Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Jackson Kochendorfer of St. Edmond shoots earlier in the season at the Gael gym.

The St. Edmond boys stood toe-to-toe with North Central Conference champion Clear Lake here Friday night.

Jackson Kochendorfer delivered a school-record 10 three-pointers, but Zach Lester scored 36 points to carry the Lions to a 71-67 overtime victory inside the SEHS gym.

Kochendorfer, a junior, scored a career-high 30 points, including 15 in the second quarter as the Gaels (11-9 overall, 8-5 in league) opened a 15-point lead early.

Lester came to forefront in the second half and overtime, though, posting 26 during that time — with 11 in the extra session.

“I’m just so proud of the effort of every single one of our kids,” SEHS head coach Adolph Kochendorfer said. “We had guys giving it their all out there on the court and that’s all you can ask for.

“We didn’t play a perfect game, but I thought we showed that we are a very good team.”

Will Woodruff had nine points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocks before fouling out. Andrew Gibb was held to 10, but dished out five assists, and Jed Tracy had six assists with two steals.

One of those six Tracy assists came on a perfectly-designed play by assistant coach Nick Clark that tied the game at 57-all with just over 30 seconds left. Tracy, a sophomore, hit Woodruff as he darted towards the basket, with the senior banking in the shot.

“Coming off Thursday’s win over Pocahontas Area, it kind of showed that we were tired there late,” Kochendorfer said. “We had a really bad stretch in the third with turnovers and missed shots, especially shots that we typically make.

“I know he scored 36, but I thought we did a good job against Lester by forcing him to take contested jumpers. He’s the best guard in the conference and he made shots in the second half.”

Kochendorfer, who has now made 66 triples on the season and 103 in his career, made his first nine shots from deep before missing a contested, off-balance attempt in overtime.

“Jackson’s a shooter and if we can get him to continue moving without the ball, he’ll keep getting good looks,” Kochendorfer said. “We did a good job of finding him in transition in the first half and that helped get him going.”

Clear Lake’s Drew Enke added 17 points and four rebounds for the Lions, who have won nine consecutive games. Lester had five rebounds, five assists and four steals to go along with his 11th 30-plus point game of the year.

St. Edmond’s Isaac Lursen came off the bench to score seven points in the first quarter, including a three-pointer that beat the buzzer and gave them a 13-12 lead.

The Gaels conclude their regular season on Tuesday, hosting Algona.

CLEAR LAKE 71,

ST. EDMOND 67 (OT)

St. Edmond — Jed Tracy 1-3 0-0 2, Andrew Gibb 3-10 3-3 10, Jackson Kochendorfer 10-13 0-0 30, Will Woodruff 3-8 3-6 9, Sean Flaherty 4-9 1-2 9, Isaac Lursen 3-3 0-0 7, Drew Schaeffer 0-0 0-0 0, Sean Newell 0-0 0-0 0, Mitchell Rasmussen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-46 7-11 67.

Clear Lake — Drew Enke 7-15 1-2 17, Zach Lester 12-22 8-9 36, Tate Storbeck 0-5 0-0 0, Sean Wendel 1-1 0-0 2, Jared Penning 2-3 1-2 5, Nick Danielson 0-1 0-0 0, Jaylen DeVries 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Formanek 2-5 1-3 5, Sam Pedelty 2-5 0-0 6. Totals: 26-56 11-16 71.

Quarter scores: St. Edmond led 13-12, 36-21, 46-41, Tied 57-57. Three-point goals: St. Edmond 12-16 (Tracy 0-2, Gibb 1-2, Kochendorfer 10-11, Lursen 1-1); Clear Lake 8-26 (Enke 2-8, Lester 4-8, Storbeck 0-5, Pedelty 2-5). Total rebounds: St. Edmond 31, Clear Lake 27. Steals: St. Edmond 5, Clear Lake 6. Blocked shots: St. Edmond 3, Clear Lake 1. Team fouls: St. Edmond 18, Clear Lake 10. Fouled out: Woodruff. Turnovers: St. Edmond 20, Clear Lake 7.