HEALDSBURG — The Lower Lake Trojans were as close as seven points late in the third quarter before the Ukiah Wildcats pulled away for a 74-56 victory in a first-round varsity boys” game Wednesday at the Redwood Empire Invitational in Healdsburg.
Lower Lake (1-4) plays the loser of tonight”s Clear Lake-Healdsburg first-round game in the consolation semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m.
“I wasn”t happy with our turnovers, but I was happy with everything else,” Lower Lake coach Marty Udy said. “We had too many (26). You can”t do that against those guys because they”ll capitalize on your mistakes ? and they did.”
After Ukiah watched its lead shrink to seven late in the third period, the Wildcats went on a run and had a 61-45 lead by quarter”s end.
“We played real respectable,” Udy said. “They (Wildcats) can shoot the ball. They have a couple of real good guards.”
Nick Steward scored 13 of his team-leading 20 points in the first quarter. Joe Taylor finished with 10 points and Kyle Buckingham had six points and 13 rebounds.
“We didn”t back down at all,” Udy said.
Ukiah improved to 6-0 with the win.
Besides Lower Lake and Clear Lake, Middle-town is also entered in the boys” bracket of the tournament, which runs through Saturday.
