LAKEPORT — Trailing 41-32 early in the third quarter, the Lower Lake Trojans came storming back to beat the Kelseyville Knights 67-57 in a first-round junior varsity boys” basketball game on Monday at the 17th annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic in Lakeport.
“We”ve been coming alive in the second half,” Lower Lake coach David Graham said of his team”s knack for getting hot in the final two quarters so far this season.
Lower Lake rallied behind the strength of a balanced scoring attack that featured 22 points from Chad Mattos, 17 from Jesse Meldrum and 14 from Richard Tucker.
“We”re starting to play team ball,” Graham said. “Now we have three or four players starting to contribute and not just one.”
The lead changed hand on five straight possessions in the third quarter, the final time when Tucker hit two free throws to put the Trojans ahead to stay at 46-45. Lower Lake had a 54-47 lead by quarter”s end and pushed that advantage to as many as 15 points late in the fourth quarter.
John Mark Reagan”s 27 points powered the Knights, who led 32-30 at halftime. Corey Huber added 11 points and Nick Vargas had seven.
In the early JV game Monday:
Upper Lake 48, Clear Lake 36
KJ Anderson scored 21 points, hitting nine of 10 free throws down the stretch in the fourth quarter, and Anthony Duncan added 12 points as Upper Lake beat Clear Lake for its first Hoop Classic win since 2007.
Upper Lake won despite not making a basket in the first quarter. Clear Lake led 10-3 after one period and 18-14 at halftime. The Cougars pushed ahead to stay on an Anderson basket with 39.7 seconds left in the third quarter.
Forced to foul in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Clear Lake kept sending Anderson to the free-throw line and he responded.
The Cardinals lost one of their top players — Adrian Perez — before the game started. Perez, a sophomore, was moved up to the varsity.
Andrew Jackson”s eight points paced Clear Lake and Ootie Lane had six.
