CARDS, COUGARS OVERPOWER FOES
Trojans drop thriller at empty Cloverdale gym, Knights come up short on Mendocino coast
CLOVERDALE >> An understrength Lower Lake High School varsity girls basketball team emerged from its COVID-19 hibernation Tuesday night with a down-tothe-wire 57-54 loss to the Cloverdale Eagles in a North Central League I thriller at Cloverdale.
Lower Lake (2-3 league, 4-9 overall) had been idle since a 4727 loss to Willits on Jan. 5 because of numerous game postponements caused by the COVID-19 surge in the state this month. The Trojans returned to the court Tuesday night in Cloverdale with only a handful of fans in the stands because Sonoma County is limiting the number of people (no more than 50) who can be in a gym at any one time.
Cloverdale had a 55-52 lead with 30 seconds left when it was called for a technical foul for having six players on the court while trying to inbound the basketball. Kyleigh Mock, one of two Trojans to score 20 or more points, made both of her technical free throws to cut the Eagles’ lead to 55-54. Lower Lake also received possession of the ball but turned it over before getting off a shot.
Cloverdale scored on a layup in the final seconds before Lower Lake could draw a foul.
Lower Lake suited up only six players for the game.
“We had two out because of COVID and another who was getting her wisdom teeth pulled,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said.
One of the missing players was starting center Terilyn Jo Jermany.
“We really missed her,” Tubbs said.
Lower Lake finished the game with five players after starting senior guard Margo Cordova fouled out with 3:45 left in the fourth quarter.
“The six girls I took there probably had their best game of the season,” Tubbs said. “It was by far the team’s best defensive game. My kids played phenomenally.”
Besides Mock’s 23 points, Tiahna Tubbs scored 20 in the loss while Cordova finished with eight. Mock and Tubbs each had three 3-pointers.
Rebecca Theodorou led the Trojans with 12 rebounds. Mock
and Tubbs had three steals apiece.
Even though he had only one reserve to open the game, Tubbs said he stuck with the team’s uptempo attack.
“That’s our style, we can’t really deviate from what we do best,” he said.
Cloverdale won the junior varsity game 37-14. Serenity McCoy and Aliana Barnes scored five points apiece to lead Lower Lake.
In other girls action Tuesday:
Clear Lake 74, St. Helena 23
At Lakeport, Clear Lake had three players score in double digits and nearly a fourth while routing the St. Helena Saints in NCL I play.
“We worked on some new stuff with all the practice we’ve had since our last game and were able to try some of that out,” Clear Lake head coach Phil
Psalmonds said.
Diversifying the offense could pay dividends down the road when other teams single out a certain Clear Lake player to shut down, according to Psalmonds. “If we can get other people to step up when that happens we’ll be in good shape.”
Sydney Howe’s 22 points led the way against the Saints (06), Amber Smart finished with a season-high 18, and Abby Mertle added 14. Sierra Bruch just missed double figures with nine points.
“Those points Amber got were the result of making that one extra pass,” Psalmonds said. “We shot the ball very well tonight, we shot close to 45 percent (from the field).”
The Cardinals had a 22-5 lead after one quarter and a 41-10 halftime advantage.
Clear Lake is now 3-1 in league and 6-7 overall. The Cardinals host league leader Middletown (5-0) on Thursday.
In JV action, Clear Lake won 38-12.
Fort Bragg 51, Kelseyville 26
At Fort Bragg, the Kelseyville Knights fell to the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in NCL I action, their first game in more than a month because of COVID-19 postponements.
Larue Furlani’s 13 points led the Knights (0-3, 0-10) and Emily Sandoval added six.
Fort Bragg improved to 4-2 in league play.
The Knights are home Thursday to play Cloverdale as part of a four-game set. JV girls action starts at 3 p.m.
Upper Lake 81, Calistoga 11
At Calistoga, Zoey Petrie scored 20 points, Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow added 18 more
and Karlee Zimmerschied scored her first points of the season in only her second game back from an injury as the Upper Lake Cougars beat a patchwork Calistoga team in NCL II action.
Calistoga had to forfeit an earlier league meeting with Upper Lake because it didn’t have enough varsity players. The Wildcats promoted several JV players to make Tuesday’s game possible, according to Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith.
“They had a mix of players,” Smith said of the Wildcats.
Smith said he did what he could to keep the score down, a difficult task considering the Cougars (4-0, 12-2) are a veteran unit and not even at full strength yet as they have been without Zimmerschied for much of the season because of the ankle injury she sustained during the school’s run in the North Coast Section soccer playoffs last fall.
“I played my starters the first half of each quarter in the first half, then the second unit. (Tristin) Rhodes led the second unit and did a real good job.”
Added Smith, “I tried to find that balance, but it’s not an easy thing to do in this situation.”
Upper Lake substituted freely throughout the second half.
Madison Noble finished
with 11 points and Rhodes had 10.
“She showed her skill set shooting 3s and attacking the ball,” Smith said of Rhodes.
Zimmerschied scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter.
“She took it to the hole one time and there was some hard contact but she was just fine,” Smith said. “It was good to see her competitive spirit back out there.”
Upper Lake had six 3-pointers, two each by Petrie, Loans Arrow and Rhodes.
The Cougars led 37-8 at halftime.
Upper Lake has played only two games in the past five weeks but will play two more this week — on back-to-back nights — as the Cougars host Credo on Thursday night before hitting the road Friday to play Technology in Rohnert Park.
There was no JV game Tuesday.