After 11-0 start to season, Lady Cougars lose to undefeated Windsor squad at Fort Bragg
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FORT BRAGG >> Even a full-strength Upper Lake High School varsity girls basketball team would have had trouble putting a dent in the Windsor Jaguars on Monday in the opening round of the Holiday Classic at Fort Bragg, a game matching two undefeated squads.
As things turned out, the Cougars were missing a key piece of the puzzle in junior Alyssa John, and the Jaguars rolled to a 60-18 victory, handing Upper Lake (11-1) its first loss of the season in resounding fashion. Windsor (11-0) led 16-5 after one quarter and 31-7 by halftime.
John missed the game because of a family emergency and may not be available for the entire tournament, according to Upper Lake head coach Raelene Cromwell, who said the understrength Cougars were completely overwhelmed by Windsor’s press defense.
“It was hard for us to break that,” Cromwell said.
Windsor turned multiple Upper Lake turnovers into easy fastbreak baskets, according to Cromwell.
Rylee Zimmerschied’s eight points, including a 3-pointer, led the Cougars, who draw Mendocino in Tuesday’s action at 11 a.m. Kaylin Smith added five points and Aimee Schaefers had three, which came on a 3-pointer.
“In the second half we were able to move the ball and break the press every now and then,” Cromwell said. “I told them just to work on what they know and play basketball.”
In other girls tournament action Monday:
Ukiah JV Tournament
Middletown 50, Willits 39
At Ukiah, Middletown scored the game’s first 11 points, part of a 16-5 first quarter, and went on to beat the Willits Wolverines in a first-round game at the Ukiah JV Tournament.
Emma Davis’ double-double of 10 points and 16 rebounds led the Mustangs (8-1), who play two more games Tuesday – against Windsor at 1:30 p.m. and against Ukiah at 6 p.m. under the round-robin format.
Middletown benefited from a balanced scoring attack. Besides Davis, Grace Williams, Chloe Pulido and Emma Jones all finished with nine points while Ally Cherry had eight. Williams just missed a double-double of her own as she led the team with 10 steals. Jolene Holley had eight rebounds.
Willits closed to 38-31 after three quarters before Middletown nailed down the win.
