Kelseyville, Clear Lake secure North Central League I victories
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CLOVERDALE >> Cali Schnabl sank two free throws with 14 seconds remaining to snap a 38- all tie and lift the Kelseyville Knights to a big 40-38 win over the Cloverdale Eagles on Thursday night I Cloverdale.
The win keeps Kelseyville (11-2 league, 16-8 overall) tied with Middletown for first place atop the league standings going to the final game of the season. Kelseyville travels to Fort Bragg (9-4), a winner of six straight, on Thursday. If the Knights prevail, they’ll finish no worse than league co-champions. If they lose, Middletown, which hosts Clear Lake on Friday, clinches a co-championship and can win the outright title with a victory over the Cardinals.
“We did not shoot well all night, other than the first quarter,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “And we were 9-for-18 on free throws. Luckily, when it counted, Cali got fouled with 14 seconds left in the game. Cali calmly stepped up and hit the two biggest free throws of our season. It won the game.”
Kelseyville switched up defense in the final seconds and forced a Cloverdale turnover.
It was a costly win for the Knights on at least one count. Starter Briana Davis, a senior, sustained a knee injury in the fourth quarter and had to leave the game. Her status for the Fort Bragg game is up in the air.
“We are a different team without her on the floor and Thursday is obviously a must-win game for us in another real tough environment,” Conrad said.
As of Wednesday morning, Conrad said Davis had “slight swelling and pain” in the knee. “We are keeping her out of practice today obviously and hoping for the best for Thursday and beyond. Her health is the biggest concern. Keeping our fingers crossed that she might be able to go for us.”
The Knights are promoting Garce Hobbs from the junior varsity squad to help out in the event Davis is unable to go against Fort Bragg.
Mati Mateer’s 14 points and 14 rebounds helped turn back a Cloverdale team that was more than willing to play the spoiler’s role in the league race.
“Foul trouble again cost us,” Cloverdale head coach Mac Butler said. “We had costly turnovers the last two minutes.”
Amara Galvan’s 13 points led the Eagles (8-5, 11-12). The senior needs 13 points in the team’s regular-season finale Thursday at home against Lower Lake to reach 1,000 for her career.
Ashlyn (AJ) Wurm finished with nine points and six steals for the Knights while Schnabl added seven points, six steals and four rebounds. Before she left the game, Davis had 13 rebounds, five blocks, three steals and three points.
Conrad said it’s the first time, either as a coach or during his high school playing days at Kelseyville, that he’s won a game in Cloverdale.
Kelseyville’s JV team had a bye as the Eagles are not fielding a JV team this season.
In other girls action Tuesday:
Clear Lake 44, Lower Lake 39
At Lakeport, the Clear Lake Cardinals celebrated senior night with a win over Lower Lake, avenging a 45-42 league loss at Lower Lake earlier this season.
“Rough night shooting, left a lot of free points at the free-throw line,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “We were down 10 with three minutes to go and got it down to three with 11 seconds left and had to foul after not getting the steal.”
Brooke Watson finished with 12 points for Lower Lake (4-9, 8-16), including three 3-pointers, while Brooke Benson added 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
“It was a physical game between then teams,” Tubbs said. “Clear Lake shot 32 free throws. My girls fought through the adversity, just couldn’t make any runs early enough to matter.”
Emily Gersalia had a big night for the Cardinals (3-10, 6-16) with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Faith McIntire also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, Karsyn Greer added eight points and Kayla Billig had seven.
The game was close throughout. Clear Lake led 9-6 after one quarter, 16-15 at halftime and 30-25 through three quarters.
Lower Lake closes out its season Thursday in Cloverdale. Clear Lake’s final game is Friday in Middletown.
Lower Lake won the JV game 55-33 behind 21 points from Leanna Ortega and 11 each from Madelyn Garner and Khaya Chaney.
“Great way to end the season,” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Wiley said. “We went into halftime tied and had some great defensive moments that lit a fire during the second half. We’ve always been a defensive team, and our 26 steals prove that.”
Lower Lake went 9-3 in league play and 16-4 overall.
