COUGARS, CARDS HOLD TOP SPOT
If you were looking for suspenseful basketball Tuesday night among Lake County's varsity girls teams, it never materialized. That wasn't bad news in all cases as the county's two league leaders, the Upper Lake Cougars in the North Central League II and the Clear Lake Cardinals in the NCL I, picked up easy victories.
Upper Lake claimed its 12th straight game and remained undefeated in league play with a 53-22 win over Victory Christian in Santa Rosa. Clear Lake also won on the road, hammering the St. Helena Saints 59-21. In other girls action, Cloverdale beat Lower Lake 57-38 and Fort Bragg knocked off Kelseyville 52-23.
Upper Lake 53, Victory Christian 22
At Santa Rosa, even without senior guard Maddy Young in the starting lineup, the Cougars improved to 19-1 overall and 8-0 in the NCL II standings behind 11 points from Taylar Minnis and 10 from Nya Marcks.
“We started pretty strong out there,” Upper Lake co-head coach Raelene Cromwell said of the Cougars' 29-4 first half. “We pressed them early, took it off after the first quarter, then went to a man-to-man and zone. We worked on everything we needed to work on.”
Upper Lake also emptied its bench early.
“Everybody played, everybody worked hard,” Cromwell said. “We worked on what we needed to work on.”
Kat Lopez-Geary and Madison Noble added seven points apiece while Kali Minnis and Jaydyn Poe had six each. Ashlyn Rhodes, playing her second game at the varsity level after being promoted from Upper Lake's undefeated junior varsity team, scored four points, the first of her varsity career.
“She'll be staying up with us,” Cromwell said.
Upper Lake returns home Friday to play Sonoma Academy as part of a four-game set between the two schools.
There was no JV game. In other girls action Tuesday:
Clear Lake 59, St. Helena 21
At St. Helena, the Clear Lake
Cardinals took care of their business early against St. Helena, outscoring the Saints 36-12 in the first half.
“We did what we needed to,” Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said as the Cardinals (9-1, 12-5) retained a share of the NCL I lead with their victory — Cloverdale and Fort Bragg also won Tuesday to improve to 9-1.
Psalmonds said he was especially pleased with the play of his two sophomores, Emily Gersalia and Quincy Paarsch, who logged plenty of playing time against the Saints (1-8).
“Gersalia ran the point really well and Quincy also played well,” Psalmonds said. “I'm happy my two sophomore were able to play a lot and they did a good job when they were in there.”
Gersalia finished with eight points, part of a balanced Clear Lake attack that featured 12 points from Stella Hill, 10 from Amber Smart, nine from Montana Wells, seven from Sierra Bruch and six from Rubi Ford.
In the JV game, Karsyn Greer connected on four 3-pointers and finished with a team-best 14 points as Clear Lake beat St. Helena 40-24 to go to 9-1 in league play. Kiley Voris added 12 points and Kam Cresto had seven.
Clear Lake was able to empty its bench against St. Helena after building a 21-6 halftime lead.
The Cardinals host Roseland University Prep in a four-game set Friday beginning with the JV girls game at 3:30 p.m.
Fort Bragg 52, Kelseyville 23
At Kelseyville, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves kept pace with Clear Lake and Cloverdale atop the league standings with a win over the Kelseyville Knights.
Fort Bragg (9-1) led 14-5 after one quarter and 29-11 at halftime.
“We've got to play better, no excuses,” Kelseyville head coach Terry McIntire said. “Fort Bragg is a good team but we shouldn't have lost by 29 points.”
Olivia Hommer, playing on a sore ankle, led the Knights (0-11, 1-20) with eight points and six rebounds. Faith McIntire finished with nine points, hitting the team's only 3-pointer.
“We struggled to rebound,” McIntire said.
The Knights have a league bye Friday. They play three games next week when they are at St. Helena Monday and home Wednesday against Middletown and home Friday against Clear Lake.
In the JV game, Matisyn Mateer racked up 19 points and Brianna Davis finished with 12 as the Kelseyville JV team rolled past Fort Bragg 42-8.
Cloverdale 57, Lower Lake 48
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans couldn't sustain a 23-20 halftime lead in their bid to upset Cloverdale, which turned the game around with a 21-4 third quarter.
“We made some good adjustments in the first half and the defense was rotating well,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “But then we played our one bad quarter.”
Suiting up only seven players for the Eagles (91), who retained a share of the league lead with their win, the Trojans (4-7, 7-14) ran into foul trouble when Izabella Salazar picked up three fouls in the first half, which limited her playing time. When Rebecca Theodorou got her third foul early in the third quarter, the Trojans' personnel options were limited, according to Tubbs.
The game turned physical in the second half, according to Tubbs, resulting in plenty of fouls called on both teams.
“It got real chippy,” said Tubbs, who picked up a technical foul after daughter Tiahna Tubbs was called for a technical.
“I don't know why,” Tubbs said of his daughter's technical. “I got mine when I asked what she had done.”
Tiahna Tubbs' 16 points led the Trojans while Theodorou and Ayla Ales both had six. Tylie Hatcher's 17 points powered the Eagles, who outscored Lower Lake 3715 in the second half.
The Trojans hit the road Friday to play Willits.
In the JV game, Lower Lake edged Cloverdale 3432 behind 12 points from Aliana Barnes and seven from Alyxa Milano.
“We played a great first half defensively and executed our plays the way we needed to,” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Wiley said. “Unfortunately we let them get too many offensive rebounds throughout the game that let them catch back up and keep it close. We really relied on Aliana Barnes to set up the plays and control the ball up the court.”
Added Wiley, “We have to work on a few items that require a higher basketball IQ. There's quite a bit to continue to develop the remainder of the season, but plenty of opportunity for growth ahead.”
Lower Lake is now 8-3 in league and 12-7 overall.