ULHS RESERVES START IN WIN

Cougars roll past winless Panthers squad, 58-34, in non-league contest

LAKE COUNTY >> Facing a winless Anderson Valley varsity boys basketball team, Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo did something you won’t see very often as the Cougars hammered the visiting Panthers 58- 34 in a nonleague game played nearly a year ago today.

Until the COVID-19- delayed 2020-21 sports season starts, the Lake County Record-Bee will take a look back at the local sports happenings of a year ago and the teams and athletes who were making the headlines.

Varsity boys basketball

Against an Anderson Valley team that entered play 0-8, Upper Lake started five reserves and played them until late in the first quarter, at which point they left the court with a 6- 0 lead.

“I wanted to give them some minutes and give them the opportunity to see what they could do out there,” Arroyo said of his reserves. “They were my starting five on last year’s JV team.”

Anderson Valley probably wouldn’t have objected had Arroyo played his second team a bit longer. With Upper Lake’s starters playing pretty much the remainder of the first half, the Panthers were looking at a 25-9 deficit by halftime.

“The intensity came with the first group,” Arroyo said of his starters.

Rocco Bassignani and Benat Love scored 11 points apiece to power Upper Lake, which improved to 8-1 on the season, while Dalton Slater joined his teammates in double digits with 10 points. Louis Avalos added eight more.

In the junior varsity game, Upper Lake prevailed 55-29 behind 21 points from Sammy Avalos and 14 more from Kai Young. Blaine Rhodes added eight points and Pedro Alvarado had seven.

JV girls basketball

Taylar Minnis fired in 19 points as the Upper Lake junior varsity girls basketball team escaped with a 32-30 non-league home win over Anderson Valley.

It was quite a turnaround for an Anderson Valley team that lost 59- 4 to Upper Lake earlier in the 2019-20 season.

“Maybe they thought it was going to be that easy again,” Upper Lake coach Angelina Arroyo said of her team’s close call in the rematch with Anderson Valley. “I got a lot of my younger girls in, but we didn’t think it would be that close.”

Lupy Monlo-Duncan’s six points led the Cougars (7- 4).

PHOTOS BY BOB MINENNA Upper Lake High School varsity basketball head coach Tony Arroyo questions a player who had just departed the floor during action against Anderson Valley, a non-league game played nearly a year ago today. The Cougars won 58-34.

Rocco Bassignani draws a host of Anderson Valley defenders down low.

PHOTO BY BOB MINENNA Dalton Slater goes up for a layup.