The Clark boys basketball team notched another victory in the second half of their district season this week, beating brandeis 58-46.  Jacob Palacios led all scorers with 15 points, followed by Ansley Benjamin with 13 and Adam Perez with 10.  The Cougars are 7-2 in district play.

Meanwhile, the Clark girls lost a close one in overtime to the broncos by a score of 61-59. Donna Matthews led the Clark scoring with 16 and Hannah Gulley added 10. The Cougars take on the challenge of the tough Jay Mustangs on Friday.

GO GET ‘EM COOGS!

Clark Swimmers and Divers 2010-11

The Clark Cougars  take to the pool at 9:15 AM on Saturday, January  22nd  for  27-5A  District Championships.
The preliminary races run from 9:15  to approx.  noon  or 12:30 pm  at the Block  Natatorium  (410 and Culebra.)

Finals  begin  at  6 pm,  also at the Block pool.  Clark fans coming out to watch, and we hope there are many,  should arrive well before 6 pm to  secure a seat on deck.

This Friday evening,  Clark divers take to the boards for District Diving Champs.   Clark  has a unique opportunity this year, as we have accomplished male and female divers who have been scoring well this season.   Their points  from the  6 pm  competition (Block pool on Jan. 21st)  will be added to the swimmer’s points on Saturday.

In addition to some amazing individual swims,  Clark fans can expect  6  exciting relay  races.  The Mens’ and  Womens’  200 free, 400 free and  200 medley relays  will be ready for challenges brought by  O’Connor, Brandeis and Marshall.
The relay competition within  the District this year is very tight.    Come out and cheer us on this weekend!

The #1 ranked Clark boys soccer team opened district play with a 2-0 victory over Taft at Farris Stadium on Tuesday. This followed a strong showing in the highly competitive Klein Showcase over the weekend. The Cougars faced nationally recognized teams and they returned to San Antonio with one win, one tie and one loss – before the Taft victory. One of the bright spots in tourney play was forward Johnny Lawson, who garnered “Player of the Week” recognition from the Express News for his showing.

Lawson also scored one of the goals in the Taft game, along with fellow senior Oscar Barboza.

The Clark girls team didn’t open the district season as well. They dropped their game against Taft 4-0, but the Cougars did enjoy a good weekend in the Houston area Kingwood Tournament where they compiled a 2-1-1 record against some good competition there.

More tournament appearances await the teams this weekend with a trip to New Braunfels for the girls and to Boerne Champion for the boys.

Johnny Lawson

Coming off a regional tournament appearance last year, the Express News has the Clark boys varsity soccer team at #1 for it’s first rankings of the year.  14 lettermen from last year’s squad return, including forward Johnny Lawson and midfielder Oscar Barboza.  ESPNRise has the team listed at #21 in the nation.

This year’s team is led by Coach Walter Rule, who has two state championship appearances and one state title on his resume.

On a day when the Clark girls basketball team got a much needed district victory over O’Connor, the boys team suffered its first district loss of the season.  The good news was a 44-39 win that brings the girls into a 3-way tie for 4th place in District 27-5A at the halfway mark of the district season. The Cougars were led by Melanie Schwartz with 17 points and Kristen Lye with 10. Clark outplayed O’Connor in the 3rd quarter, scoring 10 points to none for the Panthers. The girls are now 4-4 in district. Next up is Taft on Monday at 7:00 at O’Connor.

The boys meanwhile move to 5-1 in district play with a 39-44 loss to the Panthers. Adam Perez and Ansley Benjamin led the scoring with 9 points each while Niko Maxwell had 7.  The Cougars will try to rebound when they take on district leading Taft on Monday night at 8:30 in the gym at O’Connor.

GO COOGS!!

The boys varsity basketball team squeaked by the Holmes Huskies 39-38 in an unusually low scoring victory.  Clark held Holmes to only 2 points in the first quarter but Holmes returned the favor on the Cougars in the third, where Clark only scored 4 points.

Holmes has a 2-4 district record but has played all its games close in their losses.  The win keeps #23 Clark perfect in district at 5-0 and tied for first with Taft.

Clark alum making waves

2010 Clark graduate Jason Brickman earned Rookie of the Week honors as a freshman basketball player for Long Island University.  Last year’s district Offensive MVP, Brickman is making an impression not only on his team but with opposing coaches as well.  You can read about his success in this article.

#23 in Texas

The Clark Cougar varsity boys basketball team cracked the Top 25 in Texas, showing up at #23 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches rankings.  Tied for first place in District 27-5A, the Cougars are undefeated in district and have a 14-5 overall record.

Next up for the boys is Holmes, Wednesday at 8pm while the ladies play Tuesday, also against Holmes.

Way to play, Coogs!

Soccer season starts

As the temperature continues to drop, that means one thing – time to head outdoors for soccer.  Pat Turner of the Express News chats with the boys new head coach, last year’s girl’s head coach, Walter Rule in this article.

#21 Kyle Rutledge

The Clark Cougars passed another important district test in defeating the Stevens Falcons 60-55 at Paul Taylor.  Ranked in the top ten in San Antonio early in the season, Stevens  gave the Cougars all they wanted and then some.

Both teams came out of the gate early, tied 18-18 at the end of the 1st qtr.  Sloppy play by both teams, resulting in turnovers and missed buckets, defined the 2nd qtr.  Clark could only put 8 more points on the board while the Falcons could only add 6 giving Clark a 26-24 advantage going into the half.

What must have been a motivating halftime speech by Clark Head Coach Steve Slyestine resulted in a more intense Clark team on the court in the 3rd qtr.  Jacob Palacios started the 2nd half with a LONG 3-pointer.  With just over two minutes off the clock, the Cougars jumped to their largest lead of the game when Adam Perez sent 3 of his 11 points through the net giving Clark a 36-28 lead. A 6 point run by the Falcons tightened the game to 40-39. Ansley Benjamin made it 46-41 after Jacob Palacios stole a Stevens inbound pass and the 3rd qtr. ended with Clark up 47-43.

Stevens started the 4th qtr. with a 10-4 run and tied it all up at 53-53 at the 4:00 minute mark.  It would stay that way until there was a minute and a half left in the game and Adam Perez sunk both ends of a one-and-one.  Stevens came right back to make it 55-55.  Ansley Benjamin next hit the first of his one-and-one but missed the second.  Kyle Rutledge grabbed the rebound, however, and found Jacob Palacios at the top of the key for a three to seal the victory with :30 seconds left in the game.

The boys now own a 7 game win streak.  Following the boys game, the girls varsity lost to Stevens, giving the Lady Cougars a 2-4 record in district.