KELSEYVILLE — Maybe it was the 10:30 a.m. starting time, but Mesa Verde High School of Citrus Heights woke up its offense in the second quarter and rolled past the Clear Lake Cardinals 76-51 during opening-round action in the varsity boys” bracket on Thursday at the 38th annual Stokes Tournament in Kelseyville.
In other boys” action Thursday, Cloverdale received 28 points from Rich Rowland while pounding its way past Justin-Siena of Napa 76-60, and Piedmont knocked off Capuchino 80-50 behind 26 points from Ryan Staten, who had 18 by halftime.
The late game between tournament host Kelseyville and Round Valley did not take place because the Warriors had a disciplinary problem and were unable to make the trip to Lake County. They will move into today”s consolation bracket while the Knights advance into the winner”s bracket.
Mesa Verde 76, Clear Lake 51
Once the caffeine kicked in, Mesa Verde had no problem overcoming a 13-11 first-quarter deficit. The Citrus Heights team rolled out 20 points in the second quarter, 21 in the third quarter and 24 more in the final period to put the game out of reach.
Ryan Richardson scored a team-high 21 points for Clear Lake and was the only Cardinal to reach double figures in the scoring column. Jason Edwards added nine points, all on 3-pointers in the third quarter.
Clear Lake (1-1) returns to action today at 9 a.m. against Justin-Siena in the consolation semifinals.
Cloverdale 76, Justin-Siena 60
Cloverdale used a 25-11 second-quarter outburst to take control of the game. The Eagles led 42-26 at halftime and 65-44 after three quarters.
Rowland and Jerod Dominechelli teamed up to score all 17 of the Eagles” points in the first quarter (Domenichelli had nine and Rowland eight). Rowland added 10 more points in the second quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the Eagles began to pull away.
Chris Lopez led Justin-Siena with 15 points, only four of which came in the first half. Joe Rossi added 13 points and Dustin Mertens had 12, all on 3-pointers.
Cloverdale and Mesa Verde square off today in the winner”s semifinals at 3 p.m.
Piedmont 80, Capuchino 50
Piedmont, last year”s Stokes runner-up, outscored Capuchino 27-10 in the second quarter to open up a commanding 40-20 halftime lead. In that quarter, Staten scored 14 points.
Evan Baker”s 18 points paced Capuchino.
Piedmont plays Kelseyville tonight at 6 p.m. in the winner”s semifinals.
