MIDDLETOWN — It might not be the Trojans” time just yet, but if Jim Salmina”s career record tells you anything about the guy, it soon will be for his newest project, the Lower Lake High School varsity girls” basketball team.
Lower Lake rallied late but still fell short against the Willits Wolverines, 63-57, in the championship game of the North Central League I North tournament on Friday at Middletown High School. Willits, the North regular-season champion, won all three of its meetings with the Trojans this season although all three games were competitive.
“We”re probably 70 percent out of 100 of where I want them to be,” Salmina said. “I”ve still got some little things left to do but the girls have been great. We”ve had a great season.”
Lower Lake is applying for an at-large berth in the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs, which begin next week. If the Trojans nail down a berth, they have an opportunity to do something for their coach that he never experienced during a successful nine-season run at Kelseyville (1998-2007) ? win a sectional game (Salmina was 0-7 at Kelseyville).
“What I”m looking to get out of the playoffs is to get my five sophomores in the game. I want everybody to get in and get some experience, see what it”s like.”
Regardless of what follows for the Trojans in the playoffs, Salmina said he has no regrets about what his first season at Lower Lake has brought forth.
“I”ve worked with them for three months and I can”t ask for any more than they”ve done,” Salmina said as the Trojans dropped to 18-10 on the season.
Much like he did when he took over at Kelseyville — he inherited a 3-20 team and went 15-10 in his first season there — Salmina has turned around a floundering Lower Lake program in almost no time at all. The Trojans were just 8-19 last season and a win on Friday against Willits would have had them knocking at the door of 20 wins.
“At the beginning of the season I was thinking .500,” Salmina said.
Lower Lake spotted Willits as much as a 16-point lead on Friday before closing to within two points of the Wolverines with 2:08 left in the game.
“We hit about a two-minute dry spell when we couldn”t score,” Salmina said. “We missed six free throws trailing by two.”
Ceara Snyder, a 6-foot-2 senior center, led Willits with 27 points.
“We had no answer for her,” Salmina said.
April White led the Trojans with 19 points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Veronica Wilder added 15 points and Amber Daniels had 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
“You score 57 and lose and that”s a pretty good testimony to how good they are,” Salmina said of the Wolverines.
