Clear Lake knocks off Corning to advance to Colusa Tournament championship game
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KELSEYVILLE >> On a night when Kelseyville went 2-for-27 from 3-point range, the Knights still found a way to stop the Ferndale Wildcats, 39-29, in the boys winner’s semifinal round of the annual Stokes Tournament at Kelseyville High School.
“If someone would have told me one of my teams could shoot 2-for-27 and we would still win, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said.
Despite his team’s ice-cold effort from behind the 3-point arc, the Knights (6-4) are advancing to Saturday’s championship game against St. Bernard’s at 7:30 p.m. The same two schools are also fighting it out for the girls title at 6 p.m., marking the first time both Kelseyville squads have reached the finals of their own tournament in the same year since 2017.
“On the defensive end, everyone did the job,” Lopez said, citing solid contributions from the likes of Tyler Bryant and Max Hommer off the bench. “We played solid defense all night, we just couldn’t shoot the ball.”
With one notable exception, namely senior guard Kyle Watkins.
“He was our spark plug,” Lopez said of the three-year varsity veteran. “He found a way to get down inside and score.”
Watkins went 8-for-11 from two-point range, 1-for-2 on 3-pointers, and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line to finish with 21 points.
“He for sure was nailing it tonight,” Lopez said.
Kelseyville’s coach said he was at a loss to explain why the Knights struggled so much on offense.
“Probably the best ball movements we’ve had all year,” he said.
Gene Holdenried added nine points. No other Kelseyville player had more than four.
Neither team scored in double figures in each of the first three quarters. It was 7-7 after the opening period, 14-11 Kelseyville at halftime, and 23-19 Knights going to the final period.
Ferndale plays Cloverdale for third place Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
In other boys Stokes action Friday:
Upper Lake 54, Lower Lake 40
Landen Robinson and Connor Vogel scored 13 points apiece as the Upper Lake Cougars, trailing 21-19 at halftime, erupted for 33 points in the second half to beat the Lower Lake Trojans.
Upper Lake (3-2) meets Healdsburg for the consolation championship Saturday at 1:30 p.m. while Lower Lake (1-10) and Anderson Valley square off for seventh place at 10:30 a.m.
“Landen caught fire midway through the third quarter, getting fastbreaks and then hit two threes back-to=back,” Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said.
Robinson not only tied Vogel for team scoring honors, but he led the Cougars with seven steals.
“Connor and Jerod (Rosales) started dominating down low and it helped out after coming out slow and unfocused,” Arroyo said.
Rosales finished with 10 points.
“Our team played well in the first half, and we were up by two points at halftime,” Lower Lake head coach Anthony Farrington said. “We showed more hustle and did great in going after the boards, probably our best effort in getting boards since the start of the season. However, for the second half we lost our intensity and unfortunately missed a number of layups and easy shots, plus we stopped boxing out for offensive and defense purposes, which cost us the second half and the game.”
Ivan DeLeon led the Trojans with 10 points, Noah Hakala added eight, Hector Murrillo seven and Tucker Benson six.
“I am very proud overall as to how we played and competed,” Farrington said. “I continue to see some good improvement and development in our younger team.”
In other boys basketball action Friday:
Clear Lake 55, Corning 52
At Colusa, the Clear Lake Cardinals held off Corning in the winner’s semifinal round of the Colusa Tournament behind 17 points from Sawyer Smith, 15 from Zane McAuley and 10 from Jesse Hayes.
Clear Lake (6-4) draws Gridley in the championship game Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
“Tough and gritty win for the boys,” Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said. “We played tough defense all game. Our shots were not falling in the first half, but they hung in and stayed close.”
Swett 67, Middletown 56
At Crockett, the Middletown Mustangs fell in non-league action to Swett despite 19 points and 11 rebounds from Jon Hawkins, 13 points and seven rebounds from Anthony Bowerman, and 11 points and four assists from Bodhi Moore.
“Tough road game in a tiny gym,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said. “They (Swett) played excellent defense; I can’t take that away from them. We had way too many turnovers on misreads.”
Swett took a 39-24 lead into halftime.
Hawkins also had five assists as Middletown dropped to 7-3 on the season. The Mustangs are right back at it Saturday with a non-league road game against Sonoma Academy of Santa Rosa at 3 p.m.
Junior varsity
Colusa 55, Kelseyville 52
At Colusa, the Kelseyville Knights fell to Colusa in the winner’s semifinal round of the Colusa Tournament. Gordon Astrup scored 14 points to lead the Knights, Joey Watson added 11 and Jair Carrillo 10.
Kelseyville plays Las Plumas for third place Saturday at noon.
Ferndale 57, Clear Lake 51
At Cloverdale, the Clear Lake Cardinals fell to the Ferndale Wildcats in the opening round of the Cloverdale JV Tournament.
Noah Cleaver and Ayden Moreno each had 15 points for the Cardinals (1-5), who play two more games Saturday. Gael Moreno had 13 points.
“Right now, we’re too green to be able to execute at the crucial moments of the game,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “We’re getting better with each game we play as our guys gain more experience at the high school level.”
Added Cerezo, “We’re a very young team with only two sophomores and eight freshmen. All these close games will be good for us in the future. As the season progresses, I believe our guys will get the hang of it and it will start to click. When that happens, I believe these close games will start going in our favor.”