Cardinals make their free throws in OT to knock off Lower Lake
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CLOVERDALE >> Tightening up the defense, especially in the second half, worked wonders for the Kelseyville Knights on Tuesday night as they held off the Cloverdale Eagles 59-54 in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action at Cloverdale.
Combined with Fort Bragg’s 64-44 loss to St. Helena on Tuesday, the Knights (8-5 league, 10-14 overall) enter their final league game with a chance to clinch sole possession of second place in the NCL I standings and a playoff berth. To do it, they’ll have to beat Fort Bragg (8-5, 11-12) in Fort Bragg on Thursday night.
While dropping five of six in league action put Kelseyville in a position of having to win its final three games to capture a playoff berth, the Knights are two-thirds of the way there following back-to-back victories over Clear Lake and Cloverdale.
“We put ourselves in a tough position and it’s not over yet,” Kelseyville head coach Chaze Russell said. “We still have to go over there and beat them. That’s not an easy place to play.”
Kelseyville dropped an 80-63 decision to Fort Bragg on Jan. 20 in Kelseyville, so the Knights also have the revenge factor working in their favor as they head over to the Mendocino County coast.
Cloverdale jumped out to a 19-12 lead against Kelseyville, at which point Russell said he told his players that their defense needed to tighten up significantly if they wanted to get back into the game.
“They responded,” Russell said. “We progressively played better from that point.”
Kelseyville closed to 31-27 by halftime before taking control of the game in the third quarter, all while limiting the Eagles (5-8, 12-13) to nine points in the period.
Nick Arredondo (20 points) hit two of his six 3-pointers in the third quarter and Riley Lopez scored all six of his points in the period, all on 3-pointers, as the Knights pushed ahead 46-39.
“After that I told them to keep playing good defense and not let them go on a run,” Russell said.
Cloverdale got as close as three points twice, but Kelseyville held the lead down the stretch.
“It stayed at three for like a minute and 30 seconds,” Russell said.
Joey Watson (13 points) hit a big free throw for us, missed the other, but Gordon (Astrup) pulled down the rebound,” Russell said.
Astrup added 18 points in the win.
In the JV game, Kelseyville fell out of the league race with a 56-53 loss to Cloverdale. The Knights are now 9-4 in the NCL I standings and trail both Middletown and Clear Lake by one game, and those two teams face each other Thursday in Middletown, the winner taking the outright league title.
“We had a shot to tie (or the league title) and that just fell through the door,” Kelseyville head coach Stan Weiper said.
The Knights needed to beat Cloverdale on Tuesday and Fort Bragg on the road Thursday to clinch no worse than a share of the league title.
“They (Eagles) played pretty well, and we didn’t shoot well again,” Weiper said.
Hugh O’Boyle’s 17 points powered the Knights while Chris Salmina added 16 and Darin Sprague nine.
Kelseyville is 12-8 overall going into its season finale at Fort Bragg.
In other NCL I action Tuesday:
Clear Lake 83, Lower Lake 78 (OT)
At Lakeport, Clear Lake scored all 10 of its overtime points at the free-throw line, that after struggling from the line in regulation, to beat Lower Lake and avenge a 73-67 loss to the Trojans on Jan. 16 in Lower Lake.
“After struggling from the line in regulation, we were able to lock in during overtime,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said.
Clear Lake went 10-for-12 from the line in the overtime period.
“It was a great win for our seniors to come out on top the last time on their home floor,” Cerezo said. “I couldn’t be any happier for them. Our six seniors, Jesse (Hayes), AJ (Bruch), Zane (McAuley), Sawyer (Smith), Ryken (Villanueva) and Kaden (Graham) left it all out on the court tonight and played their hearts out.”
McAuley finished with 27 points, putting him over 1,100 (1,109) for his career while Bruch added 22 points and Smith 10.
“I’m proud of these guys for how they battled throughout the game and made enough plays to come out with the win,” Cerezo said.
Lower Lake forced overtime when Kaimelo Connolly hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to tie the score at 73-all.
“You can’t leave those guys alone,” Lower Lake head coach Jay Jakubowski said Clear Lake’s shooters, including McAuley, who hurt the Trojans (5-8, 11-14) with several clutch 3-pointers. “They just played really well.”
Lower Lake took a 40-39 lead into halftime while Clear Lake held a 58-57 advantage going to the fourth quarter.
Noah Hakala’s 29 points and 23 rebounds fueled Lower Lake. Connolly finished with 13 points, Raijhier McKneely added nine points and nine rebounds, Brody Shields had nine points, all on 3-pointers, and Tucker Benson had eight points.
Clear Lake (7-6, 12-13) travels to Middletown on Thursday for its league and regular-season finale, looking for a season sweep of the Mustangs, who clinched the outright league championship Tuesday with a win over Upper Lake and a Fort Bragg loss to St. Helena.
Clear Lake beat Middletown 63-58 in a double-overtime thriller Jan. 20 in Lakeport.
In the JV game, Clear Lake beat Lower Lake 58-40 to set up a battle for the outright league championship Thursday in Middletown where both teams bring 10-3 records into the final game of the season.
Clear Lake improved to 16-8 overall.
Aiden Osorio’s 13 points led Lower Lake (3-10, 9-15). Zane Maninger had 12 points and Roy Percoats 11.
Lower Lake finishes up its season Thursday in Cloverdale.