LOWER LAKE — Just a few feet from where you”re sitting in the Carl Delgado gymnasium watching the 15th annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic, a magnificent facility is only a couple of weeks away from opening.
The new Lower Lake gym will soon become the jewel of North Coast sporting venues. It”s not only spacious and comfortable, but it offers every possible amenity you could ever ask for in a gymnasium complex, right up to and including video monitors that allow you to follow the game even when you”re not in the gym area. Huge windows that separate the lobby from the gym floor area mean you can watch the game while you”re browsing the concessions area. The team rooms and locker facilities are first rate in every sense. The equipment room contains portable cages for each sport that can be rolled to another area if necessary. There are laundry facilities and offices, state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems, and automated rollers for the school”s wrestling mats.
It”s really quite remarkable, similar to the Mendocino College, only better.
And because the facility actually has the seating capacity to host any North Coast Section event, teams from Lake County won”t be forced to travel outside the county to find a suitable facility. They can simply hold it at Lower Lake”s new gym, which will host next year”s Record-Bee Hoop Classic.
Now, if only there was a press box …
The Hoop Classic enters its homestretch tonight with JV and varsity games between Middletown and Kelseyville and Clear Lake and Upper Lake. The Middletown and Clear Lake JV teams enter play with 2-0 records.
Tonight”s also the night for the free-throw and 3-point competitions in the junior varsity and varsity divisions. The JV contests follow the first JV game between Middletown and Kelseyville. The varsity contests follow the first varsity game between Middletown and Kelseyville. You should show up early as the tournament has been running ahead of schedule.
From the e-mail bag at the Record-Bee, one reader wanted to know why the Saturday games don”t start until 3 p.m., whereas other tournaments usually start their Saturday games early in the morning.
Simple. Fans don”t attend morning games. No fans means no gate, which defeats the purpose of a fundraising tournament such as the Hoop Classic.
