LOWER LAKE — Different game, different star for the Lower Lake High School varsity girls” basketball team.
On a night when the Trojans weren”t at their best, they were still plenty good enough to beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 54-25 in the North Central League I North opener for both teams at Lower Lake.
Amber Daniels led the way for the Trojans with 16 points and 10 rebounds ? both team highs ? as Lower Lake improved to 11-7 overall.
“We were playing really hard but just not doing anything,” Lower Lake coach Jim Salmina said. “It”s like a truck spinning its wheels in the mud.”
Coming off a big win over Cloverdale on Friday, Salmina said the Trojans came out flat. Even so, they led 17-8 after one quarter and 32-16 by halftime.
“As a veteran coach, you expect them to play well every night but that can”t happen,” Salmina said. “If you”ve gotta let down a little bit, tonight was a good night. We”re still winning games and that”s what counts.”
Veronica Wilder added 12 points and Jonesha Beasley had 11 for the Trojans, who capped off their win with an 11-0 fourth quarter. Also contributing to the victory was backup point guard Sara Sanders, who had five rebounds and three steals.
In other girls” action Tuesday:
Willits 54, Kelseyville 37
At Kelseyville, she may be a 5-foot-10 senior forward with a solid inside game, but Willits” Brenna Jessup can also shoot the basketball from the perimeter. Jessup buried six of her team”s 10 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 27 points to lead the Wolverines past the Kelseyville Knights in the NCL I North opener for both teams.
“They”re a tall team that probably could have pounded the ball inside against us, but they were blasting away from the outside very effectively,” Kelseyville assistant coach John Berry said of the Wolverines. “They were also very effective with their press.”
Willits forced seven turnovers in the second quarter while outscoring Kelseyville 20-8 in the period for a 29-14 halftime lead.
“The turnovers led to a lot of easy points,” Berry said.
Mandy Spitzer had 10 points and eight rebounds to lead the Knights, now 8-8 overall. Liz Berry added eight points and a team-high nine rebounds while Mary Brown had seven points and a team-best four assists.
“They don”t have a winning record, but they”re a good team,” Berry said of the Wolverines (6-10), the defending North champions. “They”ve played up this year.”
St. Vincent 59, Upper Lake 19
At Petaluma, a 26-1 first quarter pretty much took all the suspense out of the NCL I South opener between the St. Vincent Mustangs and Upper Lake Cougars.
“They did a good job of completely shutting Kat down,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said of his top scorer on the season, Katherine Edmonds, who was held to just two points. “We panicked against their press and were not able to get into any sort of offensive rhythm,” Smith said.
St. Vincent led 39-11 at halftime.
“St. Vincent is a pretty talented team and can shoot from any spot on the floor,” Smith said.
Kelsey Pearl”s six points paced the Cougars, now 3-12 overall. Sierra Coleman added five points.
