GAME RECAP: Houston Christian HS vs Clear Falls HS

<p>Houston Christian has perennially been one of the better private schools, not only in Houston, but also in the State of Texas. Thursday night, they travelled to Clear Falls High School so see how this year’s team stacked up with one of the up and coming teams in the area. Clear Falls came into the game full of confidence, bolstered by their talented core of players who can score and defend. Both teams have extremely good guard play and that would be what ultimately decided the game. Let’s take a look at how things played out. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>[embed]https://youtu.be/cjdUZqFJOeo[/embed]</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>First Quarter</strong></p> <p>Houston Christian began the game strong, thanks to their defense. Kobe Haynes and Elijah Bernstein both had active hands and both were able to get steals, which allowed Houston Christian to jump out to an early 9 - 2 lead. But once Clear Falls settled down a bit and took care of the ball more, they were able to get good looks at the basket. No one took advantage of this more than [player_tooltip player_id="787339" first="Orlando" last="Horton"] Jr., Carson Lindsey and Austin Navarro, who finished the quarter scoring all of the Knights 19 points. But Houston Christian still held the lead and fouls were beginning to pile up for both teams.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>End of the 1st Score</strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Houston Christian HS - 20</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Clear Falls HS - 19</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Second Quarter</strong></p> <p>The second quarter began with both teams almost in the double bonus. In fact, after the first possession, a Houston Christian foul DID put Clear Falls in a double bonus situation for the remainder of the period. Unfortunately for the Knights, they were not able to take advantage of this, only scoring 4 points from the free throw line. [player_tooltip player_id="887052" first="Noah" last="Kon"] for Houston Christian was a consistent scoring force throughout the entire first half and particularly in second quarter. He was able to get to the rim, knock down perimeter jumpers and get to the free throw line, giving him 9 points in the quarter and 16 points for the half.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>End of the 2nd Score</strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Houston Christian HS - 43</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Clear Falls HS - 39</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Third Quarter</strong></p> <p>The pace picked up after the halftime break with both teams getting in the open floor and running. This produced more points and more turnovers. For Houston Christian, their defense was lead by Elijah Bernstein who accounted for 3 steals in the period. [player_tooltip player_id="887052" first="Noah" last="Kon"] (HCHS) and [player_tooltip player_id="787339" first="Orlando" last="Horton"] Jr (CFHS) took a bit of a break from scoring and both began to facilitate and get their teammates great looks. No one benefited more from these two’s giving spirit than Brandon Smith (CFHS) who was deadly from beyond the arc. He hit three big time 3s and scored 11 points in the quarter to give the Knights their first lead of the game.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>End of the 3rd Score</strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Houston Christian HS - 58</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Clear Falls HS - 60</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Forth Quarter</strong></span></p> <p>Houston Christian forwards Quinten du Vigneaud and Nathan Self were instrumental in the forth quarter as the game slowed down and rebounds became extremely important. Both teams struggled from the field, but the difference was, Houston Christian made sure that Clear Falls only got one attempt every time down the court. On the other hand, Houston Christian was able to get multiple looks, thanks, in part, to their efforts on the offensive boards and this helped them eventually retake the lead. Late in the quarter, a pair of free throws from [player_tooltip player_id="787339" first="Orlando" last="Horton"] Jr gave the Knights a 1 point lead. But that was short lived as Kobe Haynes was able to find Quinten du Vigneaud for a go ahead bucket with a 1 minute and 20 seconds left in the game. With 11 seconds left in the game, Brandon Smith knocked down another 3 to tie the ball game. There was no timeout for the Mustangs, instead they decided to let things play out which resulted in an open look from the perimeter that was missed. However, [player_tooltip player_id="887052" first="Noah" last="Kon"] was able to get an offensive rebound and was fouled on the put-back. Kon made both free throws giving Houston Christian a 2 point lead with 2.8 seconds left, which ended up being the final score of the ball game.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>End of the Game Score</strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Houston Christian HS - 74</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Clear Falls HS - 72</p> <p style="text-align: center;"> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Double Digit Scorers</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="887052" first="Noah" last="Kon"] (6’1 PG | Houston Christian HS | 2021)</strong> - 28 points</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Quinten du Vigneaud (6’6 F | Houston Christian HS | 2021)</strong> - 14 points</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Elijah Bernstein (5’11 PG | Houston Christian HS | 2021)</strong> - 10 points</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="787339" first="Orlando" last="Horton"] Jr. (5’8 PG | Clear Falls HS | 2023)</strong> - 20 points</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Brandon Smith (6’3 G | Clear Falls HS | 2021)</strong> - 14 points</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Austin Navarro (6’0 G | Clear Falls HS | 2021)</strong> - 11 points</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Carson Lindsey (6’4 G/F | Clear Falls HS | 2021)</strong> - 10 points</p>