Cougars open up at home
County sending six team to NCS playoffs
Six of Lake County's 10 varsity basketball teams are moving on to the North Coast Section playoffs, including both the boys and girls squads from Clear Lake and Middletown high schools.
Postseason action opens Tuesday with Division 5 first-round games. The Upper Lake girls, the county's top-seeded team at No. 4 and boasting a county-best 25-1 record, are home to take on No. 13 The Bay School (13-10) of San Francisco at 7 p.m. Clear Lake's boys (179) and girls (16-7) both travel to San Francisco — the boys to play No. 1 seed Urban (18-8) and the girls to mix it up with No. 7 seed International (17-4).
Lake County's three Division 4 qualifiers all travel north Wednesday for first-round games. The Kelseyville boys (16-10) meet the team they opened the season against, McKinleyville (22-6), at 5:30 p.m., and the Middletown girls (19-6) follow at 7 p.m. when they play McKinleyville (15-9) in the second half of the doubleheader. Middletown's boys (13-12) travel to Arcata (17-7) for a 7 p.m. game.
Division 5 girls
The Upper Lake-Bay School winner draws the No. 5 HeadRoyce vs. No. 12 Hoopa Valley first-round winner in Friday's quarterfinals. If the Cougars win, they'll host that game.
Upper Lake, the three-time defending North Central League II champion, enters the postseason a winner of 18 in a row.
Seeded ahead of Upper Lake in the Division 5 field are No. 1 Berean Christian (22-4), which has a first-round bye Tuesday; No. 2 University High School (21-4) of San Francisco, also with a first-round bye; and No. 3 San Domenico of
San Anselmo (21-6), which hosts No. 14 Credo in firstround action.
Upper Lake is one of three NCL II teams in the Division 5 field, joining runner-up Sonoma Academy (18-4), the No. 6 seed, and Credo.
Upper Lake reached the quarterfinals last season, losing to eventual section champion Branson 57-32.
Clear Lake, the No. 10 seed after tying for second place in the NCL I standings this season, needs a win to advance to the quarterfinals Friday against University, which would mean back-toback trips to San Francisco for head coach Phil Psalmonds' Cardinals.
Clear Lake lost to Upper Lake 61-44 in last year's opening round.
Division 5 semifinals are Feb. 21 and the championship game is Feb. 24 or Feb. 25.
Division 5 boys
The last seed in the Division 5 field, the Clear Lake Cardinals have their work cut out against top-seeded Urban, the runner-up (behind Division 4 University) in the Bay Counties West race this season. Clear Lake finished fourth in the NCL I standings.
If head coach Mike Damiata's squad comes up with the big upset, it will remain on the road Friday for a quarterfinal-round game against the winner of the No. 8 Swett and No. 9 St. Bernard's contest.
Cloverdale (24-2), the undefeated NCL I champ at 160, is the No. 4 seed and hosts No. 13 International of San Francisco on Tuesday.
The top three seeds in Division 5 are Urban, No. 2 Head-Royce (24-3) of Oakland and No. 3 San Domenico (20-7).
Division 5 semifinals are Feb. 21 and the championship game is either Feb. 24 or Feb. 25.
Division 4 girls
No. 12 seed Middletown rolls into its first-round game Wednesday at McKinleyville a winner of eight straight. The two teams played in early December during a final-round game at the Redwood Empire Invitational in Healdsburg, McKinleyville winning 4033 in the consolation finals against a Mustangs squad that was missing senior point guard Jaidyn Brown.
If Middletown can get past the Panthers this time around, they'll likely be headed back north Saturday to play the winner of a first-round game between No. 4 Del Norte and No. 13 Ygnacio Valley in the quarterfinals.
The top three seeds in the Division 4 field are No. 1 Piedmont (24-0), No. 2 Branson (16-11) of Ross and No. 3 St. Bernard's (20-5) of Eureka.
Middletown tied for second in the NCL I standings this season while McKinleyville placed third in the Humboldt-Del Norte Big 5.
Fort Bragg (19-6), the NCL I champion, drew the No. 11 seed and hosts No. 6 Arcata (12-11) while Cloverdale (12-11), fourth in the NCL I standings, is on the road to play No. 3 St. Bernard's.
Division 4 semifinals are Feb. 22 and the championship game is Feb. 24 or Feb. 25.
Division 4 boys
Kelseyville, the No. 11 seed, dropped a 60-51 decision to No. 6 McKinleyville way back on Nov. 26 in its season opener. The Knights need a win Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals Saturday against No. 3 seed Ygnacio Valley (20-5) Concord, which has a first-round bye.
Kelseyville finished tied for second in the NCL I standings this season.
Middletown is the No. 12 seed and draws No. 5 Arcata in a first-round game. The winner plays either No. 4 Marin Catholic of Kentfield or No. 13 St. Joseph Notre Dame of Alameda in the quarterfinals Saturday at the home site of highest surviving seed.
Middletown placed fifth in the NCL I standings this season.
The top two seeds in the Division 4 field are No. 1 University High School (25-3) of San Francisco and No. 2 Justin-Siena (24-4) of Napa.
Division 4 semifinals are Feb. 22 and the championship game is Feb. 24 or Feb. 25.