LAKEPORT — Brandon White”s put-back basket with 19 seconds remaining put Clear Lake ahead to stay and Armando Martinez hit three of four free throws in the final seconds to give the Cardinals a 42-37 win over the Willits Wolverines in a North Central League I interlock varsity boys” basketball game at Clear Lake High School.
It was quite a turnaround from the first time these two teams squared off on Dec. 2 in the championship game of the St. Helena Tournament, a 51-34 Willits victory.
“We played much better defense this time around,” Clear Lake coach Ken Hook said. “We still had trouble putting the ball in the basket, but in the fourth quarter we were able to get offensive rebounds (such as White”s) and that was the difference,” Hook added.
White”s basket gave Clear Lake a 39-37 lead. After the Wolverines missed a shot that could have tied it, Armando Martinez was fouled and, with the Cardinals in the double bonus, hit the first free throw. He missed the second but grabbed the rebound and was fouled again. This time he made both shots to give Clear Lake (8-3) a five-point lead.
Martinez led all scorers with 15 points and Kory Hook added 12.
In other boys” action Friday:
Cloverdale 61, Middletown 59
At Middletown, Cloverdale outscored Middletown 5-3 in the overtime period to beat the Mustangs 61-59 in NCL I interlock action.
Both teams struggled at the free-throw line. Cloverdale made just 5 of 11 shots and Middletown was 6-for-16, including 1-for-6 in the fourth quarter.
“Worst we”ve shot all year,” said Middletown coach Mike Mullin, who was otherwise impressed with the Mustangs” effort.
“If you play well and get beat by a team that played better than you did, there”s no reason to hang your head,” Mullin said. “That”s what I told them after the game.”
Jake Strickler matched his season high with 26 points to pace the Mustangs (7-7) and Tyler Hunt added 13 points and a team-best 18 rebounds.
Brandon Breeden finished with eight points and 14 rebounds and Andrew Djernes had seven points and 11 rebounds.
