53rd annual Stokes Tournament tips off at Kelseyville High School
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KELSEYVILLE >> Two days after they met in a North Central League I varsity girls basketball game in Middletown, the Middletown Mustangs and Kelseyville Knights posted first-round wins Thursday in the opening round of the 53rd annual Stokes Tournament at Kelseyville High School, setting up another showdown between the two county rivals Friday in the winner’s semifinal round at 6:30 p.m.
Middletown (7-3) beat Lower Lake 39-35 while Kelseyville knocked off Clear Lake 48-36 during Thursday’s action.
Other first-round winners in the Stokes girls bracket were Ferndale, 52-36 over McKinleyville, and St. Bernard, 55-26, over Casa Grande.
St. Bernard will play Ferndale Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the other winner’s semifinal
Middletown 39, Lower Lake 35
Middletown and Lower Lake went to the fourth quarter tied at 25-25 before the Mustangs pulled away, hitting several key throws late in the game to hold off the Trojans (4-5), who they’ll face twice more later this season in league play.
“Lower Lake being in foul trouble helped us at the end there,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said. “We were able to shoot some free throws.”
Jordyn Harbison’s 11 points paced the Mustangs while Izzi Hoogendoorn added eight and Sarah Fetters six.
“Still working to find our rhythm shooting, but effort was there until the end,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said.
Olivia Guralas added four points and a team-high nine rebounds for Lower Lake. The Trojans play Clear Lake in the consolation semifinals Friday at 9:30 a.m.
Kelseyville 48, Clear Lake 36
Clear Lake’s Faith McIntire scored 13 points, including career point No. 800, and also had 19 rebounds and six blocked shots, but it was 24 points from AJ Wurm that powered the Kelseyville Knights to the win.
Kelseyville outscored Clear Lake (4-7) by a 20-7 margin in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory, and three straight steals and layups by Wurm, ignited the comeback win.
“Rough and tumble game,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “Lots of body contact, lot of fouls.”
Added Conrad, “With about six minutes left in the fourth, AJ took over and got our entire student section in an uproar. She had three consecutive steals that led to transition layups for her. That seemed to settle us down. From there we started to take better care of the basketball, running our offense and ran down the clock.”
Wurm and Aubree Sperber hit a handful of clutch free throws down the stretch, according to Conrad.
Wurm finished with seven steals while Mati Mateer added eight points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Sperber and Grace Hobbs had seven points apiece.
Amelie Davis and Jazmin Wiebusch scored seven points each for Clear Lake. The Cardinals play Lower Lake in the consolation semifinals Friday at 9:30 a.m.
Upper Lake 50, Willits 46 (second round)
Upper Lake 41, Hoopa 43 (first round)
At Miranda, the Upper Lake Cougars beat Hoopa and Willits in the opening rounds of the Gene Cotter Memorial Tournament, running their season record to 10-0.
In a first-round game against Hoopa, Alyssa John powered Upper Lake with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Rylee Zimmerschied added 13 points and Aimee Schaefers seven. Schaefers also led Upper Lake with 13 rebounds.
Camila Martin added nine rebounds and two points.
In a second-round game against Willits, John finished with another double-double – 13 points and 11 rebounds, including three 3-pointers – as the Cougars advanced to the championship game Saturday at 3 p.m. against an opponent to be announced. Upper Lake will meet Friday’s pool winner, either South Fork, Laytonville or Point Arena.
Zimmerschied added 12 points, five assists and four rebounds in the win over Willits while Schaefers had nine points and nine rebounds.
