Understrength Kelseyville girls team beats McKinleyville 34-30 for first win
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KELSEYVILLE >> Magnificent seven indeed.
Suiting up only seven players and with one starter unavailable Monday night, the Kelseyville High School varsity girls basketball team held off a numerically and vertically superior McKinleyville Panthers squad 34-30 in non-league action at Kelseyville.
Senior guard AJ Wurm never left the floor for the Knights and her time on the hardwood wasn’t wasted as she finished with 22 points, four assists and nine steals. She had a hand in 30 of the team’s 34 points, including two clutch free throws in the final seconds that sealed the victory.
Kelseyville (1-1) made smart use of the possession clock late in the game to limit McKinleyville’s scoring opportunities.
“Heck of a team effort tonight,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “Kind of an ugly win, but we’ll definitely take it.”
The two teams were never separated by much. McKinleyville (1-1) led 12-9 after one quarter. It was 16-16 at halftime and 26-26 through three quarters. Two uncontested layups by Wurm gave Kelseyville (1-1) a 30-26 lead in the fourth quarter. The Panthers trailed 30-28 and 32-30 before Wurm’s free throws with 23.1 seconds left sealed the victory.
“All seven of our girls absolutely gave every ounce of effort they had,” Conrad.
Grace Hobbs finished with eight points and five steals, Kylee Denham had two points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals, Liz Erlandson added one point, nine steals and eight rebounds, Yuri Montero scored one point, and Aubree Sperber had four steals and three rebounds.
“It was a very physical game against a much bigger team and we just dug in and accepted that it was gonna bee a fight. Liz Erlandson absolutely played her butt off. She had a great night. She played so big for us, giving away a lot of size to the other team. We don’t win without her tonight.”
Denham, a first-year player coming off a strong season for the Knights’ soccer team, also helped Kelseyville fight off McKinleyville, according to Conrad.
“She blocked shots, got rebounds, ran the floor and was always in the right spot defensively,” Conrad said.
“Obviously, AJ carried us offensively,” Conrad said. “Don’t want to overlook her contributions. On a night when we were missing Mati Mateer, everybody had to step up their game, and I thought everyone did in different aspects.”
Kelseyville returns to action Thursday against Casa Grande at 5:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Sutter Classic in St. Helena.
Junior varsity
The Kelseyville junior varsity squad also evened its season record at 1-1 with an up-and-down 46-44 victory over McKinleyville. The Knights built an 11-point lead in the third quarter before the Wolverines stormed back with a 17-0 run to go up 35-29.
The Panthers carried a 37-33 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Knights rallied, pushing ahead to stay 44-43 with 2:25 left in the game.
Paelynn Beall finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals while Carly Gleason added 13 points and four rebounds. Other leaders were Brooke Poff with seven points and five steals, Rilee Sperber with six points, and Ximena Herren with five points, six steals and five rebounds.
