Red-hot Zane McAuley scores another 27 for Cardinals at Colusa Tourmanet
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KELSEYVILLE >> Still smarting from a 61-50 league loss at Middletown on Tuesday, the Kelseyville Knights took out some of their frustration Thursday in the opening round of their own tourney, the Stokes Tournament, with a 62-18 victory over Anderson Valley at Kelseyville High School.
The Kelseyville High student body took in several of the games Thursday, packing the gym, according to Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez, who is also the Stokes Tournament director.
“The gym was rocking for both of the early games (the Kelseyville girls tipped off at 9 a.m. followed by the boys at 10:30 a.m.),” Lopez said.
Even with all the support from fans, Lopez said the Knights (5-4) weren’t exactly at the top of their game.
“I felt like we played flat, no energy,” Lopez said.
That wasn’t true in all cases as senior guard Kyle Watkins scored 10 of his team-leading 17 points in the first quarter, staking the Knights to a 17-6 lead. The three-year varsity veteran also hit one of his two 3-pointers in the opening period.
“He came out aggressive,” Lopez said.
Kelseyville extended its lead to 31-11 at halftime, then blew the game wide open with a 21-2 third quarter.
Max Hommer came off the bench to score 10 points for the Knights and Gene Holdenried added seven more.
Kelseyville plays Ferndale, a 59-53 first-round winner over Healdsburg, in the winner’s semifinals Friday at 6:30 p.m.
“They’re big, strong and aggressive,” Lopez said of his next opponent. “It will be a good test for us.”
In other Stokes first-round action:
St. Bernard’s 60, Upper Lake 45
Upper Lake scored the game’s first 12 points only to watch St. Bernard’s of Eureka counter with a 15-0 run to end the first quarter.
The two teams continued to ball it out through the second quarter, the Crusaders taking a 30-27 lead into halftime.
“It was a hard first half,” Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said. “Beaux (James Beaux Stiritz) went to work early, and Delaney (Allison) came off the bench creating energy plays off the offensive boards. He must’ve had at least nine offensive boards.”
Stiritz and Allison each finished the game with 13 points while Jerod Rosales added eight.
“They caught first from the 3-point line in the third quarter,” Arroyo said of the Crusaders’ offensive surge to start the second half.
“We felt great holding a strong St. Bernard’s team that hasn’t scored under 80 points to just 60,” Arroyo said. “We found our identity, now we’ve got to just continue to build on it and gain some confidence.”
Upper Lake (2-2) plays Lower Lake in the consolation semifinals Friday.
Cloverdale 50, Lower Lake 33
Cloverdale defeated Lower Lake in first-round action, advancing to the winner’s semifinals Friday against St. Bernard’s.
Lower Lake, now 1-9 on the season, plays Upper Lake in the consolation semifinals Friday.
Lower Lake scoring was not reported.
In other boys action Thursday:
Colusa Tournament
Clear Lake 71, Colusa 57
At Colusa, another big game from Zane McAuley provided the spark as the Clear Lake Cardinals knocked our host Colusa in first-round action at the Colusa Tournament.
Coming off a 36-point night Tuesday in a league win over Upper Lake, McAuley scored 27 against Colusa as Clear Lake jumped above .500 (5-4) for the first time this season.
“Big first and fourth quarters blew the game wide open,” Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said. “We had to fight foul trouble and a big, physical Colusa team.”
AJ Bruch added 15 points while both Jesse Hayes and Sawyer Smith finished with eight.
“It was a great whole team win,” Cory said.
Clear Lake plays Corning in the winner’s semifinals at 7:30 p.m.
JV basketball
Kelseyville 37, Corning 27
At Colusa, Kelseyville’s JV boys team defeated Corning in the opening round of the Colusa Tournament, squaring the team’s season record at 3-3.
Gordon Astrup scored nine points while Elijah Watkins had eight points and eight rebounds for the Knights. Joey Watson had five points and seven rebounds, and Nick Arredondo had four points and four rebounds.
Kelseyville led 11-0 after one quarter. A 16-4 third quarter put the Knights up 29-16.
Kelseyville plays Colusa on Friday in the winner’s semifinals at 1:30 p.m.