LOWER LAKE — The Lower Lake Trojans quickly gained the upper hand against problem-plagued Upper Lake and coasted to a 73-38 romp on Tuesday night in the 13th annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic in the Trojans” gym.
Seemingly oblivious to a cold-shooting game a night earlier in losing to Clear Lake, the Trojans used deadly accuracy in the first half, sharp perimeter shooting — eight treys — and Upper Lake”s deficiencies to totally overwhelm the Cougars.
The tournament hosts got balanced scoring with three players in double digits. Matt Parks led Lower Lake with 16 points, including four treys; Jeff Wilder had 14; and Kevin Freeman 11.
Lower Lake coach Marty Udy called it a “break-out game” for the 3-6 Trojans. It was as much a broken-down game for Upper Lake.
Upper Lake”s frigid shooting was easily as noticeable as Lower Lake”s proficiency, which was manifested in 16-for-27 accuracy from the floor in the first half.
The Cougars, meanwhile, suffered through an opening in which they made only one of 26 shots a 3-pointer by Kyle Coleman and came within a whisker of being shut out in the first quarter altogether. As it was, the Trojans led 19-3 after the first period and 46-21 at half.
It didn”t get any better in the second half for Upper Lake.
For the game, the Cougars shot 12-for-66. They were no great shakes at the free-throw line either, converting only six of 18 charity tosses.
Turnover-prone in the fourth quarter, they had only one point to show for the last 10 times they put the ball into play.
“I felt we could shoot the ball,” Udy said. “We haven”t most recently, but I told the guys that the No.1 thing we have to do is play hard — every single game. The scoring is not always going to be there, so you”ve got to have the intangible things. You gotta have the effort, you gotta have the hustle, and you gotta play defense.
“We talked tonight about building a foundation. Let”s get a win tonight and try to build on that 3-6,” Udy added, “and we had a variety of guys step up.”
Upper Lake coach Forrest Stogner acknowledged it was a bad game for the Cougars, but took it in stride. A hard-won first-round victory over Kelseyville on Monday night, he said, may have been a factor.
“”We played a big emotional game last night,” Stogner said.
Then, turning philosophical, he added, “Tournaments are an extension of our practice. If you have a chance to win something, that”s great. If not, this is where we practice to get ready for league.”
The Lower Lake win left both teams at 1-1 at the mid-tournament break tonight and suggested that the eventual winner will not go through the tournament without a loss, which hasn”t happened since 2001.
“”The teams are closer and there”s a little more parity this year,” said Udy regarding that possibility.
When asked if he thought any of the five county teams will wind up 4-0 in the round-robin play, Stogner, ever the optimist, quipped, “No, because we”re going to win it.”
In the early varsity game Tuesday:
Middletown 46, Kelseyville 43
The Kelseyville Knights, twice down by 13 points late in the third quarter, staged a fourth-quarter rally but fell just short when Isaac McQueen”s bid to tie the game with a last-second 3-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer.
In a game that featured nine lead changes during a back-and-forth second quarter, Middletown, the defending Hoop Classic champion, made a successful tournament debut in 2006 behind 16 points from Tyson Hunt, 13 from Jake Strickler and 12 from Andrew Djernes.
But it wasn”t easy.
After pushing ahead to stay at 24-23 on two Strickler free throws with 28.2 seconds remaining in the first half, the Mustangs lengthened their lead to 38-25 with 2:21 remaining in the third quarter. A 10-0 run to open the period made it 34-23.
Kelseyville”s Joe Gatlyn scored with 3:02 left to give the Knights their first two points of the quarter, but a putback basket by Strickler and another Strickler basket, this time on a long baseline jumper just inside the 3-point arc, made it 38-25.
It was still a 13-point game at 40-27 when the Knights mounted their comeback. McQueen, who led all scorers with 21 points, scored the final four points of the third quarter.
Kelseyville kept chipping away in the fourth quarter, finally closing to 42-40 on a Luis Martinez 3-point with 2:14 remaining in the game. Hunt pounded his way inside to make it a 44-40 game, but the Knights came right back with a 3-pointer by Gatlyn (12 points) to cut it to one with 1:36 left.
Both teams then missed shots and after Strickler failed to connect on a 12-footer, Kelseyville grabbed a rebound and called timeout with 29.1 seconds left.
On the Knights” next trip down the floor, Martinez attempted a twisting, off-balance jumper from near the free-throw line that wasn”t close and Middletown grabbed the rebound with 15 seconds left.
Since neither team was close to the bonus — Kelseyville had only four team fouls — the Knights committed fouls on three consecutive Middletown inbound plays to finally send the Mustangs to the line with 10 seconds to go.
Facing a pressure one-and-one situation, the Mustangs” Kelley McKinley rattled in two free throws to make it 46-43.
On the final possession of the game, the Knights worked the ball down the floor to McQueen, who couldn”t quite find the range on his last-second 3-pointer as time expired.
“We set up a double screen for him and he got a pretty good shot,” Kelseyville coach Scott Conrad said as the Knights fell to 0-2 in tournament play and 0-4 overall.
Conrad was hardly displeased with his team”s effort.
“We had great energy tonight and I actually think it was two comebacks, not one,” Conrad said.
“We had to bounce back from last night (a 66-57 loss to Upper Lake on Monday) and we were down by 13 points in the third quarter against Middletown, so I”m really pleased with how the kids responded. I was a little worried about our confidence level after last night, but we”re fine.
“We put ourselves in a position to win and that”s a learning process,” Conrad added.
Conrad also had high praise for McQueen, who has scored a combined 41 points in his first two Hoop Classic games.
“He had a good balance of getting his shot or forcing the ball inside and making the pass to the open person,” Conrad said.
Middletown coach Mike Mullin said his team showed poise down the stretch despite icing up from the field the Mustangs were 15-for-31 in the first three quarter but just 2-for-11 in the final period.
“Good teams win close games,” he said. “The whole team did a fair job defensively and that helped us out.”
Middletown dominated on the boards much of the game, especially on the offensive end. A number of second-chance shots by the Mustangs found the range, primarily in the second and third quarters.
“Djernes killed us on the boards,” Conrad said.
While his team still hasn”t worked out the kinks in its offense, Mullin said the shots will start dropping sooner or later.
“We”re working hard in practice,” Mullin said. “We”re struggling a little bit right now but it”s coming. I certainly hope so.”
Middletown is 3-4 on the season.
Gatlyn finished with 12 ponints for Kelseyville.
