Kelseyville, Middletown, both 7-1 in league play, square off Tuesday night in Kelseyville
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LOWER LAKE >> Pushing Kelseyville hard for three and a half quarters, the Lower Lake Trojans threw a scare the Knights’ way before falling 67-56 in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action Friday night in Lower Lake.
“They played well, they had only seven players, but they were unselfish and took it to us,” Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said of the young and rebuilding Trojans (0-8 league, 2-17 overall), who are without a league win in league play this season under first-year head coach Anthony Farrington. “You can definitely see the improvement from earlier in the season.”
“A great night for the Trojans despite losing to Kelseyville,” Farrington said. “We played hard, ran our offense, and we continued to get boards. Things are definitely starting to click for our team, and we continue to improve with every game played.”
Kelseyville (7-1, 12-8) remains tied with Middletown and St. Helena atop the league standings, and Friday’s contest against Lower Lake was the Knights’ final tuneup before they play both of those teams – home vs. Middletown on Tuesday, at St. Helena on Friday – next week.
“Contender’s week,” Lopez said with an eye toward his next two games, which will go a long way toward determining the outcome of this season’s league race.
Lower Lake did its best to play the spoiler’s role in regard to that league race, but the Knights finally were able to pull away midway through the fourth quarter. Until then, it was anyone’s game. Lower Lake led 13-12 after the opening period, trailed by just two at halftime – 30-28 – and was down 48-43 going to the fourth quarter. It was still a five-point game in the Knights’ favor with just 3:53 left when Sam Arredondo broke loose for a slam dunk that turned momentum in Kelseyville’s favor once and for all.
“He was the little energizer we needed,” Lopez said of the senior reserve. “That was the play that did it.”
Those were the only two points of the game for Arredondo, who is part of a deep Kelseyville bench that Lopez has made use of time and time again this season.
Ryder Leary, another of those bench players, finished with 14 points while yet another reserve, Tyler Bryant, added seven.
“Bryant did some good stuff for us,” Lopez said. “And Max (Hommer) and Ryder gave us a spark in the second quarter.”
Kyle Watkins, the Knights’ scoring leader with 17 points, also came through.
“Watkins really kept us in the game in the first half,” Lopez said.
Brock Barrick added 13 points as the Knights collected a sixth straight win.
Noah Hakala (18 points) and Brody Shields (12 points) scored in double digits for the Trojans while Germaine Cephus added eight points and Raijhier McKneely seven.
Farrington said the difference between his team’s play Friday and a league-opening 76-22 loss to the Knights on Dec. 10 in Kelseyville speaks for itself.
“Kelseyville was our first league game of the season, and we lost by 54 points,” Farrington said. “Tonight, we showed we can compete with one of the best teams in the league, which is quite a feat given we ran four sophomore and one freshman with a roster of seven players.”
Lower Lake returns to action Tuesday in Fort Bragg.
In junior varsity action, Kelseyville beat Lower Lake 75-30 behind 15 points from Gordon Astrup, 11 from Hugh O’Boyle and nine points apiece from Nick Arredondo, Joey Watson and Jacob Amendola.
Kelseyville is 8-0 in league play and 12-7 overall. Lower Lake is 0-8 in league.
In other boys basketball action Friday:
Middletown 84, Cloverdale 33
At Middletown, Bodhi Moore scored 27 points, one of five Middletown players to finish in double digits as the Mustangs routed the Cloverdale Eagles.
“We came out and played all four quarters tough,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said. “Stingy D and the fellas were flowing offensively. It was a good solid team W.”
Harrison Brown finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, Jon Hawkins (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Anthony Bowerman (10 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles, Willy Tadder added 10 points and Aron Bennett had six.
Middletown (7-1, 15-5) goes on the road Tuesday to play Kelseyville in a battle to remain atop the league standings. The Knights fell 61-50 to the Mustangs on Dec. 17 in Middletown, Kelseyville’s only league loss to date.
Middletown’s JVs also made quick work of Cloverdale, 70-44.
“We have been battling through sickness the past couple weeks,” Middletown head coach Andy Brown said. “We went into this game down three players, including our stud sophomore Valentin (Jimenez).”
Other Mustangs picked up the slack and then some, led by Nalu Johnson with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Cody Perez with 21 points, including four 3-pointers. Kolton Costlow added 12 points while Leland Pike finished with five points and 13 rebounds.
“Everyone stepped it up tonight, and we ran away with it a couple minutes into the fourth,” Brown said.
St. Helena 57, Clear Lake 48
At Lakeport, the St. Helena Saints maintained a share of the league lead with a victory over Clear Lake, their third win this season against the Cardinals.
“This was a hard-fought battle,” Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said. “They took a 12-point lead into halftime off a 26-point second quarter. We played good basketball in the second half. The boys never wavered and played their tails off.”
Zane McAuley topped the scoring chart with 21 points as the Cardinals fell to 4-4 in league play and 9-10 overall. AJ Bruch and Kaden Graham finished with seven points apiece.
Clear Lake hosts Upper Lake on Tuesday.
Clear Lake won the JV game, 77-71, behind a big night from Ayden Moreno and his 30 points.
St. Helena jumped out to a 13-0 lead before Clear Lake’s offense responded. A 16-2 run by the Cardinals put them in front, but St. Helena battled back to take the halftime lead.
“I told my guys given the way we started I’m happy only being down two at halftime,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “We outscored them in the second half 48-35. I’m proud of my guys for not quitting and bringing the energy. Even our guys on the bench were all engaged and were excited for their teammates.”
Added Cerezo, “Ayden had himself a game tonight on both sides of the ball. He was attacking and getting to the basket. I’m proud of my team for battling the whole game.”
Fort Bragg 65, Upper Lake 61
At Fort Bragg, James Beaux Stiritz scored 24 points, but the Upper Lake Cougars fell to the Timberwolves, a team they beat 67-52 on Dec. 10 in Upper Lake.
Delaney Allison finished with 17 points and Jerod Rosales had 12 for the Cougars (2-6, 5-9).
“Beaux, Delaney and Jerod fought hard on both ends of the floor, but we struggled to find buckets late, leading to us being down by two with 1:20 left,” Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said. “We had a few good looks but we couldn’t convert on a 3-pointer and our missed free throws didn’t help either. Fort Bragg really has improved and played great.
“It was a tough loss, but I’m proud of our efforts,” Arroyo added.
Upper Lake visits Clear Lake on Tuesday.
Fort Bragg also won the JV game, 49-38. TJ Malicay led the Cougars with 10 points while Mason Parker and Corbin Wooley each had six.
“I’m proud of the way they played tonight,” Upper Lake head coach Lupeli Faleagafulu said of his players. “We went with two new guys in the starting lineup and the guys stepped up and played well.”
Fort Bragg outscored Upper Lake 12-3 in the third quarter.
“We matched their play in every other quarter except for the third, which pretty much was the outcome of the game,” Faleagafulu said.
Upper Lake is 2-6 in league play.
