Ferndale tops Lower Lake in finals
Trojans keep it close for a half before Wildcats surge to 55-37 win
Too many turnovers and too much Kyla Albee, Haidyn Fulton and Emily Chavez proved a lethal combination for the Lower Lake Trojans in their 55-37 girls championship game loss to the Ferndale Wildcats on Saturday night at the 49th annual Stokes Tournament in Kelseyville.
“We had 21 turnovers,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “You can’t give up that many possessions and expect to win a game like this.”
Against a Ferndale defense that excelled in disrupting the offenses of, in order, Kelseyville, Middletown and Lower Lake in its three Stokes victories, Tubbs said the Trojans fell short on a number of counts, including rebounding on the offense boards where the Wildcats converted several second, third and sometimes even fourshot possessions into points.
While Lower Lake’s Terilyn Jo Jermany finished with 13 rebounds, she didn’t have much help.
“Their scrappiness and discipline was the difference,” Tubbs said of the Wildcats. “They stuck to their game plan and we bailed on our game plan.”
While Lower Lake did a good job of staying close to the Wildcats early into the third quarter — the Trojans trailed 22-18 going to the second half — a key sequence took place after a Jermany putback basket sliced Ferndale’s lead to 30-27 midway through the period. Tubbs sent several reserves onto the floor to give his tired starters a bit of a break and the Wildcats went on a 11-0 run in a 90-second span to push their lead to 41-27.
“When I made those substitutions our defense fell apart,” Tubbs aid. “Once they got out to that lead we were in trouble because we don’t have the type of team (yet) that can come back from that.”
Lower Lake senior guard Margarita Cordova did her best to spark a rally as the fourth quarter opened, much as she did Friday night in a win over Kelseyville, but a basket and two free throws that cut Ferndale’s lead to 43
35 proved to be as close as the Trojans would get.
Ferndale’s Fulton, relatively quiet through the first three quarters, came alive with three straight buckets, including a 3-pointer with four minutes remaining that made it 50-35. When the Wildcats scored another 3-pointer their next trip down the floor to go up 53-35, Ferndale emptied its bench and let its reserves mop up.
While it was a tough way to end the game and tournament for the Trojans (37), Tubbs said his team’s two earlier tournament wins and a strong first half against Ferndale left plenty for his players to feel positive about.
“In the first half we played our best basketball of the season,” Tubbs said.
The lead changed hands six times, all in the first quarter, and the two teams were never separated by more than four points.
Lower Lake did a good job slowing down Albee (14 points), Fulton (13 points) and Chavez (11), all of whom were later named to the All-Tournament team, Albee as the MVP. All are underclassmen, part of a Ferndale roster that consists exclusively of sophomores and juniors.
“They’re a good team,” Tubbs said. “They disrupt the flow of your offense. They’re really good at it.”
Cordova and Kyleigh Mock led the Trojans with 10 points apiece while Jermany finished with eight and Tiahna Tubbs five. Cordova and Tubbs were named to the All-Tournament team.
Middletown 54, Point Arena 6
The Middletown Mustangs (7-4) clinched third place with a lopsided victory over the Point Arena Pirates, who went winless in the tournament while scoring only 24 points in their three games.
“We were definitely worn out after a long week,” Middletown head coach Andy Brown said. “Everyone played and we experimented a little on offense. We focused on no fouls and we had just one team foul.”
Kaitlynn High-Young led the Mustangs 12 points and Amanda Hart added 10 more as the Mustangs held the Pirates to two points through the first three quarters.
Mia Hoogendoorn and Paige Astley scored seven points apiece for Middletown and Skylar Williams added six points.