Fortuna hands Knights 47-29 setback in 2025-26 opener at Fortuna
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FORTUNA >> The team that end Kelseyville High School’s varsity girls basketball season a year ago with a 47-29 win in the opening round of the North Coast Section playoffs beat the Kelseyville Knights again on Saturday, this time in the 2025-26 season opener for both squads, 57-29, at Fortuna.
“We played pretty well in the first half,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “Fortuna played real aggressive man defense, and I thought we handled it as well as we could. I was pleased with our energy.”
Fortuna led 15-13 after one quarter and 34-23 at halftime. In the second half, the Huskies (1-0) limited the Knights (0-1) to just six points.
“The second half was a completely different story,” Conrad said. “Mental mistakes and missed shots did us in. It’s hard to win a game scoring six points in a half.”
Senior veterans AJ Wurm and Mati Mateer led the Knights with seven points apiece. Wurm led the Knights with six steals while Mateer pulled down a team-best 15 rebounds. Aubree Sperber added six points, Grace Hobbs added five points and seven rebounds, and Liz Erlandson had three points and four rebounds.
“We’ve only been with each other a short period due to two fall teams (volleyball and soccer) making playoff runs,” Conrad said.
Kelseyville hosts McKinleyville on Monday beginning with junior varsity action at 5 p.m. and the varsity to follow.
Junior varsity
Fortuna beat Kelseyville 61-25 in JV action. The Huskies also handed the Knights one of only two losses last season when Kelseyville went 20-2, winning its first 13.
“We are a brand-new team with all freshmen, so we are still figuring a lot of things out,” Kelseyville head coach Liz Berry said. “Fortuna is a very talented team and definitely a tough one to open the season with, but the girls did a lot of really good things.”
Brooke Poff and Carly Gleason led the Knights (0-1) with six points apiece, and Poff also had three steals. Rilee Sperber added five points and four rebounds, and Taylor Woods had four points.
