MIDDLETOWN — Jodi Snider played one of her best games of the season as the Kelseyville Knights closed out their North Central League I North varsity girls” basketball schedule with a convincing 52-34 victory over the Middletown Mustangs on Friday night in Middletown.
“It”s the most balanced game I”ve seen her play,” Kelseyville coach Caitlin Andrus said of senior guard Snider, who had a team-best 17 points to go along with 10 steals, seven rebounds and four assists.
Amanda Mueller added 10 points and Allyson Brown had nine points and seven rebounds as the Knights wrapped up North play 4-4, good for third place. They improved to 17-8 overall.
After a low-scoring first half — Kelseyville led just 16-9 at halftime — the Knights began to pick up the pace in the second half.
“I had a talk with them at halftime about rebounding,” Andrus said. “If you can”t rebound, you can”t make an outlet pass. We did a much better job in the second half and that got us going.”
Andrus also singled out the play of Mueller as being crucial to the Knights” success, not only on Friday against Middletown but throughout the season.
“She just plays consistently well for us,” Andrus said. “Consistency is key and if we didn”t get that from her it might be a different story for us this season.”
Kelsey Welton”s 12 points paced Middletown (2-5, 7-17).
In other girls” action Friday:
Willits 57, Lower Lake 42
At Willits, the Willits Wolverines locked up sole possession of second place in the NCL I North standings with a victory over the Lower Lake Trojans, who made a late push to take the lead.
Trailing 31-22 at halftime and 44-37 entering the final period, the Trojans (0-7, 9-15) surged ahead 52-50 with just over two minutes remaining in the game. But they scored only one point the rest of the way and Willits, led by sophomore Ceara Snyder, rallied for the win.
Snyder, who led all players with 18 points, reeled off six straight points, four of them on free throws, to give the Wolverines (5-2) a 56-52 advantage.
“And then (with time running out) we had to foul, and they hit a bunch of free throws at the end,” Lower Lake coach Andrew Carpenter said.
Amanda Bettencourt came off the Lower Lake bench in the second half to score all of her team-leading 13 points.
Upper Lake 44, Clear Lake 35
At Lakeport, Upper Lake locked up fourth place in the NCL I South and the final available berth in the upcoming league tournament by beating the Clear Lake Cardinals.
Cierra Peel”s 14 points paced the Cougars, who pulled away with a 31-18 second half.
“They basically outhustled us in the second half,” Clear Lake coach Jennifer Goff said.
Upper Lake improved to 2-5 in the South and 7-14 overall. The Cougars close out the regular season Tuesday at home against league champion Cloverdale.
Kaila Sterbank scored 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, for the Cardinals (0-7, 4-19), who close out their season Tuesday at home against St. Helena.
Boys” basketball
Clear Lake 69, Upper Lake 50
At Lakeport, Tyler Glazier scored a career-high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds as the Clear Lake Cardinals improved to 3-4 in the NCL I South standings at the expense of the Upper Lake Cougars.
“Tyler has been really coming along the last week and a half for us,” Clear Lake coach Ken Hook said. “That was a good way for him to end his home season.”
Nine of Glazier”s points came in the third quarter when the Cardinals outscored the Cougars 24-14 to take control of the game.
Upper Lake (0-7, 3-21) lost its 19th straight despite 12 points each from Kyle Coleman and Dylan Gonzales.
Willits 50, Lower Lake 33
At Lower Lake, the Willits Wolverines stayed in the hunt for a share of the NCL I North title with a victory over the Lower Lake Trojans, who were without starting center Kevin Freeman (disciplinary reasons) and guard Angel Macias (out of town).
“We just had six guys and we played about as good as we can play,” Lower Lake coach Marty Udy said. “They did all they could do to make a game of it.”
Willits improved to 5-2 and the Wolverines” close out their season Tuesday with a game against Fort Bragg (6-1).
Lower Lake is 3-4 in league and 13-10 overall. David Clark led the Trojans 12 points and Mike Deakins had eight.
