CLC women rally for win; Men battle before falling

At 5-feet-10, College of Lake County sophomore Kelli Goodwin (Libertyville) is the Lancers' tallest player.

Her position? Point guard.

"We've only had one team we've matched up with height-wise," said Lancers coach Bill Braman.

But CLC can use its speed and hustle to cause match-up problems of its own.

That was certainly the case Saturday in a home game against South Suburban.

The Lancers controlled the tempo in the second half and rallied from 9 points down late in the first half for a 61-55 victory.

"We have to pressure because of our size," Braman said. "We may have caught them by surprise."

Goodwin did not catch South Suburban (5-7) by surprise, but the Bulldogs still had trouble stopping her. She hit four of five 3-pointers in the second half and scored a game-high 22 points.

"The girls are able to run the floor so fast and set very good screens," Goodwin said.

Goodwin scored 9 consecutive points for CLC (4-2) on a trio of 3-pointers starting with about six minutes left in the second half. Her first 3-pointer gave CLC a 48-46 lead, and two bombs from Goodwin pushed the advantage to 54-46.

Goodwin was matched by South Suburban sophomore guard Erica Coldman, whose five 3-pointers accounted for 15 of her team-high 18 points.

After a first half where she missed several shots in the paint, CLC freshman forward Ashleigh Braden (Zion-Benton) found her rhythm.

"She was worried about their height," Braman said. "She was (fine) once she went right at them."

She forced herself to stay calm when she was missing in the first half. She rebounded by scoring 9 of her 14 points in the final 20 minutes.

"Last year my temper got me in trouble, so I didn't get mad," she said. "(South Suburban) was talking a lot of trash, so we didn't want to lose to them."

Sophomore Tiffany Lehner (Grayslake) contributed 22 points. Freshmen Ally Yarc (Libertyville) and Lauren Liles (Grant) had 8 and 5 points, respectively.

"We had a good run at the end of the game," Braman said. "We're getting better with each game."

CLC men fall

Visiting South Suburban, ranked No. 3 in the latest NJCAA Division II Poll, escaped with a 78-73 victory.

"This was the best junior college game I've seen this year," said CLC coach Tom Shields.

It came following CLC's worst effort of the season, an 86-83 loss at Wright on Tuesday. The Lancers spent the majority of practice time the rest of the week focusing on defense.

They made sure nothing came easy for South Suburban (9-0)

"We definitely took a step forward with our defense," said sophomore forward Luse Mundadi, a Highland Park graduate.

After trailing for the first seven minutes of the second half, CLC (4-5) received a break when South Suburban coach John Pigatti was whistled for a technical foul. Mundadi made the technical free throws to give CLC a 47-46 advantage. The Lancers increased their lead to 55-50 on a basket by freshman center Julian Jones (Warren).

South Suburban quickly turned that 5-point deficit into a 65-59 advantage.

"That lead disappeared in a heartbeat," Shields said. "That was the fatal moment for us."

CLC worked its way back and pulled to 74-73 on a basket by freshman forward Timothy Bryant with 39 seconds left. The Lancers fouled sophomore Billy Rush, and the sophomore made 2 free throws with 12.9 ticks on the clock. Mundadi drove to the basket but was unable to convert on the next possession.

All Rush did was score 29 points and go 13 of 14 from the line. He was the only South Suburban player in double figures.

CLC sophomore guard Ray Idelburg (Zion-Benton) scored 18 points and played tenacious defense. Mundadi had a team-high 21. Bryant contributed 16 points and was a consistent force inside.

Jones scored 7 points, and Shields is excited about his continued improvement.

"When he figures out how good he can be he's going to be big time," Shields said.

The same could be said for the Lancers, if they can play at this level on a consistent basis.

"A loss is never acceptable, but if we play this hard all the time we can (compete) for the Skyway Conference (championship)," Shields said.