CLOVERDALE — The Cloverdale Eagles held off visiting Lower Lake 50-44 on Friday night, a loss that drops the Trojans out of the North Central League I varsity girls” basketball title race.
Cloverdale improved to 10-2 in the league standings on a night that Willits (12-0) clinched a tie for the NCL I title with a victory over Fort Bragg. Lower Lake is now 9-3 in league and 18-6 overall.
The final score was as close as Lower Lake would get to Cloverdale in the fourth quarter. While the Trojans played well on defense, their offense struggled outside of the 17 points by April White, who also had 13 rebounds.
“We couldn”t buy a basket,” Lower Lake coach Jim Salmina said. “We still battled and played right with them. We just missed a lot of open shots, layups and free throws.”
Shadae White had seven points for the Trojans.
In other girls” action Friday:
Upper Lake 55, Calistoga 21
At Calistoga, the Upper Lake Cougars closed out their best season since 2003-04 (15-13) with a victory over Calistoga in the NCL II finale for both teams.
Playing her final high school game, Kat Edmonds led the Cougars (5-7, 12-14) with 21 points. She received a nice round of applause as she left the court with a minute remaining in the game.
“Kat did what she does,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said. “She”s been asked to carry the scoring load and she certainly did that.”
Edmonds averaged a Lake County-best 16.4 points a game this season, finishing with 409 points. She scored 925 during her three-year varsity career.
It was also the final high school game for Amber McQueen, who finished with two points.
Upper Lake led 17-6 after one quarter and 34-8 at halftime.
Kelsey Pearl had eight points for the Cougars and freshman LaShaye Taylor added seven.
“Double digits (in wins) is what we were looking for,” Smith said. “We had a lot of young players around Kat and that”s what I”m looking to build on next season.”
St. Helena 40, Clear Lake 29
At St. Helena, in a game that was close until the final minutes, the St. Helena Saints beat the Clear Lake Cardinals in NCL I action.
“We played pretty good defense, we just couldn”t hit anything (on offense),” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said.
Coree Alexander held St. Helena”s top scorer on the season, Holle Depina, to just two points.
Jessica Asbury”s 12 points paced Clear Lake (3-9, 6-12) and Morgan Psalmonds added five.
Middletown 62, Kelseyville 20
At Kelseyville, Krist-iana Outen”s 12 points and 12 rebounds powered the Middletown Mustangs in a league win over the Kelseyville Knights.
“First four-quarter game we”ve played,” Middletown coach Tony Hart said. “We put up numbers in all four quarters.”
Middletown led 45-11 after three quarters.
Amber Hart and Kayla Farr had 13 points apiece to pace Middletown (5-7, 8-15).
Shannon Fontana and Kyra Rudnick led Kelseyville (1-11, 3-17) with six points each.
Boys” basketball
St. Helena 92, Clear Lake 62
At Lakeport, leading by just three points midway through the third quarter, the St. Helena Saints pulled away to rout the Clear Lake Cardinals behind 29 points from Alec Fetzer.
“They just started hitting everything,” Clear Lake coach Glenn Wienke said of the Saints, who outscored the Cardinals 26-9 in the fourth quarter.
Adrian Perez and Kyle Donald scored 20 points apiece for the Cardinals (5-7, 12-11), who have dropped four straight.
Cloverdale 58, Lower Lake 50
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans were as close as two points down the stretch before Cloverdale pulled away for the NCL I victory.
“It came down to a couple of turnovers and the four 3-pointers they made in the fourth quarter,” Lower Lake coach David Graham said. “I thought we played a heck of a game.”
Jesse Meldrum scored 14 points and Richard Tucker added 13 to lead the Trojans (2-10, 2-20).
Junior Campos scored 16 points for Cloverdale, which evened its league record at 6-6.
Upper Lake 63, Calistoga 59
At Calistoga, Dean Reimers scored 22 points, Dakota Fallai added 16 and Joey Valdez had 14 as the Upper Lake Cougars closed out the season with a league win over the Calistoga Wildcats.
Upper Lake finished up at 3-11 in league play and 5-18 overall.
“Reimers hit some big shots,” Upper Lake coach Chris Cisneros said. “Dakota”s last two or three games have been his best. He”s our only senior and he really stepped it up.”
Valdez, who also wrestles for the Cougars, joined the team late in the season and gave Upper Lake a big lift in the scoring column and on the boards. He finished with 14 points on Friday before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
“He definitely gives us a presence in the paint,” Cisneros said.
Cisneros said he”s looking forward to next season given the nucleus of players returning and those moving up from the junior varsity squad.
