LAKEPORT — It was the three points Steven Grossner didn”t score, not the tournament-record 90 he did score, that ended Kelseyville High School”s bid for the junior varsity championship on Saturday during the 14th annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport.
Clear Lake outlasted Kelseyville 56-53 in overtime to win its third straight Hoop Classic title as Grossner”s 3-point bid from half court caught a piece of the rim before bouncing harmlessly away as the buzzer sounded.
Grossner finished with 23 points, his third straight 20-point-plus tournament effort, as the Knights settled for second place for the second year in a row.
Another 3-point shot, this one by Jason Edwards, later named tournament MVP, figured prominently in the Cardinals” victory as it wiped out a 51-50 Kelseyville lead with 1:01 left in the overtime period and put the Cardinals ahead to stay.
Neither team scored again until All-Tourney selection Seth Glazier, who led the Cardinals with 19 points, hit the second of two free throws with 28 seconds left to play. Nursing a three-point lead in the final seconds, Clear Lake caught a huge break when Kelseyville passed on a 3-point shot that could have tied the game. Instead, Grossner drove inside to score two points as the clock ticked under seven seconds. That strategy might have made sense had the Knights immediately fouled the Cardinals, but Clear Lake was able to work the clock down to 3.7 before Glazier was fouled.
Glazier responded by hitting two free throws — the Cardinals were in the double bonus by that point — to make it 56-53. Clear Lake pressured Kelseyville in the backcourt as the Knights inbounded the ball and Grossner”s last-second shot from half court was the best they could manage as time expired.
Kelseyville briefly took a 51-50 lead with 1:20 left in overtime on a three-point play by Jared Wagner, who scored down low, drew a foul and hit the free throw.
Kelseyville rallied to tie the game at 43 with nine seconds left in the fourth quarter on a Grossner basket. Clear Lake”s Bryan Edwards missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
Clear Lake led by as many as nine points — 19-10 — early in the second quarter. Kelseyville called a timeout with 6:37 left in the period and responded with an 8-0 run to make it a one-point game. The Cardinals extended their lead to 25-20 by halftime.
The Cardinals led nearly the entire third quarter but a one-handed shot by Grossner in the lane in the final seconds of the period gave Kelseyville a 33-32 advantage.
Jason Edwards finished with 13 points, Ryan Grady added 11 and Bryan Edwards had 10 to join teammate Glazier in double figures. Michael Allen had eight points for Kelseyville and Wagner finished with seven.
Middletown 71, Lower Lake 54
After playing a strong first half against Middletown, the Lower Lake Trojans, who led by as many as 12 points on three separate occasions in the second quarter, struggled over the final two quarters as the Mustangs rallied back for a win in the early JV game Saturday. The victory gave Middletown a 2-2 tournament record and third place. Lower Lake finished 0-4.
One highlight for the Trojans was the play of guard Jaymen Richardson, who scored a team-best 24 points, including five 3-pointers. Richardson broke the tournament”s scoring record only to watch Grossner break his shortlived record in the following game. Richardson did set the Classic JV record for 3-pointers with 15.
Bo Sheffer helped rally the Mustangs with a team-high 15 points. Brandon Skinner added 10.
and Ryan Johnson had eight.
