Nyejzniya Krohn’s big game helps lift K’ville girls to crucial road win over Fort Bragg
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FORT BRAGG >> Their league championship hopes listing to starboard at halftime, the Kelseyville Knights, led by Nyejzniya Krohn, righted the ship with a 22-7 third quarter Thursday night and clinched no worse than a tie for the North Central League I varsity girls basketball title with a 51-43 win over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in Fort Bragg.
The Knights (12-2 league, 17-8 overall) won’t know until Friday night if the league title is theirs alone or if they are sharing it with the Middletown Mustangs (11-2), who close out their schedule at home against Clear Lake (3-10). What they do know is that they’re advancing to the North Coast Section playoffs next week with a league banner in hand. The section will release the playoff fields in all divisions Sunday.
“We found ourselves down by 11 (26-15) at the half,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “We talked at the break about not being done. This is why we have put in so much hard work. For this moment. Fight to the end. The girls responded with a 22-7 third quarter.”
Playing their second tough road game in a row to close out league play – the Knights won 40-38 on Tuesday in Cloverdale – and without a key starter, Briana Davis (knee ligament sprain), in the lineup Thursday, the Knights needed someone to step up and that someone turned out to be senior center Nyejzniya Krohn, who answered the challenge with 15 points, 14 rebounds, five steals and two blocks.
“Nyejzniya played her game of the year,” Conrad said. “And what a time to deliver. She was so big for us on the glass and getting free for close buckets.”
Added Conrad, “Nyejzniya, Olivia (Hommer) and Mati (Mateer) just cleaned the glass all night long, but especially in the second half. Olivia and Mati really stepped up and contributed in every aspect of the game. We started our run in the third while AJ (Wurm) was on the bench in foul trouble. AJ and Cali (Schnabl) also had great games. They were both so steady in the trap break as well as putting extra pressure while we extended the trap.”
Wurm finished with 11 points while Mateer took at a run at double-double herself with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
“As the final buzzer sounded the whole team just freaked out,” said Conrad, the Knights’ first-year coach. “The celebration was on. We had a huge team hug and some yelling. This was such a rewarding game and season. We have come so far together.”
Far indeed. Kelseyville opened league play way back on Dec. 10 with a 27-26 loss at Lower Lake. The Knights have gone 16-4 since that league-opening setback, including 12-1 in league play, the only loss a 50-47 setback at Middletown on Jan. 28.
“And I actually loved to say how awesome of a team we are,” Conrad said. “Bri goes down, we could have folded, but instead the girls raised their chins, had the next-girl-up mentality and fought until the end. I’m so proud to coach this incredible group of young ladies.”
Kelseyville trailed Fort Bragg 8-4 after one quarter. Earlier this season at Kelseyville, the Knights defeated the Timberwolves 54-42. Fort Bragg (9-5, 14-12) had won six straight entering Thursday’s game. Now it’s the Knights that are on a bit of a roll as they’ll take a five-game winning streak into the sectional playoffs.
Grace Hobbs, called up from Kelseyville’s league-championship junior varsity team to beef up the bench with Davis out, finished with six points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Hommer ended up with 11 rebounds, six steals and four points.
Kelseyville’s JV team closed out a 12-0 league run with a 59-12 victory over Fort Bragg. Aubree Sperber’s 16 points led the Knights, who close out the season at 22-2 overall. Hobbs had 12 points in the win and Kendra Devriews 11 while Riley Hanson pulled down a team-best 15 rebounds to go along with six points. Yuri Montero added another six points. Jordyn Wurm grabbed 11 rebounds.
“We finished out the season with everyone seeing a lot of playing time,” Kelseyville first-year head coach Liz Berry said. “I am so dang proud of this team. All season long they have worked hard and played together as a team. It wasn’t very often that we talked about our record as a team, that’s never what it was about for these girls.”
Added Berry, “We really just took one game at a time, and they were just excited to be out there playing together. It’s not every often you get to witness a team that has this much talent and cohesiveness, and I just feel really lucky I get to be a small part of their story coaching them this year.”
In other girls action Thursday:
Cloverdale 59, Lower Lake 36
At Cloverdale, Cloverdale senior guard Amara Galvan scored her 1,000th career point late in the third quarter as the Eagles knocked off the Lower Lake Trojans in the league and regular-season finale for both teams.
The Eagles (9-5, 12-12) overall will apply for an at-large berth in next week’s North Coast Section playoffs while Lower Lake’s season is now complete. The Trojans went 4-10 in league and 8-17 overall.
“I thought our defense did a pretty decent job in the first half,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “They (Eagles) shot the ball really well in the second half, knocked down a lot of good shots.”
Cloverdale led 11-6 after one quarter, 29-15 at halftime and 43-26 going to the final period.
Galvan needed 13 points to reach 1,000. She was three points shy of the milestone with 1:01 left in the third quarter when she knocked down a 3-pointer in front of two Lower Lake defenders. Play was briefly halted at that point so that she could celebrate her accomplishment with teammates. Galvan finished the game as Cloverdale’s leading scorer with 15 points.
Aly Aguirre scored a team-best 10 points for the Trojans, including two 3-pointers, while Brooke Watson added eight points.
While it was a tough season for Tubbs and the Trojans, Lower Lake’s veteran coach said better days are ahead. Along with his returning players next season, Tubbs will inherit quite a bit of talent from Lower Lake’s 16-4 JV squad, which went 9-3 in league play.
“Next season there should be a lot more upside,” Tubbs said. “We’ll be three deep at every position. The hardest part will be getting them all playing time.”
Cloverdale’s future is a bit murkier. The Eagles lose five of their nine players to graduation and did not field a JV team this season because of a lack of numbers.
Besides Galvan’s 15 points, Alexis Jimenez added 11, Camryn Donahoo had nine, Gisselle Bucio eight and Emme Reasoner seven.
St. Helena 58, Upper Lake 38
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars paid tribute to seniors Ashlyn Rhodes, Kali Minnis, Naomi Poe, Jacqueline Marcks and Theresa Cromwell before taking the court and falling to St. Helena (6-8, 11-13) in their final game of the season.
Rhodes led the Cougars (1-13, 6-16) with 10 points, Poe added eight and Aimee Schaefers had seven. Camila Martin and Rylee Zimmerschied finished with five points apiece.
St. Helena forfeited the JV game to Upper Lake because it did not have enough players to field a team.
