LOWER LAKE — When Lower Lake High School coach Jim Salmina rotates his reserves into the game, he expects results, no matter the situation and no matter the competition.
“I”m trying to work my bench ? they”re next year”s starters and they”ve got to start thinking and playing like starters,” Salmina said after watching the Trojans soundly beat the Kelseyville Knights 61-38 in the consolation semifinals of the Lady Trojans Winter Classic on Tuesday morning in Lower Lake.
Lower Lake (8-3) will play Middletown in the consolation championship game today at 1:30 p.m. Kelseyville (2-5) takes on Piner for seventh place at 10:30 a.m.
With Lower Lake up 17-6 after one quarter against Kelseyville, Salmina began to rotate in his reserves. At first they didn”t do much, according to Salmina, but some encouragement from their coach helped turn things around.
“They”ve got to go in there and give me some points, I”m just not looking for minutes to rest the starters,” Salmina said.
Between Janiece LaValley, Dani Welch and Camry Richardson, Lower Lake”s reserves scored 14 of the team”s 20 points in the period as the Trojans lengthened their lead to 37-14 by halftime.
“I thought the kids played really well in that first half,” Salmina said. “This is the way we”ve got to play.”
Kelseyville was able to close the gap somewhat in the third quarter as the Trojans pulled off their press for part of the period.
April White had another big game for the Trojans, which is nothing new through their first 11 games this season. She finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds ? both team highs ? as well as three steals, two assists and a block. Shadae White added nine points, while Welch and LaValley finished with eight and seven, respectively.
Middletown 53, Piner 37
A team that needed a confidence boost as well as a win got both on Tuesday as the Middletown Mustangs beat the Piner Prospectors for the second time this season.
“We haven”t been putting the ball in the hoop but we did today,” Middletown coach Tony Hart said.
Middletown (3-7) reached double digits in every quarter and led 30-15 by halftime.
“Everybody scored,” Hart said of his nine-strong roster. “Everybody contributed and everybody felt like they were part of the win and that helps build confidence.”
Brooke Jackson scored a season-high nine points to lead a balanced Middletown attack. Amber Ramponi, Jenny Hoefer and Amber Hart added eight points apiece.
Playing Lower Lake today in the consolation championship game at 1:30 p.m. will give the Mustangs a pretty good idea what they”ll be up against when North Central League I play rolls out around next month. The Trojans are one of the frontrunners to win the 2012 league title.
“We”ll get to see how we match up, which is better than a scouting report,” Hart said. “They”re playing good right now and we”re not. We just need to keep putting the ball in the hole.”
In the winner”s semifinals on Tuesday, Vintage of Napa advanced to today”s championship game (7:30 p.m. tip-off) with a 47-42 win over Cardinal Newman, and Northgate defeated Healdsburg 50-41. Cardinal Newman and Healdsburg play in the third-place game at 4:30 p.m.
JV division
Northgate beat Middletown 48-37 in a winner”s semifinal game in the JV division and will play Cardinal Newman, a 47-23 winner over Lower Lake, in today”s championship game at 6 p.m. Vintage also beat Kelseyville 36-19 in the consolation semifinals.
In Middletown”s loss, Ashley Hart led the Mustangs with 13 points and Allegra Macedo had nine.
