LOWER LAKE — In a game tied 31-all at halftime, the Willits Wolverines pulled away in the second half to beat the Lower Lake Trojans 64-52 in a North Central League I varsity girls” basketball battle for first place on Friday night in Lower Lake.
Lower Lake (4-2 league, 13-5 overall) needed a win to pull into a first-place tie with the Wolverines, who improved to 6-0.
“A good, tenacious team,” Lower Lake coach Jim Salmina said of the Wolverines. “He (Willits coach Eric Mehtlan) does a heck of a good job. His kids play good basketball.”
It was a game of streaks in the first half. Lower Lake jumped out to a 7-0 lead only to watch Willits score the final 19 points of the first quarter. The Trojans battled back in the second, outscoring the Wolverines 24-12 to forge a tie by halftime.
“(Kelsie) Shoffeitt scored 10 points in the second quarter and Shadae White hit two 3-pointers,” Salmina said. “We couldn”t break their press in the first quarter but we had no problem in the second.”
Shoffeitt scored a season-high 23 points and also led the Trojans with 14 rebounds.
“April White drew a lot attention from their defense,” Salmina said of his leading scorer on the season. “They were not going to let April beat them. Kelsie stepped up big time.”
White, averaging nearly 13 points a game entering play, finished with just three although she did pull down 14 rebounds.
Four Willits players scored in double figures, led by Whitney Dunham”s 15 points and Alicia Mehtlan”s 14.
“We have to make much better decisions with the basketball, but if we fix a couple of things I don”t see any reason we can”t play with them,” Salmina said of the Wolverines.
In other girls” action Friday:
Cloverdale 41, Middletown 40
At Cloverdale, Taylor Spaulding”s deep 3-pointer from the right wing with seven seconds remaining lifted the Cloverdale Eagles to a dramatic victory over the Middletown Mustangs, who had a 40-38 lead and the ball with 17 seconds remaining.
Cloverdale improved to 5-1 in league play while Middletown fell to 1-5 and 4-13 overall.
Middletown”s Jenny Hoefer (14 points) missed a 10-foot jumper in the final seconds.
“This was heartbreaking to say the least,” Middletown coach Tony Hart said. “We had that game won.”
Hoefer”s 3-pointer put Middletown in front 40-38 and the Mustangs had a chance to extend their lead but instead missed two free throws with 17 seconds remaining.
Cloverdale worked the ball down the floor and Spaulding, while standing 4 feet behind the 3-point arc, didn”t hesitate, according to Hart.
“She let it go and there was no doubt about it,” Hart said.
Madison Stewart led the Eagles with 15 points and Spaulding added 13.
Rachel Sutton had seven points for Middletown.
Rincon Valley 36, Upper Lake 31
At Santa Rosa, early foul trouble hurt the Upper Lake Cougars in a NCL II loss to Rincon Valley Christian.
LaShaye Taylor and Kat Edmonds both picked up their third fouls early in the second quarter — one in which the Cougars (3-4, 8-9) were held scoreless — and were forced to the bench. Edmonds re-entered the game later in the quarter and received her fourth foul. She finished with a team-best 17 points and 16 rebounds.
“That really affected us,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said of the foul trouble. “LaShaye had four points and really looked good in the first quarter.”
Taylor fouled out in the fourth quarter with six points.
Amber McQueen grabbed 13 rebounds for Upper Lake.
Clear Lake 54, Kelseyville 42
At Kelseyville, a 24-15 fourth quarter propelled the Clear Lake Cardinals to a victory over the Kelseyville Knights in NCL I action.
Clear Lake (2-4, 5-7) took a 30-27 lead into the final period before pulling away from Kelseyville (0-6, 2-12).
“It was a really good quarter,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said. “They just came out and had really good ball movement. We also shot the ball very well.”
Vanessa Tullos hit five free throws in the quarter for Clear Lake and Kelcie Reynolds had another four. Morgan Psalmonds added a 3-pointer.
Strong play down low, especially on defense, from Tullos, Miranda Strate and Jessica Asbury was another factor in the win, according to Reynolds.
“They did a really good job,” Reynolds said.
Asbury finished with a team-best 15 points, Reynolds added nine and Tullos, Heather White and Coree Alexander finished with eight points apiece.
Kyra Rudnick (13 points), Jeannie Johnson (12 points) and Mary Brown (11 points) all scored in double figures for Kelseyville.
Boys” basketball
Willits 61, Lower Lake 55
At Willits, trailing by only two points with 13 seconds left, the Lower Lake Trojans just missed against the Willits Wolverines in NCL I play.
Still looking for that elusive first win of the season, the Trojans (0-6, 0-16) juggled their starting lineup and turned in their best effort of the season, according to coach David Graham.
“Best we”ve played all season,” Graham said. “They started to play like a team.”
Jeff Davis scored a season-high 23 points for Lower Lake and Robin Chen added nine.
“A couple of calls, a couple fewer turnovers and it would have been a different story,” Graham said.
