LAKEPORT — Twenty wins and counting for the Clear Lake High School junior varsity boys” basketball team.
Charlie Marquez scored 14 points, David Mansell added 12 and Brandon Helms 10 on Tuesday as the Cardinals worked over the Cloverdale Eagles 79-25 in North Central League I action at Lakeport. Clear Lake, now 9-0 in league play, is 20-1 overall. The one loss came on Dec. 10 to Ukiah (72-48) in the winner”s semifinals of the Willits Tournament. The Cardinals have won 15 in a row since then.
“We came out smoking,” Clear Lake coach Jeremy Hopkins said of a 31-10 first quarter that featured a rare five-point play by Jordan Chana, who made a 3-pointer and then drew a non-shooting foul after scoring.
With Clear Lake in the bonus, Chana made both ends of the one-and-one.
Every player on the 12-man Clear Lake roster scored at least one point in the win.
The Cardinals were 8-1 in late December when two players — starter Danny Partida and reserve Nathan Harper — were promoted to the varsity squad.
“It made us a little better defensively although sometimes we don”t have the scoring punch that we had with Partida,” Hopkins said.
Damian Lopez took over Partida”s starting job while Marquez, who already was in the starting lineup, has elevated his game in the last month, according to Hopkins.
“Charlie used to be just a 3-point shooter, but now he does everything for us,” Hopkins said. “He has really come into his own.”
Lopez is among the team”s top defenders, according to Hopkins.
“He”s like the point guard of our defense,” Hopkins said.
