KELSEYVILLE — Drew made a late run to break open a close game and beat Kelseyville 56-46 on Friday night in the varsity boys” bracket of the Stokes Basketball Tournament at Kelseyville.
“We were battling uphill the whole second half,” Kelseyville coach Scott Conrad said of the 29-18 deficit the Knights faced at halftime. “I got a little upset with the kids at halftime ? we weren”t running our offense and I let them know about it.”
Kelseyville responded in the second half and cut the Dragons” lead to four points late in the fourth quarter.
“In the second half, if you”re a Kelseyville fan you should be proud of the way the kids played,” Conrad said. “Wes Stevenson was outstanding. He stepped it up and scored eight of his 10 points in the second half.”
Isaac McQueen scored all 12 of his points in the first half for Kelseyville (0-9) and Joe Gatlyn finished with 10 points. Sophomore Mike Duman played another solid all-around game for the Knights, scoring five points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. Another sophomore, Nick Schaefer, added six points.
Scott Schulkin”s 23 points were the difference in the game for Drew, according to Conrad.
“He didn”t come by those 23 points easily,” Conrad said. “But he”s quite a player. Everything they do runs through him.”
Kelseyville, 0-2 in the round-robin tournament, plays 2-0 Justin-Siena of Napa tonight at 7:30 p.m.
In the Stokes girls” bracket Friday:
Middletown 34, St. Helena 32
Julia Leathers scored 12 points as the Middletown Mustangs edged the St. Helena Saints in the consolation semifinals of the Stokes Tournament.
Middletown plays Ferndale today at 1:30 p.m. in the consolation championship game.
The win was only the second in 11 games for the Mustangs, who also received seven points from Alicia Siri and six from Kayla Welton.
South Fork 64, Kelseyville 43
Senior Janay Wilkinson scored 11 of her team-leading 19 points in the first quarter as the South Fork Cubs beat the host Kelseyville Knights in the winner”s semifinal round of the Stokes Tournament.
South Fork will meet Fortuna in tonight”s championship game at 6 p.m. Kelseyville will play Hoopa in the third-place game at 3 p.m.
South Fork beat Kelseyville 53-41 earlier this month at the Hoopa Tournament.
“Their transition game got to us,” Kelseyville coach Jim Salmina said. “We gave up layup after layup. They”ve got a lot of speed and we had trouble keeping up with them.”
Kelseyville trailed 34-14 at halftime but played South Fork nearly even in the second half.
Jill Bailey and Lauren Nixon led the Knights (5-7) with 10 points apiece. A frustrated Nixon also picked up the first technical of her high school career, according to Salmina.
“She was frustrated,” Salmina said. “She was getting hammered inside.”
