Cougars bounced in semis
ULHS girls fall 77-56 to top-seeded Eagles
CLOVERDALE >> While the topseeded Cloverdale Eagles ended the section run of the ultra-young Upper Lake varsity girls basketball team in the semifinals of the North Coast Section Division 5 playoffs nearly a year ago today in Cloverdale, there wasn’t any crying from the Cougars. Far from it.
With the start of the 2020-21 high school sports season delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lake County Record-Bee is taking a look back at the players and the teams who were making headlines during the 2019-20 season.
The top-seeded Eagles, champions of the North Central League I, knocked off No. 4 Upper Lake 77-56 to earn a shot against No. 2 seed Branson in the finals. Upper Lake (22-5) promptly turned its attention to the NorCal playoffs.
“We have a basketball practice tomorrow,” Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith said after his young Cougars’ section
odyssey came to a rough end following a pair of home playoff wins against International of San Francisco and San Domenico of San Anselmo.
Four-year varsity veteran Tehya Bird led the Eagles (23-3) with 35 points, but Cloverdale didn’t pull away from Upper Lake until the Cougars lost freshman standout Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow early in the third quarter when she was called for a charge — her fourth foul — and left the floor for the Upper Lake bench.
Smith said Loans Arrow, the Cougars’ leading scorer with 16 points, was trying to squeeze between two Cloverdale defenders when she was called for the charge.
“That’s a hard way to pick up your fourth foul,” Smith said of the momentum-shifting call. “Cloverdale took advantage of it and drove a stake through our heart.”
Trailing 34-26 at halftime after a competitive first two quarters, the NCL II champions entered the fourth period down 59-43.
Limited to 10 points by the Cougars in the first half, Bird broke loose for 25 points over the final two quarters.
“Losing Heaven for most of that third quarter really hurt,” Smith said.
Zoey Petrie had 14 points for the Cougars, including four 3-pointers, and Lupy Monlo-Duncan came off the bench to score 10 points.
“She stepped it up,” Smith said of Monlo-Duncan. “I was very impressed with her play.”
Upper Lake point guard Maddy Young had six assists and three steals.
“The girls played hard and battled,” Smith said. “My hat’s off to Cloverdale. They’re a good team.”