Kyle Watkins scores 23 points in losing cause; Kelseyville to apply for NorCal at-large berth
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KELSEYVILLE >> After a barnburner of a first half, the Kelseyville Knights struggled to match Sonoma Valley’s offensive output and fell 76-61 to the Dragons in the North Coast Section Division 5 third-place game Friday night in Kelseyville
Kelseyville (18-12) could have locked up a bid in next week’s NorCal playoffs with a victory against Sonoma Valley (17-15), which was playing its fourth straight road game, but will now try to reach the state tournament as an at-large team.
“We’ve submitted paperwork for an at-large berth,” Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez. “I hope we make it.”
The NorCal field in all divisions will be announced Sunday. If Kelseyville makes it, there’s no telling what division it could end up in, who it will be playing or where.
“We don’t care,” Lopez said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we came away with a home game?”
The Knights certainly had the homecourt advantage on Friday night, Kelseyville fans packing the house, and the first half had supporters of both teams pretty excited.
“It was fun, we were both going up and down the court,” Lopez said.
Kelseyville held a 20-18 advantage after one quarter and Sonoma took a 40-38 lead into halftime, jumping ahead in the final seconds of the second quarter on Dalan Lopata’s putback basket.
The running gun battle in the first half saw the Dragons open the second quarter with a 9-0 run for a 27-20 lead, but 3-pointers by Sebastian Chavez and Tyler Bryant quickly got the Knights right back into the game. They briefly recaptured the lead on a Gene Holdenried 3-pointer, putting them up 36-35, before Sonoma Valley pushed back in front 38-36. The final of Kyle Watkins’ 15 first-half points tied the game at 38 before Sonoma moved ahead just before the half.
Whereas the Dragons opened the second quarter with a run and the Knights quickly recovered, the same thing didn’t happen during a decisive third quarter when the Dragons opened with an 11-1 run for a 51-39 lead. Kelseyville would never get closer than nine points the rest of the way.
“The third quarter is what killed us,” Lopez said. “We couldn’t rebound; we couldn’t control the ball.”
Winning the battle on the boards helped the Knights stay right with the Dragons in the first half, even taking the lead at times, but the Sonoma Valley team did a much better job boxing out over the final two quarters.
“We had some turnovers in the first half, too, but they capitalized on them in the third quarter,” Lopez said.
Sonoma Valley’s offense also hit the Kelseyville defense from all angles and in all ways, according to Lopez.
“They had five guys score in double figures,” he said.
Kelseyville had just one – senior Kyle Watkins – who finished with 23 points, pushing to him to 1,100 for his career. Hudson Giarritta, a senior forward, led the Dragons with 24 points.
“He really outworked us,” Lopez said of Giarritta. “He and Kyle went toe to toe all game.”
Giarritta had plenty of help from Lopata (13 points), Grayson Sanders (13 points), Vinny Girish (12 points) and Connor Cooper (10 points).
Kelseyville’s scoring fell way off after Watkins’ 23 points. Chavez finished with nine, all on 3-pointers, Holdenried added eight and Bryant five.
Sonoma Valley had as much as a 23-point lead in the fourth quarter as the Knights continued to struggle on offense and defense. Two free throws by Watkins earlier in the final period made it a 62-51 game, and the Knights didn’t score again until it was 74-51. Max Hommer hit a pair of free throws at that point while junior varsity call-up Nick Arredondo followed with a 3-pointer – Kelseyville’s first basket of the quarter. A basket by Hommer and a 3-pointer by JV call-up Jair Carrillo accounted for the Knights’ final points.
“In the first half the guys were moving the ball and looking for scoring,” Lopez said of the Knights. “It’s almost like we went into a shell in the third quarter, and we never came out of it. I don’t know why. They looked ready coming out of halftime.”
While Lopez is hoping to play at least one more game with his senior-dominated squad, he said if the Knights don’t receive an at-large berth into the NorCals on Sunday that he’s still proud of his team’s many accomplishments this season, which include playing (to this point) four playoff games.
“It’s unheard of us to play four playoff games,” he said. “It shows that we have been successful, and we keep pushing our standards to a higher level. It’s something for the new guys to chase.”
As for his many seniors, Lopez said everything they’ve done for the school’s athletic program in multiple sports speaks for itself.
“They definitely reloaded our program with talent in football, basketball and baseball. They’ve set standards for all those sports,” Lopez added.
The Knights won the outright North Central League I championship in football this season and finished third in this season’s NCL I basketball race, a late forfeit loss costing them a share of a second straight league championship. Many of the basketball team’s seniors also have been instrumental in leading the Knights to back-to-back undefeated league championships in baseball (2023 and 2024).
“It’s one talented group,” Lopez said.
TEAM NOTES: The 2022-23 Upper Lake girls and the 2019-20 Clear Lake boys were the last two county basketball teams to reach the NorCals. Both made it to the second round (quarterfinals) … The last time two county teams made the NorCals in the same season (Middletown’s boys are the other candidate) was in 1988-89 when both the Clear Lake boys and girls teams made it. In fact, those 1988-89 Clear Lake teams played a NorCal doubleheader at home in the first round (the boys lost and the girls went on to reach the NorCal finals against Menlo) … With exactly 1,100 career points, Watkins now ranks 35th on the list of the county’s career scoring leaders. According to Lopez, he played exactly one game as a JV before being called up to the varsity his freshman season. One more effort like Friday night would put him around 31st on the list. He moved past three other Kelseyville standouts with his 23 points against Sonoma Valley, jumping over Paul Borghesani (1,077), Jeremy Linnell (1,080) and Paul Olson (1,086). Another Kelseyville alum, Stephanie Kencke, is just ahead of him at 1,111 … Reflecting on his team’s loss Friday night, Lopez said, “That’s the first time a team has out-run this season. I think tired legs finally caught up to us in that second half.”
