COUGARS CLAIM POTTER CROWN
UL wraps up title with 63-50 win over Mendo, Grandi brings home most valuable player award
POTTER VALLEY >> Sammy Avalos scored 21 points, one of four Upper Lake players in double figures Saturday night as the Cougars beat the Mendocino Cardinals 63-50 in the boys championship game of the Potter Valley Tournament.
Kyle Grandi (11 points) was named tournament most valuable player and was joined on the All-Tourney team by teammates Avalos and Kai Young (15 points). Johnny Gonzales added 10 points as Upper Lake squared its season record at 4-4.
Playing their best game of the season to date, the Cougars combined strong defense with a balanced scoring attack to turn back the Cardinals (5-4), who held a 3129 halftime lead.
“I was happy for the kids,” Upper Lake head coach Miles Hayes said. “Winning a game breeds confidence, winning a championship breeds more success. Now we need to keep that positivity rolling.”
Upper Lake didn’t start out very well. In fact, the Cardinals jumped out to a 10-0 lead, prompting Hayes to call a 30-second timeout so that the Cougars could refocus.
“I told them, ‘Don’t panic, every team goes on runs, play defense,’ ” Hayes said.
Upper Lake responded with a 8-0 run as Avalos hit back-toback 3-pointers — the first two of 10 treys on the night by the Cougars — and Grandi added a layup to make it 10-8.
“We went from bad shot, bad shot to good shot, good shot. We crawled back into it after that and started to play defense,” Hayes said. “We played defense all three games (of the tournament).”
Playing team offense also was no problem for the Cougars, who have struggled with that at times