Cougars knock off Clear Lake, Trojans rout Fort Bragg in league action
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UPPER LAKE >> The Upper Lake Cougars and Lower Lake Trojans made the North Central League I race just a little bit more interesting Tuesday with home victories in varsity boys basketball action.
Upper Lake knocked off Clear Lake 68-56, avenging a 59-56 overtime loss to Clear Lake last month in Lakeport, while Lower Lake routed Fort Bragg 74-54 to sweep the season series from the Timberwolves, who the Trojans beat 70-69 last month in Fort Bragg.
Clear Lake and Fort Bragg drop to 5-4 in the league standings, two games behind Middletown (7-2) and one behind Kelseyville (6-3). Upper Lake improves to 2-7 and 7-12 overall while Lower Lake moves to 4-5 and 10-11 overall.
Upper Lake 66, Clear Lake 58
At Upper Lake, Antario Wymen came off the bench to score 14 points, one of four Cougars to finish in double digits. Tj Malicay led the way with 20 points, Shaun Way added 14 and Gage Faalelea had 10.
“We brought home a close win today,” Upper Lake assistant coach Thomas Santana said. “We played hard defense. We had 17 steals as a team and found ways to score at the rim.”
Upper Lake also went 8-for-12 from the free-throw line.
“Shaun showed some grit, playing aggressive at the rim,” Santana said. “His 14 points all came from inside, but he was also being aggressive on the boards, bringing down eight rebounds.”
Added Santana, “It felt good to get that win.”
AJ Bruch’s 24 points and another 20 from Zane McAuley led the Cardinals, now 10-11 overall.
“It was a close game in the first half,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “We let them hang around. We came out flat after halftime and they outscored us 28-11. We couldn’t quite dig ourselves out of the hole we dug.”
Missing 11 free throws didn’t help, according to Cerezo.
“We just got to keep moving forward and hope for the best,” Cerezo said with an eye toward the Cardinals’ final five league games.
Clear Lake hits the road Friday to play Fort Bragg while Upper Lake hosts Cloverdale.
Clear Lake won the junior varsity game 63-41, improving to 6-3 in league play. Upper Lake (0-9, 0-13) was led by Isaia Pena’s 18 points. Angelo Macias had eight and Michael Marcks six.
“They (Cardinals) came out hot in the third quarter and we couldn’t catch back up,” Upper Lake head coach Wyatt Hensley said. “We struggled getting into rhythm on offense today and turned over the ball one too many times.”
Clear Lake scoring was not reported.
Lower Lake 74, Fort Bragg 54
At Lower Lake, after Fort Bragg pulled into a 40-40 tie early in the third quarter, the Lower Lake Trojans took charge, outscoring the Timberwolves 34-14 the rest of the way.
Tucker Benson hit a 3-pointer to ignite the Trojans, according to head coach Jay Jakubowski.
The Trojans were able to hold their own on the boards, including several offensive rebounds that led to multiple-shot possessions.
“We had a lot of multiple-shot possessions, which was nice,” Jakubowski said.
Brody Shields led the way with 22 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Noah Hakala added 12 points and nine rebounds. Kaimelo Connolly added 11 points and Raijhier McKneely had 10. Steven Rich pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds to go along with four points.
“Nine of those were offensive rebounds,” Jakubowski said of Rich.
Shields scored nine of Lower Lake’s 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Lower Lake visits Middletown on Friday.
Fort Bragg won the JV game 49-44, dropping Lower Lake to 2-7 in league play. No other details were available.
