LOWER LAKE — Charlie Marquez couldn”t miss, so the Clear Lake Cardinals kept feeding him the basketball.
“When a guy gets hot like that, you”ve got to find a way to get him the ball,” Clear Lake High School junior varsity boys” basketball coach Jeremy Hopkins said.
Marquez buried seven 3-pointers — all in the first half — while powering Clear Lake to its 17th straight win, a 76-58 decision over the Lower Lake Trojans in North Central League I action on Tuesday at Lower Lake.
The Cardinals, now 11-0 in league and 22-1 overall, have three league games remaining (all at home), two of them against their closest pursuers in the standings — Middletown (10-1) and St. Helena (8-3). Clear Lake hosts St. Helena on Friday and Middletown on Feb. 17, the final day of the season. Sandwiched in between is a game against Kelseyville on Feb. 14.
“We have to be ready for them,” Hopkins said of his next opponent, the Saints. “They took us to overtime the last time we played. We barely survived down there.”
Clear Lake took a 53-25 halftime lead into the locker room against Lower Lake.
Marquez finished with 23 points while Brandon Helms and David Mansell each had 14. Mitch Seely added eight.
Johny Egger”s 15 points paced Lower Lake.
In other JV boys” basketball action Tuesday:
Middletown 54, St. Helena 34
At St. Helena, it was a tale of two quarters in the first half for the Middletown Mustangs, who overcame a slow start to beat the St. Helena Saints and remain a game behind Clear Lake in the NCL I standings.
Down 11-4 after one quarter, the Mustangs took control of the game with a 25-2 second period.
“We put the pedal to the metal,” Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn said of the surge on offense. “We were pushing it up and down the court and they couldn”t run with us.”
Hoogendoorn only played his starters in the first two quarters.
“They were substituting and they still couldn”t keep up with us,” Hoogendoorn said.
Middletown (10-1) had three players reach double figures, led by Brandon Rannells” 16 points. Cody Chorjel added 15 and Ian Bright had 10. Anthony Guzman pounded the boards for 12 rebounds to go along with his six points.
Hoogendoorn said he was looking for a close game, especially in the Saints” gym.
“Hell no, I didn”t expect this, not in St. Helena,” Hoogendoorn said. “But we picked up every loose ball and they didn”t have an answer for what we were doing on offense.”
Kelseyville 53, Fort Bragg 41
At Kelseyville, Dustin Martin and Andrew Vonwal scored 10 points apiece as the Kelseyville Knights used a 17-7 fourth quarter to pull away from and beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
Vonwal sank five of seven free throws in the fourth quarter for Kelseyville, now 6-5 in league play.
Victor Perez added seven points in the win.
JV girls” basketball
Middletown 39, St. Helena 24
At Middletown, playing on two bad ankles, Middletown High School”s Alisha Bell recorded a rare triple-double in a league win over St. Helena.
“I tape both of her ankles before every game,” Middletown coach Anthony Bazzano said. “That kid plays her heart out every game, every practice. She”s a tough kid.”
Bell finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals as the Mustangs improved to 7-4 in the NCL I standings and 14-9 overall.
Allegra Macedo added seven points and nine rebounds and Heather Huston had six points, five rebounds and four steals for the Mustangs.
Lower Lake 44, Clear Lake 30
At Lakeport, Ashley Alexander”s 16 points propelled Lower Lake to a league win over the Clear Lake Cardinals.
Fort Bragg 42, Kelseyville 32
At Fort Bragg, Ashley Dunia”s 10 points led the Kelseyville Knights in a league loss to the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
