Clear Lake’s Jesse Hayes scores season-best 26 points in win over Upper Lake
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KELSEYVILLE >> A missed 3-pointer in the final seconds capped Kelseyville High School’s 46-43 loss to the Fortuna Huskies in a down-to-the-wire varsity boys basketball thriller Friday night at Kelseyville.
In a game that was close most of the way, the Knights (6-8) not only dropped their fourth straight game, but their fourth straight to a Humboldt-Del Norte League team (with prior losses to St. Bernard’s, Del Norte and Eureka).
That’s probably not the way Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez wanted to set the table for his team’s next game, a huge home contest Tuesday against the St. Helena Saints, who tied the Knights for the North Central League I championship a year ago, but that’s exactly the situation Kelseyville finds itself in going into the St. Helena game (the Saints were 12-0 entering their championship game Saturday at the Vern Piver Holiday Classic in Fort Bragg).
“We play a tough preseason schedule to prepare us for the tough league games,” Lopez said when asked about his team’s last four games. “This is a big one,” he said with an eye toward the St. Helena game.
St. Helena and Middletown are 2-0 in the early going of a 14-game league schedule while Kelseyville is 1-1 (the loss to Middletown), and a loss would drop the Knights two games back of the Saints.
Slow starts continue to hamper the Knights, and such was the case again Friday against Fortuna as the Huskies owned a 13-3 lead after one quarter.
“We have to overcome these slow starts,” Lopez said.
Defense wasn’t the problem this time. Instead, it was an offense that simply couldn’t find its groove until the second quarter.
Kelseyville rallied to within two points of Fortuna – 20-18 – by halftime. The two teams went to the fourth quarter tied at 33.
Kyle Watkins and Ryder Leary scored 13 points apiece to lead Kelseyville. Brock Barrick added nine points.
Kelseyville did win the junior varsity game, 54-42, behind 13 points, three blocks and three steals from Nick Arredondo, nine points and five rebounds from Jacob Amendola, and eight points and seven rebounds from Gordon Astrup.
In other boys basketball action Friday:
Clear Lake 67, Upper Lake 51
At Fort Bragg, Jesse Hayes scored a season-best 26 points while Sawyer Smith added 19 points as Clear Lake defeated the Upper Lake Cougars in the consolation semifinals of the Vern Piver Holiday Classic at Fort Bragg.
“Good win for the boys,” Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said. “We played well at times, but too many unforced errors. Jesse and Sawyer shot the ball well.”
Clear Lake evened its season record at 6-6 while Upper Lake dropped to 3-5.
“Upper Lake would make a run and we would answer with timely 3-point buckets,” Cory said. “We have lots to still clean up and improve on.”
Clear Lake plays Trinity for the consolation championship Saturday at 2 p.m. Upper Lake plays for seventh place at 11 a.m.
Upper Lake scoring was not reported.
