ST. HELENA — David Mansell and Ootie Lane sank critical free throws late in the overtime period as the Clear Lake Cardinals beat the St. Helena Saints 58-52 in a North Central League I junior varsity boys” basketball thriller on Tuesday night in St. Helena.
The win keeps the Cardinals (5-0) atop the NCL I standings with Middletown (5-0) and improves their overall record to 15-1.
“Getting out of here with a win, we”ll take it any way we can get it,” Clear Lake coach Jeremy Hopkins said.
Clear Lake trailed 46-45 with 3.4 seconds left in regulation when Lane was fouled and went to the line with the Cardinals in the double bonus. He missed the first free throw but made the second to force overtime.
The Cardinals trailed 50-49 in overtime when a Damian Lopez layup put Clear Lake ahead to stay. Mansell, who finished with a team-high 20 points, hit three of four free throws down the stretch and Lane (14 points) went 2-for-2 at the stripe to keep the Cardinals in front.
“When you hit clutch free throws, you can”t do any better than that,” Hopkins said of Mansell and Lane. “We shot a lot better at the line at the end of the game. In the first half we were one of seven. They damn near gave me a heart attack.”
Lopez finished with 10 points.
Clear Lake travels to Kelseyville on Friday and closes out the first half of its league schedule next Tuesday at Middletown.
In other JV boys” action Tuesday:
Middletown 63, Kelseyville 35
At Kelseyville, Cody Chorjel led the way with 20 points and Ian Bright added 11 as the Middletown Mustangs improved to 5-0 in the NCL I standings and 10-6 overall with a lopsided victory over the Kelseyville Knights.
“We changed some stuff up on defense and jumped on them,” Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn said. “We were subbing kids throughout the game.”
Middletown had a 33-17 halftime lead and continued to pull away in the second half.
Anthony Guzman had nine points for the Mustangs.
Victor Fernandez paced the Knights with 11 points.
Upper Lake 49, Calistoga 47 (OT)
At Upper Lake, Jesse Noble”s layup with five seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Upper Lake Cougars to a win over the Calistoga Wildcats in NCL II action.
Upper Lake had the lead late in the fourth quarter before Calistoga tied it with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Greg Gagnon powered the Cougars with 26 points and Noble finished with 14.
Upper Lake coach John Woods praised Gagnon, Noble and Charles Edmonds for their hustle and tenacity.
JV girls” basketball
Middletown 36, Kelseyville 23
At Middletown, Alisha Bell and Allegra Macedo turned in strong overall performances as the Middletown Mustangs turned back the Kelseyville Knights in JV girls” action.
Bell had 12 points, five rebounds and four steals as the Mustangs improved to 3-2 in the NCL I standings and 10-7 overall. Macedo added 10 points and five rebounds.
Middletown led by seven at halftime.
Despite the loss of Ashley Hart to the varsity and an injury to Madi Hicks, who is expected back soon, Middletown coach Anthony Bazzano said the Mustangs have regrouped and are beginning to play a better brand of basketball.
“It took a while to adjust after losing Ashley, but the girls are starting to look kind of good,” Bazzano said. “That”s the best they”ve looked in a while.”
Ashley Dunia”s 10 points led Kelseyville.
Lower Lake 35, Cloverdale 22
At Lower Lake, Ashley Alexander scored 10 points and Kayla Meadows added nine to propel the Lower Lake Trojans past the Cloverdale Eagles in NCL I action.
Clear Lake 38, St. Helena 24
At Lakeport, Aliza Atkins turned several steals into easy baskets and the Clear Lake Cardinals knocked off the Cloverdale Eagles in NCL I action.
Atkins finished with a team-best 18 points as Clear Lake improved to 2-3 in league play. Joleca Augustine added 11 points and Heather Werner had four.
Augustine went 4-for-6 from the free-throw line.
