Kelseyville, Lower Lake knock off previously unbeaten teams while 4-0 Mustangs win
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KELSEYVILLE >> Scoring a season-high number of points, the Kelseyville High School varsity girls basketball team knocked the Upper Lake Cougars out of a first-place tie atop the North Central League I standings with a 58-37 victory Friday night in Kelseyville.
Upper Lake (3-1 league, 13-3 overall) began the night tied with Middletown and St. Helena for first place in the NCL I standings, but the Cougars and St. Helena both lost (the Saints at Lower Lake).
“The girls had two really good practice days after loss (to St. Helena) on Tuesday,” Kelseyville head coach Tim Conrad said. “We talked about still being in the hunt and how ever game mattered. We had a good game plan for what we though Upper Lake does.”
AJ Wurm’s 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds and eight steals helped Kelseyville improve to 2-2 in the league standings and 10-4 overall. She had plenty of help from teammates Aubree Sperber, who had 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and five rebounds; Grace Hobbs, who had 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals; Mati Mateer, who had eight points, six rebounds and two steals; and Liz Erlandson, who had six points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Kelseyville led by double digits nearly the entire second half. The Knights outscored the Cougars in every quarter.
“Our defense hurt us tonight,” Upper Lake head coach Raelene Cromwll said. “We weren’t able to adjust to their offense.”
Alyssa John’s 17 points, including four 3-pointers, paced the Cougars, who have dropped three of their last five since an 11-0 start to their season. John finished with a double-double as the junior also had 11 rebounds to go along with three blocks and two assists. Aimee Schaefers added six points and nine rebounds while Camila Martin had six points and six rebounds. Rylee Zimmerschied finished with five points, seven rebounds and four assists.
“We need to work moving the ball around and being patient,” Cromwell said. “Kelseyville did a great on their fastbreaks.”
“We had a real balanced scoring attack and had contributions from the whole team,” Conrad said. “At the start of the season I had pictured this kind of scoring ability with a balanced attack. Tonight, Aubree and Grace had good scoring game that took pressure off AJ and Mati, who also had big games.”
The Knights remain home Tuesday to take on Clear Lake. Upper Lake’s teams travel to Lower Lake.
Kelseyville also won the junior varsity game, 40-13, behind 12 points from Ximena Herren and 11 points and six rebounds from Carly Gleason.
“We were able to get ahead by so much that we tried to slow the game down and work on a lot of things we needed to,” Kelseyville head coach Liz Berry said. “We’ve really started to lock in our fastbreaks the last two games. The girls worked hard on defense the whole game.”
Rilee Sperber scored six points for Kelseyville (2-2) while Brooke Poff had five points and seven rebounds.
Upper Lake scoring was not reported.
In other girls action Friday night:
Lower Lake 35, St. Helena 28
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans squared their league record at 2-2 while handing St. Helena (3-1) its first league loss.
“We’ve been working on defense this week and trying to work on discipline,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “The girls came out and played their best defense of the season. We were locked in from the beginning of the game all the way through.”
Khaya Chaney’s 11 points led the Trojans while Jamiya Lee-Ayers added seven points.
Lower Lake committed a season-low number of turnovers, according to Tubbs.
Tied 13-13 at halftime, Lower Lake went on to outscore St. Helena 22-15 in the second half, the difference in the game.
“The discipline on the defensive end transitioned to the offensive side in the second half,” Tubbs said.
Lower Lake hosts Upper Lake on Tuesday.
In JV action, Lower Lake snapped a three-game losing streak with a 47-16 win over St. Helena. The Trojans improved to 3-1 in league and 9-4 overall.
“Once we picked up the intensity and played to our level we were getting open looks and running the court well,” Lower Lake head coach Jessica Lackowski said.
Lexi Mitchell’s 14 points and another 12 from Samira Mendez led the Trojans. Jazzmye John had six.
“Everyone got some solid minutes and were able to develop their skills,” Lackowski said.
Middletown 47, Fort Bragg 28
At Fort Bragg, even with Izzi Hoogendoorn unavailable most of the game, the Middletown Mustangs had no problem beating the Fort Bragg Timberwolves and taking over sole possession of first place in the league standings.
Hoogendoorn scored the game’s first two points but asked to come off the floor at that point because she was not feeling well. She did not return.
Jordyn Harbison, Autumn Clark, Thaly Rodriguz and Harley Holley combined to score 41 of the Mustangs’ points. Harbison led the way with 15 while Clark and Rodriguez each had nine and Holley eight.
“We got into a good rhythm in the first half,” Middletown head coach Roxi Holt said. “It was a little sloppy at times.”
Middletown called up two JV players for the game, Grace Williams and Maddy de la Torre.
The Mustangs have a big week coming up as they host St. Helena and Upper Lake. They also host Sonoma Academy in a non-league game Saturday at 4 p.m.
In JV action, Middletown beat Fort Bragg 48-12 to improve to 3-0 in league play and 10-3 overall.
Chloe Pulido’s 14 points along with a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds for Emma Davis propelled the Mustangs.
Middletown led 19-5 at halftime and 36-10 through three quarters.
Clear Lake 49, Cloverdale 34
At Lakeport, Faith McIntire’s 22 points, 17 rebounds, five steals, three blocks and three assists helped Clear Lake square its league record at 2-2 with a win over Cloverdale (0-4).
Even minus two players who missed the game to attend a family event, the Cardinals were able to notch a second straight league win.
Clear Lake took a 39-31 lead into the fourth quarter, holding the Eagles to just three points in the final period.
Atiana Patino scored 11 points for Clear Lake and Jazmin Wiebusch had eight. McIntire had three of the Cardinals’ five 3-pointers.
Clear Lake, now 7-8 overall, plays a non-league game Saturday in Healdsburg before resuming its league schedule Tuesday in Kelseyville.
In JV action, Clear Lake beat Willits 43-32 in a non-league game at Lakeport because Cloverdale isn’t fielding a JV team this season.
Hailey Perez led the Cardinals (8-0) with 13 points while Camara Wittman finished with 11, Cali Albaum with seven, and Ava Gamble with six.
Clear Lake struggled early and trailed 19-15 at halftime.
“Thankfully, the second half we came alive, and we had some excellent rotation off of our bench with Anjoli Scott and Aleeya Bondi, who hustled and played hard, helping us turn the corner,” Clear Lake head coach Tony Farrington said.
“In the fourth quarter we played solid defense, and we outscored the Wolverines 20-6, and that made up all the difference.”
