Zane McAuley scores 1,000th career point in Clear Lake’s double-OT victory over Saints
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LAKEPORT >> Say what you will about the 10-10 Clear Lake High School varsity boys basketball team, but its last four games have been anything but uneventful.
Clear Lake stayed in the thick of the North Central League I race Friday night with a double-overtime 52-48 win over the St. Helena Saints, who certainly had plenty of opportunities to win it only to watch Clear Lake’s Jesse Hayes score the final four points of the second overtime, snapping a 48-all tie.
On a night when Clear Lake senior Zane McAuley scored his 1,000th career point, that on a driving layup with 3:04 remaining in the first quarter, the Cardinals rallied from a 39-30 deficit in the final minutes of regulation to force the first overtime period, and they would eventually go on to win it.
The double-overtime victory follows on the heels of a 63-58 home win Tuesday against the first-place Middletown Mustangs, a tough 73-68 road loss on Jan. 16 at Lower Lake, and a bitter 76-74 triple-overtime defeat Jan. 13 at home against Kelseyville. Through it all, the Cardinals are alive and well in the NCL I race at 5-3, tied with Fort Bragg. Both teams trail the 6-2 Middletown Mustangs and Kelseyville Knights (who play Tuesday in Middletown) by one game.
“It was a great effort teamwise,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “It shows we don’t need Zane to score 25-30 points a game for us to win. Winning against St. Helena keeps us in the race.”
McAuley entered play needing three points to reach 1,000 and he put that personal milestone behind him with two baskets in the first quarter. After his driving layup for career points Nos. 1,000 and 1,001 late in the opening period, the game was briefly stopped as the three-year varsity veteran received congratulations from teammates and coaches before played resumed.
McAuley didn’t score again in the first half, but the 10 points he scored after that were all crucial. His basket with Clear Lake trailing 39-30 early in the fourth quarter sparked the Cardinals’ 9-0 run to tie the game in regulation, and he nearly won the game in the first overtime, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, the first cutting St. Helena’s lead to 44-43 with 1:16 left, the second putting the Cardinals up 46-44 with 26 seconds remaining. St. Helena hit a shot down low with five seconds left to knot the score at 46.
“I’m proud of him, it just shows all the hard work he’s put in all these years,” Cerezo said of McAuley. “He goes to the open gyms, he’s been working with Jaron (Mertle, assistant coach) He’s done everything we’ve asked of him.”
McAuley also has a solid group of teammates around him, more so these days now that senior guard Sawyer Smith has recovered from a high-ankle sprain that sidelined him for the better part of a month.
“Sawyer looks to be back 100 percent the last two games,” Cerezo said of Smith, who joined McAuley in double digits with 10 points.
“Our team is clicking right now and having him (Smith) back has really helped,” Cerezo added. “We’re playing as a team, we’re getting in a groove now, and I’m glad everybody came out to support us tonight,” Cerezo added of the large crowd in attendance Friday.
Going to the second overtime, which opened with Smith hitting the first of two free throws for a 47-46 Clear Lake lead, the two teams found themselves locked in a 48-48 tie with 1:39 left when Hayes won it, scoring inside after a wild scramble for the ball in front of the basket, and drawing a foul in the process. He added the free throw to make it 51-48, and after St. Helena failed to tie the game with a 3-point try, Hayes drew a foul with 13.1 seconds left and sealed the victory by hitting the first of two free throws.
AJ Bruch finished with 10 points, Hayes ended up with six while Kaden Graham and Eric Chavez each had four. Eight out of nine Cardinals reached the scoring column.
Cerezo said Clear Lake’s team effort against the Saints included players and coaches alike, including first-year assistant coach Mertle, a standout during his playing days for the Cardinals, and Adrian Perez, the junior varsity boys head coach.
“Jaron has been a wonderful addition to our team,” Cerezo said. “He’s come up with some great gameplans. Both he and Adrian are great additions to our program.”
Clear Lake is on the road Tuesday against Upper Lake.
In JV action Friday, Clear Lake beat St. Helena 57-51. Both teams are now 5-3 in league play while the Cardinals improved to 12-8 overall.
In other boys action Friday:
Kelseyville 66, Lower Lake 48
At Kelseyville, Nick Arredondo’s 15 points, Gordon Astrup’s 13 points and solid rebounding, and Jair Inostroza Carrillo’s 11 points helped Kelseyville (6-2, 8-10) snap a two-game league losing streak as the Knights beat the Lower Lake Trojans (3-5, 9-11) for the third time this season.
Lower Lake held a 24-23 halftime lead but Kelseyville went into the fourth quarter up 44-35.
“We were finally able to pull away a little bit,” Kelseyville head coach Chaze Russell. “It was a physical game, they were physical with us, but we were physical right back.”
Astrup’s rebounding on both ends of the floor was key for the Knights, according to Russell.
“A collective team effort … it really was,” Russell said. “Gordon grabbing all those boards was huge.”
While the Kelseyville offense spread around the points, including nine from Max Lee and six from Ryan Keithly, the Knights also stepped up their play on defense, according to Russell. “Our talking, communication on defense was much better.”
Zackquez Sanders and Noah Hakala led the Trojans with nine points, Tucker Benson and Brody Shields each had eight, and Raijhier McKneely finished with seven.
In the JV game, the Kelseyville Knights (7-1, 9-5) had no problem beating Lower Lake as Darin Sprague (31 points) outscored the Trojans (2-6, 8-11) all by himself.
“We jumped out pretty good and got a lot of stuff on the breaks,” Kelseyville head coach Stan Weiper said.
Chris Salmina scored nine points for the Knights while Colt Lasbury and Hugh O’Boyle added five points apiece.
Lower Lake scoring was not reported.
Kelseyville’s JV and varsity teams play Marin Academy in non-league action Saturday in San Rafael. They hit the road Tuesday to resume league play at Middletown.
Middletown 74, Cloverdale 59
At Middletown, the Middletown Mustangs used a 20-10 fourth quarter to pull away from the Cloverdale Eagles.
Cloverdale (3-5, 10-10) hit a buzzer-beating 3-point at halftime to take a 33-32 lead against Middletown, but the Mustangs pushed in front in the third quarter, going up 54-49.
“Our guys started moving the ball well, really well, in the second half,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said. “Cody Perez hit a big 3-pointer for us in the fourth quarter.”
Cloverdale’s Jaxson Randolph scored 26 points to lead the Eagles. Middletown countered with 22 points and 15 rebounds from Emmitt Lloyd, 18 points and three assists from Willie Tadder, 17 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists from Jon Hawkins, and seven points and six assists from Harrison Brown.
Cloverdale sank a baker’s dozen worth of 3-pointers against the Mustangs to stay close. Middletown had eight 3-pointers, including two each from Perez and Brown.
“Teams just always seem to find it (shooting touch) against us,” Diehl said.
“My guys did a good job adjusting on defense in the second half,” Diehl said.
Middletown’s coach also praised point guard Brown’s floor leadership as the junior turned in another strong effort.
“Harrison has been selfless distributing the ball,” Diehl said.
Nalu Johnson and EJ Rose each had six rebounds for Middletown.
The Mustangs host Kelseyville in a battle of league co-leaders Tuesday.
Middletown’s JV team moved into sole possession of second place in the league standings with a 75-22 win over Cloverdale, the Mustangs’ seventh straight victory.
Cole Rarick led Middletown with 11 points, including an off-balance 3-pointer as time expired in the first half, giving the Mustangs a 40-17 lead. Donovan Clark and Jovial Najd each had nine points and Darrell Harbour had eight.
Middletown can move into a first-place tie if it beats Kelseyville (7-1) on Tuesday in Middletown.
Fort Bragg 65, Upper Lake 58
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars have played everyone in the NCL I tough with the exception of Middletown, but they don’t have much to show for it.
“Another close one that got away from us,” Upper Lake assistant coach Thomas Santana said of the Cougars’ loss to Fort Bragg (5-3, 8-12), which is on a three-game league winning streak. “We’re shooting the ball well. We made 10 3-pointers on 25 attempts.”
Landen Robison led the Cougars (1-7, 6-12) with 17 points, including five 3-pointers, and Tj Malicay added 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Shaun Way also had 16 points while Gage Faalelea just missed double digits with nine points.
“Shaun really helped out scoring inside the 3-point line,” Santana said. “Our defense played hard, but we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Upper Lake had only two free throws in the game.
“It’s hard to win games when we only have two free-throw attempts,” Santana said.
Upper Lake hosts Clear Lake on Tuesday.
Upper Lake’s JV squad just missed winning its first game of the season, falling 62-60 to Fort Bragg on a shot at the buzzer,
“Today was a terrible loss, a heartbreaker,” Upper Lake head coach Wyatt Hensley said. “It came down to the last 11 seconds tied at 60 and Fort Bragg got the last say with a basket made as the buzzer went off.”
Isaia Peña’s 24 points led the Cougars while Chase Noble, Angelo Macias and Kaiden Sneed all had 10.
Upper Lake is 0-8 in league and 0-12 overall.
