KELSEYVILLE >> Eleven players suited up and 11 players scored for the Kelseyville Knights, who opened their 2014-15 schedule with a 76-19 rout of the Upper Lake Cougars in the varsity boys” bracket on Thursday at the 43rd annual Stokes Invitational in Kelseyville.
Kelseyville meets Sonoma Valley tonight in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Sonoma Valley beat South Fork 57-50 in another first-round game on Thursday.
In Kelseyville”s season-opening victory, the Knights (1-0) had a 26-2 lead after one quarter and put the game well out of reach by halftime at 42-12.
“I was very pleased with our focus,” Kelseyville coach Scott Conrad said. “We knew Upper Lake is down and is young, but we wanted to make sure we came out and did the little things, that we stayed focus and respected Upper Lake. We did all of that.”
Conrad said the Knights will have their hands full tonight against Sonoma Valley.
“They”re pretty big and physical,” Conrad said.
Victor Fernandez led the Kelseyville scoring barrage with 14 points, including two 3-pointers, and Nick Pfann (12 points) and Kyle Ellis (10 points) also cracked double figures. Hunter Beatty added eight points. Tyler Riewerts led the Knights with 10 rebounds while Pfann added a team-best seven steals and five assists.
“They”ve big, fast, well-coached and pretty darn good,” Upper Lake coach Justin Dutcher said of the Knights. “They”re where we”re trying to get to. I know they understand ? they were there a few years ago.”
Chris Scott”s six points led the Cougars (0-2), who meet South Fork today at 9 a.m. In the consolation semifinals. Cody Rybolt added four points.
In other boys” first-round action:
Sonoma Valley 57
South Fork 50
Cyle Caselli”s 17 points powered the Dragons, who used a 17-10 third quarter to account for the margin of difference in the game. Kevin Vandernack”s 16 points led the Cubs, who trailed 21-20 at halftime.
Colusa 38
El Molino 33
Max Valdez scored 15 points to lead the Colusa Redhawks past the El Molino Lions in a first-round game. Jeremy Pearson”s 16 points led the Lions and Montag Genser had 10.
Elsie Allen 61
Clear Lake 42
The Clear Lake Cardinals couldn”t keep pace with a taller Elsie Allen squad in the second half, falling to the Lobos in the the opening round of the Stokes Invitational.
A Clear Lake team not yet at full strength did manage to make a game of it for the half and trailed only 28-25 at the intermission. Elsie Allen pulled away with a 21-7 third quarter.
“We”re a little lacking in conditioning,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said. “We ran out of gas in the third quarter.”
Jared Strate led the Cardinals (0-1) with 16 points in their season opener and Max De Leon added another 11. No other Clear Lake player had more than four points.
“For our first game out of the chute we played well and our defense did some nice things,” De Leon said. “We boxed out well. I think we just need to be in a little better shape and we”re still a little banged up (from football season).”
Clear Lake plays El Molino today at noon in the consolation semifinals.
Girls
Ferndale 45
Lower Lake 37
Lower Lake”s young varsity girls” squad couldn”t keep pace with the Ferndale in the second half of this first-round matchup. Lower Lake (0-1) led 27-26 at the half but gradually lost ground to Ferndale in the second half.
Aleia Milano”s nine points, all on 3-pointers, led the Trojans (0-1) in their Stokes and season opener. Ashlynn Mock added eight points, seven of those coming in the first quarter. Sammi Caires added six points.
Lower Lake plays St. Helena in the consolation semifinals today at 1:30 p.m.
Rachelle Regli”s 15 points powered the Wildcats, who meet El Molino in the winner”s semifinal round today at 4:30 p.m. Bailey Collings added 10 points.
El Molino 26
St. Helena 18
In a first-round game played on Wednesday night instead of Thursday, the El Molino Lions knocked off the St. Helena Saints behind 10 points from Madison Dean. Clara Olguin led the Saints with eight points.
Cloverdale 49
Calistoga 16
Teanne Edens scored nine of her team-leading 17 points in the first quarter as the Cloverdale Eagles routed the Calistoga Wildcats. Angel Bernardi had 10 points for the Eagles in their first-round win. Joyce Aquino”s seven points paced Calistoga.
Kelseyville 63
South Fork 17
Sophomore guard Riley Goff led the way with 23 points, including three 3-pointers, as the Kelseyville Knights routed the South Fork Cubs.
It was the first win of the season for Kelseyville (1-1) and new coach Jim Hale, who liked what he saw.
“We were real crisp, real sharp, especially early on,” Hale said of the 50-9 lead the Knights built by halftime. “We came out very intense and ready to play basketball.”
Kelseyville had 32 steals as a team and held South Fork scoreless in the fourth quarter.
“Our defensive effort was great,” Hale said.
Ashley Dunia had eight points for the Knights, including two 3-pointers. Mary McCallister and Alma Perez added six points apiece.
The Knights take a step up in competition tonight when they play Cloverdale in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m.
