Knights’ shooting scorches Gators

DICKINSON — Clear Falls used clutch shooting from junior guard Louis Dunbar to down the Dickinson Gators on the road Tuesday night.

After drilling five 3-pointers in the game, Dunbar iced all six of his free throws in the final 30 seconds to give Clear Falls a 58-53 victory.

While the capacity crowd in Dickinson’s gym was wowed by Dunbar’s hot shooting touch, the performance was no shocker to Clear Falls coach Darren Chandler.

“The guy can shoot,” Chandler said after his team improved to 4-1 in its first season of varsity competition. “He’s the best shooter I’ve ever coached.”

Dunbar, who had 23 points, wasn’t the only one who shot well down the stretch. The Knights were 11-for-12 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter and went 11-for-15 in the game.

“We’ve been that way all year,” Chandler said. “We’ve won a few close games with good free-throw shooting.”

But before developing their veteran poise in the second half, the Knights looked lost at times in the first half. The players passed the ball away too much, committed sloppy turnovers, and Dickinson led 27-25 at the half.

“We look like chickens with our heads cut off sometimes,” Chandler said, with district play rapidly approaching next Tuesday. “We could probably use a whole other season to prepare, but it’s here, so we have to be ready.”

As for the scrappy Gators (1-7), the loss was another in a long string of close-game, heartbreaking losses to talented teams.

“But our kids aren’t giving up,” Dickinson coach Mike Tucker said. “They’ve seen adversity like this before, and they’re never giving up. I’m blessed with hardworking kids, and our defense is getting so much better every game.”

Clear Falls’ offense was helped by Leonard Hill, who had 16 points and six rebounds in the paint. Chip Del Basso and Dante Whitfield both had five points, while Niklis Kelly, Tymon Kukla and Dylan Collins each added three points.

For Dickinson, senior captain Joseph Mozie had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Jalen Farmer had nine points and seven rebounds, and Willie Mouton had eight points. James Johnson had six points and seven rebounds, and Justin Gitrey and Early Lacey both had five points.

Clear Falls will play in the Carlisle/Krueger Classic this weekend, while the Gators visit La Porte on Friday.