DURHAM — A slow start cost the Lower Lake Trojans in a 56-48 loss to Oroville in the opening round of the Durham Tournament on Thursday night in Durman.
Lower Lake was originally scheduled to open play Friday but tournament officials had to rearrange the schedule when a team dropped out. The tournament format is now round-robin and the Trojans will play Las Plumas on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Durham on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
“We started off real slow,” Lower Lake first-year coach David Graham said of the 17-6 hole the Trojans dug for themselves in the first quarter of their season debut.
Lower Lake (0-1) outscored Oroville after that and crept to within five points on two occasions late in the game.
“We missed a bunch of layups and we had too many turnovers ? four or five in a row in the fourth quarter. That just can”t happen,” Graham said. “Fortunately it”s all fixable.”
Jesse Meldrum”s 24 points, including four 3-pointers, powered the Trojans on offense. The junior guard also played well on the defensive end, according to Graham.
“He played an awesome game,” Graham said. “Defensively he was all over the place and his offense kept us in the game.”
Point guard Richard Tucker also played well in his varsity debut, according to Graham.
“He did a pretty good job of getting the ball up and down the court,” Graham said.
Thomas Bean and Alphonsos Daniels scored six points apiece and Tucker had five, including a 3-pointer.
It was the season opener for Oroville (1-0).
