Ambitious schedule for CLHS
Goal is to play 13 games before Feb. 12 deadline
LAKEPORT >> When the Clear Lake High School varsity boys basketball team returns to the court Tuesday night at St. Helena, it will end a stretch of three weeks with no games played because of COVID-19 postponements, and it also will start a stretch where the Cardinals play 13 games in 17 days.
Talk about a rags-to-riches reversal of action for the Cardinals, who at 2-0 in the North Central League I standings still have 14 games left is they are going to complete their league schedule (one makeup game against Kelseyville had yet to be scheduled as of Friday).
As of next Monday, there will be three weeks remaining in the regular season. Clear Lake and every other team in the league has through Feb. 12 to complete its schedule because the North Coast Section playoff seeding meeting is Feb. 13, followed by the start of the sectional playoffs Feb. 15. Should more games be lost to further COVID postponements, there simply won’t be any time to play them and they will be lost off the schedule. League races will then be decided by those games that have been played.
“Every Monday (we test),” Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said. ” If there is a positive test that player sits out until they are negative.”
On what hopefully will be a furious finish to the Cardinals’ 2021-22 regular season, Damiata said, “I’m just really excited for the guys to be able to get back out on the court. We’ve been in the gym all week and everybody is itching to get back to games for sure. I told Milo (Clear Lake athletic director Milo Meyer) schedule them whenever and wherever and we’ll be there! This will pretty much be our last practice time as our off days over the next three weeks will most likely be rest days and film. We will definitely see what we are made of.”
Clear Lake is scheduled to play four league games next week, five the week beginning Jan. 31, and four more the week beginning Feb. 7.
Looking to next week, the Cardinals are away Tuesday against St. Helena, at Middletown Thursday, home against Roseland University Prep Friday and home against St. Helena on Saturday, Jan. 29.
Clear Lake plays five games in six days the week of Jan. 31Feb. 5 — home against Middletown Jan. 31, home against Cloverdale Feb. 1, at Lower Lake Feb. 2, at Kelseyville Feb. 4 and at Fort Bragg Feb. 5.
The Cardinals close it out with four games in four days the week of Feb. 7. They are at Willits Feb. 7, home against Fort Bragg Feb. 8, home against Lower Lake Feb. 9 and at Cloverdale Feb. 10.