Upper Lake girls improve to 11-0 while winning South Fork Tournament
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KELSEYVILLE >> Playing a basketball powerhouse that won 30 games and a state championship two seasons ago and 29 games after a deep playoff run last season, the Kelseyville Knights couldn’t compete with the St. Bernard Crusaders on Saturday night in the championship game of the 53rd annual Stokes Basketball Tournament at Kelseyville High School.
Kelseyville simply couldn’t function against the Crusaders man press, which produced turnover after turnover and easy basket after easy basket until the Eureka team mercifully took it off early in the third quarter, by which point the Knights were staring at a 30-point deficit. St. Bernard went on to win 67-34 behind the outstanding play of tournament most valuable player Cali Baum, a sophomore point guard, and All-Tournament selection Samantha Sundberg, a junior forward.
“St. Bernard’s is a really good team,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “They move the ball well. They execute plays well and shoot the ball really well. We also had a really tough time with their full-court pressure defense. That essentially was the biggest factor. We just couldn’t figure out a good way to handle the press. We tried several different ways to break it, but the pressure was just too much for us.”
Kelseyville All-Tournament selection AJ Wurm, the Knights’ leading scorer with 14 points, was able to break the press a handful of times all by herself by dibbling the ball up the court and weaving her way through the pressure, but even Wurm had trouble going head to had with Baum, who is every bit as quick, creative with the ball and sure-handed as the senior Wurm.
Kelseyville scored the first two points of the game on a Wurm layup for its only lead. St. Bernard led 15-6 by quarter’s end, 37-14 at halftime and 55-24 after three quarters.
“I was really proud of the girls for continuing to fight and not just fold the towel and give in,” Conrad said. “That would have been the easy thing to do. I thought Mati (Mateer) really set a great example for the team. She didn’t quit at all. She kept fighting and giving a great effort.”
Mateer, a senior, made some great passes during the final two quarters while also holding her own under the basket. She finished with 13 points, six rebound and three steals, and likely would have made the All-Tournament team if the Knights would have received a second award – each of the eight teams in the Stokes field received one this year except the champion Crusaders, who had the MVP and one All-Tourney player.
The Knights suffered a blow late in the game when Yuri Montero went down with a knee injury.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed that it is not super serious,” Conrad said. “We already play with eight girls. It would be a huge hit losing Yuri to injury.”
Kelseyville hits the Christmas break at 9-3. The Knights are off until Jan. 6 when they host St. Helena in a North Central League I game.
In other Stokes action Saturday:
Ferndale 59, Middletown 52
Despite being down two players because of the flu, the shorthanded Middletown Mustangs played one of their best games of the season, rallying from as much as a 14-point deficit late in the third quarter to throw a scare at the Ferndale Wildcats in the third-place game.
Ferndale (8-2) had a 39-24 lead and was feeling pretty comfortable until the Mustangs (7-5) fought back. Mixing and matching her varsity players with a handful of junior varsity call-ups (to replace the sick varsity players), Middletown head coach Roxi Holt watched her team chip away at the Wildcats’ lead.
A 6-0 mini-run by Middletown, with Izzi Hoogendoorn turning a steal into a layup with two minutes remaining in the quarter, cut Ferndale’s lead to 39-31. After Ferndale scored, Jordyn Harbison, who had her best game of the season with 21 points, answered with a basket of her own. Harbison also hit two of three free throws at quarter’s end after being fouled attempting a 3-pointer, making it 41-35 entering the final period.
Middletown twice cut Ferndale’s lead to six points in the fourth quarter, finally getting as close as five, 46-41, when Thaly Rodriguez (10 points) hit the second of two free throws with 4:55 left in the game.
To its credit, Ferndale, which was certainly feeling the heat, answered with a huge shot as Dahlia Cantu-Mendez, on the floor after teammate Gianna Regli fouled out, buried a 3-pointer to make it 49-41.
Hoogendoorn (13 points) answered with a basket, but a 6-0 run by the Wildcats put the game away.
“Not a bad night for us, especially being without two post players,” Holt said. “We were undersized and had girls playing different positions. I brought up Grace Williams (freshman), who gave us great minutes.”
Added Holt, “Jordyn Harbison stepped up big time for us offensively tonight. Before the game started I told her she had one point last night in the Kelseyville game and that I needed her to be a scorer tonight, and she definitely answered.”
Hoogendoorn and Rodriguez also came through for the Mustangs, according to Holt.
“Izzi put up a double-double and got All-Tourney,” Holt said. “Thaly scored 10, which was also big for her. I was happy with the effort tonight under the circumstances. The girls never gave up. We ended the tourney playing better than the first game against Lower Lake. We need to just continue to build off that going into league.”
The one black mark for the Mustangs in the loss was 16 missed free throws.
“We lost by seven,” Holt said. “Free throws are crucial.”
Middletown is off until Jan. 6 when it visits Lower Lake for a North Central League I game. Middletown, St. Helena and Upper Lake are all tied with 2-0 league records headed into the Christmas break.
McKinleyville 52, Clear Lake 39
McKinleyville beat Clear Lake in the Stokes consolation championship game, dropping the Cardinals to 1-2 in tournament action and 5-8 on the season.
The Panthers pulled away in the second half after the two teams went to halftime tied 22-all. McKinleyville took a 42-30 lead into the fourth quarter.
Clear Lake All-Tournament selection Faith McIntire, a senior, finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots while freshman teammate Amelie Davis added 13 points, nine steals, four rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot. Kam Cresto had six points and seven rebounds.
The Cardinals are off until Jan. 6 when they host Fort Bragg in a league game.
Casa Grande 43, Lower Lake 28
A seventh-place game that began with plenty of promise for the Trojans quickly snowballed into another frustrating defeat.
Lower Lake (4-7) had its best shooting quarter of the season while jumping out to a 17-8 first-quarter lead against the Gauchos, but the game took an unfortunate U-turn for the Trojans when starter Lily Milano rolled her ankle early in the second quarter.
“Everything went south from there,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “We only suited up seven. When she went down we had six players. Trying to rotate six with no bugs to rotate out made for a tough day.”
After Milano left the game, the Trojans didn’t score again until late in the third quarter. Casa Grande took a 35-22 lead into the fourth quarter.
Irianna Milano finished with 11 points, Mary Watson added six and All-Tournament selection Leanna Ortega had five. Khaya Chaney pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
Lower Lake returns from the holiday break to host Middletown in a league game Jan. 6.
Upper Lake 46, Laytonville 29
At Mirando, Upper Lake beat Laytonville to win the South Fork Tournament.
The Cougars improved to 11-0 on the season behind the play of tournament most valuable player Aimee Schaefers and All-Tourney selection Rylee Zimmerschied.
Alyssa John led the Cougars with 22 points while Zimmerschied had 15.
