KELSEYVILLE — Jim Salmina celebrated his 59th birthday on Thursday hoping his first present would be a win by the Lower Lake Trojans over the team he used to coach, the Kelseyville Knights, in the opening round of the Stokes Tournament at Kelseyville High School.
While the Trojans couldn”t match Salmina”s age in their final point total, they came close, coming from behind to beat the Knights 55-40.
“After the first quarter I was just hoping we would win the game,” Salmina said of a slow start by the Trojans, who trailed 13-7 after one period and 26-24 at halftime. “We didn”t look very good early on … I think it was first-game jitters.”
But while it took some time for the Trojans” offense to come online, the team”s pressure man-to-man defense made sure the Knights never got too far ahead.
“We made some adjustments at halftime. We changed up our defense a little bit and we forced more turnovers (in the second half),” Salmina said.
Lower Lake went on to outscore Kelseyville 31-14 in the second half, including a 20-8 fourth quarter that sealed the victory.
“Kelseyville came out and played real hard,” Salmina said of his former club.
Kelsie Shoffeitt led the Trojans with 17 points, Danacka Whittington added 11 and Shadae White had 10.
Whittington and White each hit a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Trojans pulled away.
“I expect that out of her,” Salmina said of the senior Shoffeitt”s scoring output. “We need someone to step up and score 16 points a game like Veronica (Wilder) did last season.”
After posting a 17-10 record and sharing the North Central League I North title in 2010-11, the Trojans are on track for another solid season, according to Salmina.
“I”m pretty deep and my backup guards are good,” he said. “I think we”re going to be fairly solid.”
Kelseyville (1-1) was led by Jeannie Johnson, who scored 11 of her team-high 13 points in the first half. Mary Brown added 12 points and Kyra Rudnick had seven.
“We did really well in the first half,” Kelseyville coach Christina Taylor said. “The whole team I thought put in a pretty good effort.”
Taylor said a string of 3-pointers by the Trojans in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach.
“They must have hit like four in about 90 seconds,” she said.
Taylor credited Rudnick with a strong performance on defense.
In other Stokes girls” bracket action Thursday:
Ferndale 52, St. Helena 36
Sierra Early scored 12 of her team-high 18 points in the first half to power the Ferndale Wildcats to a first-round win over the St. Helena Saints. Megan Early added 12 points and Maci Branstetter had nine in the victory.
Ferndale had a 32-18 lead by halftime.
Holle Depina”s 18 points led the Saints.
Cloverdale 47, Orland 43
Dani Hall”s 15 points lifted the Cloverdale Eagles to a hard-fought victory over the Orland Trojans
Cloverdale outscored Orland 32-25 in the second half.
Laeyla Ealy and Lissette Gomez scored 16 points apiece for Orland.
Piedmont 69, Fort Bragg 17
Defending Stokes champion Piedmont outscored Fort Bragg 28-1 in the first quarter en route to an easy win.
Grace Bonacum led the High-landers with 16 points and Jonae Gonzales added 14.
Madi Mitchell”s six points led Fort Bragg.
