COVELO >> One down.
LaShaye Taylor scored 15 points and Jojo Augustine checked in with 10 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks on Friday night as the Upper Lake Cougars knocked off Round Valley 50-43 in non-league varsity girls” basketball action at Round Valley High School in Covelo.
It was the season opener for both teams. Upper Lake, with a goal of winning at least 20 games this season, recorded its first victory of the 2014-15 campaign despite giving up nearly all of an early double-digit lead. The last Upper Lake team to win 20 or more games was the 1997-98 club.
“It was a lot closer than I wanted it to be,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said.
The Cougars roared out of the gate and led 15-2 after one quarter only to watch Round Valley chip away. The Warriors were as close as three points before key buckets by Taylor and Autum Martinez sealed the victory in the fourth quarter.
“Defensively we were making plays, getting steals and getting breaks (in the first quarter),” Smith said. “Then we went away from that. We shot the ball a little too much from the outside and slowed the game way down. I didn”t want to slow it down.”
Round Valley relied on its perimeter shooting and free-throw accuracy to mount its comeback. While the Warriors didn”t hit a single 3-pointer during the game, they did choose their outside shots wisely, according to Smith.
“And they must have shot 80 percent from the line,” he said.
“It was a little bit of a wakeup call. I hope we don”t have another one,” Smith added.
Martinez finished with nine points while Natalie Karlsson added six points and three assists.
In junior varsity action on Friday, Upper Lake beat Round Valley 32-18 behind eight points from Isabel Rorabaugh.
Upper Lake”s teams return to action Dec. 2 at home against Kelseyville.
