Bulldogs unleashed in the second half for win
Irving - Clarendon's guards Fa'Teem Glenn, Arta Turner and James Kirksey combined for 54 points as the Bulldogs (11-3) grabbed a win on the road over host team North Lake (9-7) 89-76.
Clarendon was trailing the Blazers at half 39-35, behind the sharp shooting sophomore Jeremy Crane and his nine first half points (two three-pointers) for North Lake. After the break, the Bulldogs went on a 20-12 run to take the lead 55-54.
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"We knew that [North Lake] had to be tired after playing three games in three nights, so I told our group that they had to attack," said head Clarendon coach Isaac Amedee. "I don't think we would have had a chance tonight to win if they were fresh.
"We like playing this kind of game before the break and being challenged by a team that is well coached and has a history of winning."
In the first half, Clarendon had 17 turnovers against the North Lake Zone.
"I warned our guys how dynamic their zone was and how they match out of it. It gave us trouble, and we knew that we had to start attacking the basket."
Kirksey and his Bulldog teammates were able to get more transition buckets and open their game in the open court.
"In the locker room coach told us to stop settling for jumpers and for us to get to the rim," said Kirksey. "We came out and played hard. We didn't want to end with a loss before break, so we came together as a team and shared the ball and found the open man going to the basket."
Kirksey had 14 out of his 18 points in the second half.
The second half also brought a change in defenses for Clarendon, and the offensive opportunities and the scoreboard turned in the direction of the Bulldogs.
"We started pressing in the second half to force [North Lake] to speed the game up," said Glenn. "We needed them to play our style of game, fast. Our pace picked up, and defensively we got on the boards, and we were able to beat them in transition as we had the ball and made some easy points."
Glenn finished with a team-high of 19 points.
The Bulldogs received 14 points from freshman Narcisse Kalamba, which several of those buckets came off of dunks.
Turner hit five three-pointers on his way to a 17 point night.
P.J. Escobar for North Lake dumped in 15 points, and 11 of those in the second half.