Lower Lake wins consolation championship at Durham Tournament
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BOONVILLE >> Winning four games in two days, the Upper Lake High School varsity girls basketball team secured the championship in the second annual Sequoia Classic with a 66-50 victory over tournament host Anderson Valley on Saturday night at Anderson Valley High School.
Upper Lake, off to a 7-0 start this season, beat Laytonville 51-31 earlier in the day in the semifinals.
In the championship game against Anderson Valley, tournament MVP Rylee Zimmerschied put up 28 points, including two 3-pointers to go along with six rebounds, five steals and three assists. All-Tourney selection Alyssa John added 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Upper Lake had no shortage of contributors on offense as Aimee Schaefers just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, and Camila Martin had seven points and nine rebounds.
In the win over Laytonville, Zimmerschield finished with 20 points and seven steals while John had a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Both Schaefers and Kaylin Smith added double-digit rebound totals with 12 and 10, respectively.
Upper Lake hosts Clear Lake in a North Central League I game Tuesday.
In other girls tournament action Saturday:
Kelseyville 47, Oroville 30
At Oroville, Kelseyville limited Oroville to no more than eight points in any one quarter while beating the Tigers and completing a 3-0 championship run at the Duard Millet Tournament.
“Eleven out of our last 12 quarters we have held our opponent to single digits,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “The girls were tired after a long week. It took us a little bit to get going, but once we did, we really turned it on. We ran the offense really well tonight and had contributions from everyone.”
Mati Mateer led the Knights (7-1), winners of seven straight, with 14 points and seven rebounds, but also had five assists. All-Tournament selection AJ Wurm finished with 11 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists. Liz Erlandson added a season-best nine points as well as six rebounds, and Aubree Sperber chipped in another seven points.
“I could say a lot about just about every one of the girls, but our seniors, Mati, AJ and Liz had great games again,” Conrad said. “They are really leading us on both sides of the court. The team has started to turn the corner this weekend with the offense.”
Kelseyville faces a big league test Tuesday when it travels to Middletown, a battle of last season’s NCL I co-champions. Both teams are 1-0 in league play.
Lower Lake 50, Princeton 11
At Durham, Irianna Milano, Lily Milano and Mary Watson scored 10 points apiece as the Lower Lake Trojans won the consolation championship at the Durham Tournament with a lopsided victory over Princeton High School.
Irianna Milano and Lily Milano were named to the All-Tournament team as the Trojans improved to 3-4.
“We took the time tonight to work on some things we needed to address on offense,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “We worked the ball around and got plenty of game time for the whole team.”
Leanna Ortega added six points on a pair of 3-pointers and Aly Aguirre had a team-best six assists.
“Overall, after a long tournament we feel pretty good about our progress defensively,” Tubbs said. “We still can clean some things up in the shooting.”
Pierce 43, Clear Lake 33
At Arbuckle, Clear Lake fell to tournament host Pierce High School in the third-place game of the Natalie Corona Tournament.
Pierce pulled away in the fourth quarter after entering the period with a 27-23 lead. Clear Lake led 16-15 at halftime.
Faith McIntire just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds while freshman Amelie Davis turned in another strong overall effort with seven points, eight rebounds, eight steals, three assists and two blocks. Jazmin Wiebusch added nine points and five steals and Kam Cresto had nine rebounds to go along with her two points.
Clear Lake is 4-5 on the season. The Cardinals resume their league schedule Tuesday in Upper Lake.
Ukiah 53, Middletown 37
At Healdsburg, Middletown lost to the Ukiah Wildcats in the consolation championship game of the Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament.
Middletown (5-3) cut a 25-14 halftime deficit to three in the third quarter before running into foul trouble.
“Izzi (Hoogendoorn) got into foul trouble and had to sit for a bit in the third quarter, so that definitely did not help,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said of the sophomore, one of the Mustangs’ top players.
Hoogendoorn and another Middletown starter, Harley Holley, ended up fouling out in the fourth quarter.
“It was a rough one against a good Ukiah team,” Holt said. “There’s still things that I need to implement with them (Mustangs). We just need time. We like going to the REIBT tournament because I know we’ll see good competition.”
Holley led the Mustangs with 13 points while All-Tournament selection Autumn Clark added 12. Hoogendoorn had seven.
Middletown hosts Kelseyville in a battle of last season’s league co-champions Tuesday. Both teams bring 1-0 league records into the game.
Clear Lake 61, Upper Lake 12
Clear Lake 34, Lower Lake 25
At Lower Lake, the Clear Lake junior varsity girls basketball team beat Upper Lake and Lower Lake on Saturday to finish 3-0 and secure the championship in the Lower Lake JV Tournament.
Ava Gamble scored 22 points and Hailey Perez finished with 15 for the Cardinals (5-0) in their win over Upper Lake. Macie Snyder added seven points and Camara Wittman had six.
“The team showed up for this game with the same tenacity that they showed earlier in the day with the Trojans,” Clear Lake head coach Tony Farrington said, referring to a 34-25 win over a previously undefeated Lower Lake team earlier in the day. “Better ball movement, fewer turnovers and a great job executing our defense and grabbing boards.”
Added Farrington, “The best part of their performance in addition to the tournament win was the fact that every player got an opportunity to run the floor.”
In a 34-25 win over Lower Lake early Saturday, Cali Albaum led the Cardinals with 14 points and Gamble had eight.
“This was a tough mental game going up against the undefeated Trojans. The Trojans showed up with great hustle and tenacity, but our team was able to shift into gear today after playing flat last night (Friday).”
Darleen Benefield’s nine points and seven more from Samira Mendez led the Trojans.
“Morning games can be tough, and the girls came out flat and looked tired,” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Lackowski said. “We struggled with moving our feet on defense and had more turnovers than steals, which resulted in an end score we weren’t excited about.”
Lower Lake 35, Point Arena 26
Lower Lake bounced back later Saturday to clinch second place in the round-robin tournament with a win over Point Arena.
Benefield’s 15 points and a double-double from Eden Sparks (10 points, 13 rebounds) powered Lower Lake (7-1).
“We finally came alive in the second half,” Lackowski said. “Our girls got out of their heads and got back to playing the way we know they can. Shots still weren’t falling, but the overall drive was better. Samira Mendez and Layla Naredo worked hard on defense helping to slow down their main shooter.”
Sparks and Mendez were named to the All-Tournament team.
Kelseyville 30, River Valley 22
At Oroville, Kelseyville beat River Valley in the third-place game at the Duard Millet Tournament.
Ximena Herren scored 12 points with six steals, three rebounds and three assists for the Knights (5-4). Carly Gleason added 10 points and seven rebounds while Rilee Sperber had four points and 10 rebounds.
“We played really well as a team today,” Kelseyville head coach Liz Berry said. “We shared the ball, we transitioned up the court really well and we are definitely getting more confident as a team. These girls never hang their heads, and they push to the end in every single game. Every time they step out on the court they show so much improvement individually and as a team.”
