Trojans drop first-round game at Durham Tournament
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OROVILLE >> Mati Mateer’s basket with 12 seconds remaining secured Kelseyville 38-35 varsity girls basketball win over Orland on Thursday in the opening round of the Duard Millet Tournament in Oroville.
Kelseyville (5-1), a winner of five straight, plays Corning at 4 p.m. in Friday’s semifinals, the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship game.
The Knights outscored Orland 7-1 down the stretch to pull out the victory.
“We are still trying to find our way offensively, still struggling to find the net,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “But defensively the girls really respond and work hard. Seven of our last eight quarters we have held the opponent to single digits.”
The game was close the entire way. After a 5-5 first quarter, Kelseyville took a 15-12 lead into halftime. It was 29-28 in the Knights’ favor entering the fourth quarter.
“To finish this game, we ran our offense to perfection and used the entire (30-second) shot clock,” Conrad said.
Senior guard AJ Wurm led the Knights with 20 points and eight steals while Mateer finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three assists. Grace Hobbs added six points, four rebounds and two steals. Aubree Sperber pulled down seven rebounds.
In the tournament’s junior varsity bracket, Kelseyville defeated Corning 23-16 behind eight points, seven rebounds and three steals from Olivia Arredondo, and five points 12 rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block from Carly Gleason.
“The girls played really hard,” Kelseyville head coach Liz Berry said. “Defensively they show up every single game. We came out a little slow in the second half and had a hard time getting to the basket, but we got back in it in the fourth quarter and put the game away.”
Gabby Keyes added five points in the win while Brooke Poff had three points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists.
Kelseyville (4-3) plays Orland in the semifinals on Friday at 2 p.m.
In other girls tournament action Thursday:
Clear Lake 44, Maxwell 32
At Arbuckle, despite playing only a half, Faith McIntire pulled down 21 rebounds and scored 14 points, both team highs, to propel the Clear Lake Cardinals to a first-round win over Maxwell in the Pierce Tournament.
Clear Lake (4-3) takes on Pioneer at in the semifinals Friday at 6:30 p.m.
With the score tied at 24 after three quarters, Clear Lake outscored Maxwell 20-8 in the final period.
Amelie Davis, a freshman, finished with 13 points, eight steals, seven rebounds and a 3-pointer. Atiana Patino added seven points, including a 3-pointer. Kam Cresto pulled down nine rebounds and had three steals.
Durham 54, Lower Lake 39
At Durham, a slow start doomed the Lower Lake Trojans against Durham in the opening round of the Durham Tournament.
Lower Lake (2-4) draws Paradise in the consolation semifinals Friday at 4 p.m.
Durham led 13-2 after one quarter and 32-9 at halftime.
“Our intensity early was missing and missed assignments led to easy looks,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said.
Lower Lake responded with a much better second half as the Trojans outscored Durham 30-22.
“Turnovers in the first half were cut down drastically in the second half and ball movement and defense came alive,” Tubbs said. “We’re going to work on trying to get off to a better start and come out with more intensity early.”
With starter Jamiya Lee-Ayers out, Lily Milano picked up the slack with a team-best 10 points.
“Lily Milano played great minutes tonight filling some of the gaps we are missing with Lee-Ayers out,” Tubbs said.
Brooke Watson finished with seven points, Irianna Milano added five more, and Aly Aguirre and Mary Watson each had four.
While Lower Lake struggled with elements of its game at times, Tubbs said the Trojans’ effort was there for all four quarters.
“The one thing I can’t question at this point is this team’s heart,” he said. “They battle ‘til the last buzzer and compete with the best of their abilities.”
