DURHAM — Gridley post player Aida Vance scored 10 of her team-leading 27 points in the fourth quarter on Thursday night in a 64-48 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans in the opening round of the Durham Tournament.
Danielle Bettencourt scored 19 points for the Trojans (3-2) and Amber Shoffeitt added 12 points as Lower Lake kept it close for three quarters — Gridley took a 45-42 lead into the final period.
“It was one of the classic cases where we ran out of gas at the end,” Lower Lake coach Andrew Carpenter said. “They wore us down.”
Shoffeitt hit both of her 3-pointers and scored eight points in the first quarter to get Lower Lake out of the gate quickly, but Gridley rallied to a take a 17-14 lead. The Trojans cut it to 28-27 by halftime.
“She (Shoffeitt) got us going against a real good Division IV team,” said Carpenter, who also had high praise for Bettencourt. “She was our offense … she was consistent with her scoring all game.”
Lower Lake”s junior varsity squad also lost to Gridley in opening-round action. The final score and individual scoring was not reported.
Lower Lake draws Hayfork today at 3 p.m. in a consolation semifinal.
In other varsity girls” tournament action Thursday:
Clear Lake 50, St. Helena JVs 39
At St. Helena, the Clear Lake Cardinals moved into the winner”s bracket of the St. Helena Tournament with a victory over the St. Helena junior varsity squad, which was pressed into service when a varsity team dropped out of the field.
Kaila Sterbank scored 16 points, seven of them in the fourth quarter, to help the Cardinals (3-3), winners of three straight, pull away.
“Sterbank really stepped it up,” Clear Lake coach Jennifer Goff.
The Cardinals made an effort to work the ball inside to their post players, according to Goff, and it paid off as junior forward Ashley Perry scored eight points.
“And (Kirstie) Chapin was strong, too,” Goff said of her other junior forward who finished with four points.
Clear Lake plays Mount Shasta tonight at 7 p.m. in the semifinals.
Arcata 55, Middletown 24
At Fortuna, Arcata scored as many points in the first quarter as Middletown scored in the entire game during the first round of the Fortuna Tournament.
“They”re solid and very deep,” Middletown coach Marnin Pyzer said of the Tigers, who led 24-2 after the first period. “The girls they had coming off the bench were just as good as the ones leaving the floor.”
Kayla Welton scored six points and Jenny McGee, Nikeedra Davis and Kelsey Welton scored four points apiece as Middletown fell to 2-4 on the season.
Middletown plays Del Norte today at 4 p.m. in the consolation semifinals.
Kelseyville 36, Mount Shasta 20
At St. Helena, the Kelseyville Knights won their second straight, beating Mount Shasta in the opening round of the St. Helena Tournament.
“The second half was fantastic,” Kelseyville coach Caitlin Andrus said. “It”s some of the best basketball I”ve seen us play this season. We had steals, our transition offense was working, we were driving and kicking out ? everything was on.”
Kelseyville (2-3) outscored Mount Shasta 20-7 in the second half to build on a 16-13 halftime lead.
Both teams struggled from the field in the first half, according to Andrus.
Jodi Snider led the Knights with 11 points and her eight rebounds tied Amanda Mueller for the team lead. Skyler Olsen finished with seven points and Allyson Brown added six points.
Kelseyville plays Clear Lake tonight at 7 p.m., the winner advancing to the championship game on Saturday.
