 10 16 56 CL Hawks 12 14 12 14 52 3pt tot rebounds fgm-fga fgm-fga ftm-fta pts or-dr tot a s b to Rico Griffin 10-21 0-2 2-3 22 4-1 5 3 6 0 3 Patrick McAuliffe 1-3 0-2 2-4 4 1-2 3 0 0 1 1 Trent MacRoberts 4-6 0-1 0-0 8 2-8 10 0 1 0 3 Tyler Pauly 1-4 1-2 0-2 3 1-2 3 4 1 0 2 Ben Rowe 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 1-2 3 3 0 0 0 Peyton McMullen 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 3 0 1 0 1 Pearse McCullagh 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Colton Winters 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 2 0 0 1 Nic Rivera 1-3 0-0 1-2 3 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 Tuff Cantu 1-1 1-1 1-2 4 1-1 2 2 0 0 2 Rylee Spaulding 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 0-4 4 0 0 0 3 Totals 21-46 2-9 8-15 52 11-24 35 14 9 1 16 Percentages 46% 22% 53%
