{"id":2081,"date":"2025-01-25T23:17:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T23:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=2081"},"modified":"2025-01-25T23:17:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T23:17:38","slug":"knights-mustangs-headed-for-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=2081","title":{"rendered":"Knights, Mustangs headed for showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kelseyville, Middletown, both 7-1 in league play, square off Tuesday night in Kelseyville<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake County Sports on Facebook<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LOWER LAKE >> Pushing Kelseyville hard for three and a half quarters, the Lower Lake Trojans threw a scare the Knights\u2019 way before falling 67-56 in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action Friday night in Lower Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey played well, they had only seven players, but they were unselfish and took it to us,\u201d Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said of the young and rebuilding Trojans (0-8 league, 2-17 overall), who are without a league win in league play this season under first-year head coach Anthony Farrington. \u201cYou can definitely see the improvement from earlier in the season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA great night for the Trojans despite losing to Kelseyville,\u201d Farrington said. \u201cWe played hard, ran our offense, and we continued to get boards. Things are definitely starting to click for our team, and we continue to improve with every game played.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville (7-1, 12-8) remains tied with Middletown and St. Helena atop the league standings, and Friday\u2019s contest against Lower Lake was the Knights\u2019 final tuneup before they play both of those teams \u2013 home vs. Middletown on Tuesday, at St. Helena on Friday \u2013 next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cContender\u2019s week,\u201d Lopez said with an eye toward his next two games, which will go a long way toward determining the outcome of this season\u2019s league race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower Lake did its best to play the spoiler\u2019s role in regard to that league race, but the Knights finally were able to pull away midway through the fourth quarter. Until then, it was anyone\u2019s game. Lower Lake led 13-12 after the opening period, trailed by just two at halftime \u2013 30-28 \u2013 and was down 48-43 going to the fourth quarter. It was still a five-point game in the Knights\u2019 favor with just 3:53 left when Sam Arredondo broke loose for a slam dunk that turned momentum in Kelseyville\u2019s favor once and for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was the little energizer we needed,\u201d Lopez said of the senior reserve. \u201cThat was the play that did it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those were the only two points of the game for Arredondo, who is part of a deep Kelseyville bench that Lopez has made use of time and time again this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryder Leary, another of those bench players, finished with 14 points while yet another reserve, Tyler Bryant, added seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBryant did some good stuff for us,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cAnd Max (Hommer) and Ryder gave us a spark in the second quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kyle Watkins, the Knights\u2019 scoring leader with 17 points, also came through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWatkins really kept us in the game in the first half,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brock Barrick added 13 points as the Knights collected a sixth straight win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noah Hakala (18 points) and Brody Shields (12 points) scored in double digits for the Trojans while Germaine Cephus added eight points and Raijhier McKneely seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farrington said the difference between his team\u2019s play Friday and a league-opening 76-22 loss to the Knights on Dec. 10 in Kelseyville speaks for itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKelseyville was our first league game of the season, and we lost by 54 points,\u201d Farrington said. \u201cTonight, we showed we can compete with one of the best teams in the league, which is quite a feat given we ran four sophomore and one freshman with a roster of seven players.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower Lake returns to action Tuesday in Fort Bragg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In junior varsity action, Kelseyville beat Lower Lake 75-30 behind 15 points from Gordon Astrup, 11 from Hugh O\u2019Boyle and nine points apiece from Nick Arredondo, Joey Watson and Jacob Amendola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelseyville is 8-0 in league play and 12-7 overall. Lower Lake is 0-8 in league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other boys basketball action Friday:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown 84, Cloverdale 33<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Middletown, Bodhi Moore scored 27 points, one of five Middletown players to finish in double digits as the Mustangs routed the Cloverdale Eagles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe came out and played all four quarters tough,\u201d Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said. \u201cStingy D and the fellas were flowing offensively. It was a good solid team W.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrison Brown finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, Jon Hawkins (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Anthony Bowerman (10 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles, Willy Tadder added 10 points and Aron Bennett had six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown (7-1, 15-5) goes on the road Tuesday to play Kelseyville in a battle to remain atop the league standings. The Knights fell 61-50 to the Mustangs on Dec. 17 in Middletown, Kelseyville\u2019s only league loss to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middletown\u2019s JVs also made quick work of Cloverdale, 70-44.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been battling through sickness the past couple weeks,\u201d Middletown head coach Andy Brown said. \u201cWe went into this game down three players, including our stud sophomore Valentin (Jimenez).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Mustangs picked up the slack and then some, led by Nalu Johnson with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Cody Perez with 21 points, including four 3-pointers. Kolton Costlow added 12 points while Leland Pike finished with five points and 13 rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone stepped it up tonight, and we ran away with it a couple minutes into the fourth,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Helena 57, Clear Lake 48<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Lakeport, the St. Helena Saints maintained a share of the league lead with a victory over Clear Lake, their third win this season against the Cardinals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was a hard-fought battle,\u201d Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said. \u201cThey took a 12-point lead into halftime off a 26-point second quarter. We played good basketball in the second half. The boys never wavered and played their tails off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zane McAuley topped the scoring chart with 21 points as the Cardinals fell to 4-4 in league play and 9-10 overall. AJ Bruch and Kaden Graham finished with seven points apiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Lake hosts Upper Lake on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear Lake won the JV game, 77-71, behind a big night from Ayden Moreno and his 30 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Helena jumped out to a 13-0 lead before Clear Lake\u2019s offense responded. A 16-2 run by the Cardinals put them in front, but St. Helena battled back to take the halftime lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI told my guys given the way we started I\u2019m happy only being down two at halftime,\u201d Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. \u201cWe outscored them in the second half 48-35. I\u2019m proud of my guys for not quitting and bringing the energy. Even our guys on the bench were all engaged and were excited for their teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Cerezo, \u201cAyden had himself a game tonight on both sides of the ball. He was attacking and getting to the basket. I\u2019m proud of my team for battling the whole game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Bragg 65, Upper Lake 61<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Fort Bragg, James Beaux Stiritz scored 24 points, but the Upper Lake Cougars fell to the Timberwolves, a team they beat 67-52 on Dec. 10 in Upper Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delaney Allison finished with 17 points and Jerod Rosales had 12 for the Cougars (2-6, 5-9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeaux, Delaney and Jerod fought hard on both ends of the floor, but we struggled to find buckets late, leading to us being down by two with 1:20 left,\u201d Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said. \u201cWe had a few good looks but we couldn\u2019t convert on a 3-pointer and our missed free throws didn\u2019t help either. Fort Bragg really has improved and played great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a tough loss, but I\u2019m proud of our efforts,\u201d Arroyo added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake visits Clear Lake on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Bragg also won the JV game, 49-38. TJ Malicay led the Cougars with 10 points while Mason Parker and Corbin Wooley each had six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of the way they played tonight,\u201d Upper Lake head coach Lupeli Faleagafulu said of his players. \u201cWe went with two new guys in the starting lineup and the guys stepped up and played well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Bragg outscored Upper Lake 12-3 in the third quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe matched their play in every other quarter except for the third, which pretty much was the outcome of the game,\u201d Faleagafulu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upper Lake is 2-6 in league play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kelseyville, Middletown, both 7-1 in league play, square off Tuesday night in Kelseyville Lake County Sports on Facebook LOWER LAKE >> Pushing Kelseyville hard for three and a half quarters, the Lower Lake Trojans threw a scare the Knights\u2019 way before falling 67-56 in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action Friday night in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,16,20,58,12,17,18,19,59,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2082,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081\/revisions\/2082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}