UPPER LAKE — The Upper Lake Cougars” fourth-quarter comeback came up short Thursday night in a 58-55 loss to College Prep of Oakland in the first round of the Upper Lake Tournament for varsity and junior varsity boys” basketball teams.
Upper Lake (1-4) outscored College Prep 27-15 in the final period and closed to within two points late in the quarter.
“That”s the kind of ball we”ve got to play from the beginning,” said Upper Lake coach Forrest Stogner after the Cougars sputtered on offense for the better part of the first three quarters.
College Prep (4-1) led 12-8 after one quarter, 25-20 at halftime and 43-28 after three quarters.
“They”re a good team,” Stogner said of College Prep, “and they”ve been playing some good teams. They have five seniors and four of them are returning starters.”
College Prep can also shoot, according to Stogner.
“They have outstanding shooters,” he said. “If they”re open, they”re going to make it.”
Max Curtis” 20 points sparked Upper Lake. Kyle Coleman added 15 points and 14 rebounds and Jacob Widener had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Maria Carrillo 51, Middletown 32
At Healdsburg, it might have been a cool night in Healdsburg, but it was nothing compared to the icy touch of the Middletown Mustangs in their first-round loss to Maria Carrillo of Santa Rosa in the first round of the Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament.
“We”re struggling from the perimeter, shooting about 30 percent,” Middletown coach Mike Mullin said of his Mustangs (1-3), who trailed 12-6 after one quarter, 27-12 at halftime and 44-21 after three quarters. “Outside the paint I don”t know if we”ve made a shot in our last two games.”
On a more positive note, the Mustangs substantially cut down on the turnovers that plagued them last weekend at the St. Helena Tournament and they also played better defense, according to Mullin.
“Holding a team like Maria Carrillo to around 50 points is not bad,” he said. “But we have to score some points.”
Tyler Hunt”s 13 points and 10 rebounds led Middletown. Jake Strickler added seven points.
John Swett 70, Kelseyville 56
At Crockett, the Kelseyville Knights battled back from a 25-13 deficit after one quarter to pull even at 50-50, but the John Swett Indians outscored them 20-6 in the final period to secure a win in the non-league game.
“We kind of lost our composure a little bit,” Kelseyville coach Scott Conrad said of the Knights” play in the fourth quarter. “We tried to dribble through their press and we forced the ball.”
However, Conrad said he was encouraged by the Knights” overall performance.
“I thought we took a big step forward,” he said. “It”s something to build on.”
Isaac McQueen scored 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, both team highs, for Kelseyville (0-2). Joe Gatlyn added 11 points, five rebounds and five steals and Wes Stevenson had 10 points and six rebounds.
“Gatlyn kept us in it most of the second quarter,” Conrad said. “He had five steals.”
Wednesday”s results
Healdsburg 42, Lower Lake 35
At Healdsburg, the host Healdsburg Greyhounds held the Lower Lake Trojans to single-digit point totals in the first three quarters en route to a first-round win on Wednesday in the Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament.
In a game where neither team”s offense could get untracked, the Greyhounds led 16-13 at halftime and 28-22 after three quarters.
“I think it was poor offensive execution for both teams,” Lower Lake coach Marty Udy said of the low-scoring contest. “We had lots of opportunities and didn”t convert … it was frustrating.
“It was an extremely winnable game and we”ve just got to shoot the ball better,” Udy added.
Kevin Freeman scored eight points to lead the Trojans (1-3) and Jeff Wilder had seven.
