Kelseyville boys beat Fort Bragg 66-60 in league finale, await word on section playoffs
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KELSEYVILLE >> Their league title dreams still smoldering in the ashes after a Tuesday forfeit ended any chance of repeating as North Central League I champions, the Kelseyville Knights re-dedicated themselves to a higher purpose Thursday night while beating the visiting Fort Bragg Timberwolves 66-60 in the league and regular-season finale for both teams.
Celebrating senior night – 11 of the Knights’ 12 players are seniors – Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said his squad, still stinging from a decision by the Kelseyville Unified School District to forfeit a game with Cloverdale that was made without any input from its coach, is looking forward to proving to those around the county, and especially those in the district office, that Kelseyville’s program deserved better than to have a proverbial ton of bricks dropped on its head without due process.
The district’s forfeiture ruling came down Tuesday morning after Kelseyville team members circulated a distasteful and disrespectful photo on the Internet following a win Feb. 7 against archrival Clear Lake in Lakeport.
The unsportsmanlike act led to the forfeiture even though not all of the team’s 12 players appeared in or participated in the circulation of the offending photo, according to Lopez. The resulting forfeit loss knocked Kelseyville out of a first-place with Middletown and St. Helena atop the league standings.
“They made a mistake, I don’t deny that,” Lopez said of the players who were responsible for the photo being posted online. “But I feel like a forfeit was excessive. We could have still played the (Cloverdale) game with the varsity players who were not responsible and with JV players we could call up.”
Lopez said that option was never even considered even though the JV players, who had already won their own league title, were willing to come up to a man.
“Not to give the JV players that option was a mistake,” Lopez said.
And while there was no guarantee that the remaining varsity players and the JV call-ups would have beaten Cloverdale even if a game had taken place, Lopez said the Knights deserved the chance to find out, but they never got it.
What’s worse, according to Lopez, is that he was never informed about the forfeiture until it had already been decided.
“I got a call at 8:30 in the morning letting me know,” Lopez said. “Players and parents started calling me.”
Word of the forfeit appeared on the Kelseyville Unified School’s District webpage.
While the forfeiture fallout has been a tough pill for the Kelseyville sports community to swallow, Lopez said it will not affect a “Kelseyville basketball program that is only going to get stronger because of it.”
In fact, Lopez said that the Knights, who are applying for an at-large berth in next week’s North Coast Section playoffs, relish the opportunity of returning to the court for the postseason.
“I’d hate to be any team that faces us in the playoffs because we’ve got something to prove,” Lopez said. “Kelseyville basketball will not be tarnished by this. We’ve built a program to be proud of, a strong program. The kids make a mistake, something they’ll have to love with and grow with.”
The Knights received plenty of healing Thursday night as a large crowd packed the gym to witness senior night and the team’s victory over Fort Bragg, which left the Knights at 11-3 in league play, one forfeit loss behind co-champions Middletown and St. Helena in the final league standings.
“It was pretty packed,” Lopez said of the gym. “There was a lot of positive energy flowing, which was good to see (after the events of earlier in the week). It was a good moment for the kids in front of their fans.”
Kyle Watkins led the Knights with 15 points, Tyler Bryant and Brock Barrick each had nine, Sam Arredondo finished with eight and Adam Astrup seven as Kelseyville completed the regular season at 16-10.
“No other NCL I team is better suited to make a run in the playoffs,” Lopez said. “We played a tougher schedule than anyone else.”
Kelseyville’s JV team closed out a 14-0 league run earlier in the evening with a 61-40 win over Fort Bragg. Joey Watson and Gordon Astrup finished with 12 points apiece, Jacob Amendola added nine and Nick Arredondo eight.
The Knights went 18-7 overall.
In other boys action Thursday:
St. Helena 71, Upper Lake 38
At St. Helena, the St. Helena Saints clinched a league co-championship with a lopsided victory over the Upper Lake Cougars in the league and regular-season finale for both teams.
St. Helena (12-2, 22-3) needed the win to gain a share of the title after Middletown (12-2) closed out its regular season Wednesday with a home win over Clear Lake. It was one of the most successful regular seasons in Saints history, and it marked the second straight year St. Helena has earned a share of the league title – the Saints tied Kelseyville last year.
Landen Robinson’s 16 points, including four 3-pointers, led the Cougars (4-10, 7-13), while Connor Vogel added 10 points.
“Tough way to end the season with back-to-back games against the league champions (Middletown and St. Helena), Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said. “We might have run out of gas because with came out with no energy. They pressed us hard, and we couldn’t break it with our starters.”
Added Arroyo, “We experimented and tried out a young lineup featuring Connor. He was out there with TJ Malicay (freshman), who got pulled up for our final game, Gage Faalelea, Landen Robinson and Wyatt Hallman. Perhaps a glimpse of next year’s squad. They came out with great defense and were moving the ball great.”
Malicay had only two points in his varsity debut, but he did dish out six assists and had a “handful of steals in a limited number of minutes,” according to Arroyo.
“Connor left everything out on the floor,” Arroyo said. “I’m upset it didn’t go as well for our other seniors because they put a lot of hard work in this year and truly grew from the first day we took over. I’m proud of all they did this year and know they’re all going to do great things after this. It’s great to see the young guys go to work and show that next year we’re going to be a team to contend with.”
St. Helena edged Upper Lake 60-59 in JV action. Antario Wyman finished with a team-best 16 points as the Cougars closed out their season 4-10 in the league standings. Mason Parker added 16 points while Alan Alvarado, Shaun Way and TJ Malicay finished with eight points apiece.
“We let one get away,” Upper Lake head coach Lupeli Faleagafulu said. “We were able to control the paced of the game, maintaining the lead throughout, but they had the last run, scoring seven points in the last two minutes of the game.”
Added to Faleagafulu, “Kudos to my guys for playing hard. It was a tough environment to play in, but we made a game of it.”
Cloverdale 60, Lower Lake 49
At Cloverdale, freshman guard Jaxson Randolph scored 28 points to lead the Cloverdale Eagles to a season-closing victory over the Lower Lake Trojans.
Lower Lake, under the direction of first-year head coach Anthony Farrington, finishes 0-14 in league and 2-24 overall.
“it’s been very rewarding,” Farrington said of his work with a young and rebuilding Lower Lake squad. “We’ve come a long way in a short period of time. There was some frustration, but we’re no longer getting blown out by teams.”
Farrington, a star player for the Clear Lake Cardinals in the late 1980s, said he hopes to return next season when Lower Lake returns all but two players, including standout freshman Noah Hakala who was unavailable on Thursday (trip to Disneyland).
“We only had six guys tonight and that limited what we could do,” Farrington said. “We tried to put on a zone press, but we just couldn’t get into it. We had a hard time rebounding as well. We’ve gotten killed on the boards in almost every game. Boxing out is something we’re still learning how to do.”
Even with a minimal number of players, the Trojans played with Cloverdale nearly the entire way. The Eagles led 12-11 after one quarter, the game was tied 25-all at halftime, and Cloverdale took a 40-35 lead into the final period.
There were eight lead changes in the first half and nine overall.
It was still a single-digit lead for the Eagles (6-8, 12-14) until Vann Randolph sank a pair of free throws with 1:48 remaining to give the Eagles a 58-47 lead.
Luke Campbell, playing his final high school game, finished with a team-best 18 points for the Trojans while Brody Shields added 13 points and Raijhier McKneeley eight.
Cloverdale won the JV game 66-59. The Eagles end up 9-5 in the league standings to Lower Lake’s 0-14.
Lower Lake scoring was not reported.
