ST. HELENA >> Chalk up a 20-point win and a great start for the Lower Lake High School varsity boys” basketball team in 2014-15. Behind 13 points from Dustin Marin and another 10 from Ian Stiles, the Trojans smacked the Healdsburg Greyhounds 54-34 in the opening round of the St. Helena Tournament on Thursday night in St. Helena.
Lower Lake had to overcome some early foul trouble as starters Stiles and Jerod Alexander found themselves on the bench with two fouls apiece in the first two minutes of the game.
“They (officials) said they were going to be strict about calling hand-checking this season and they were,” Lower Lake coach Tim Biasotti said. “That kind of changed our strategy.”
Lower Lake (1-0) led 13-12 after one quarter and began to pull away during a 20-point second quarter that included four 3-pointers, two of them by Martin, who had eight of his points in the period.
Burned by Healdsburg”s Landon Courtman for 18 points in the first half, the Trojans clamped down on the Greyhounds” big man, holding him to just seven the rest of the way. In fact, Courtman scored the only seven points Healdsburg had in the second half.
“We made some adjustments at halftime that worked,” Biasotti said.
Lower Lake outscored Healdsburg 21-7 in the second half.
Freshman Hoke Wickard made his high school debut with nine points, Alexander finished with nine points, and veteran guard Mauricio Jauregui also gave the Trojans a big lift with eight points and solid overall play, according to Biasotti.
“He puts everything he has into it and it shows,” Biasotti said.
Lower Lake takes on Roseland Prep tonight in the semifinals at 7 p.m.
“They were a playoff team last year,” Biasotti said. “We are looking forward to that challenge.”
Girls
Middletown 37
San Rafael 32
At Santa Rosa, Ashlyn Welton scored 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Middletown Mustangs held off San Rafael in the first round of the Maria Carrillo Tournament.
Middletown (1-1) led 32-17 after three quarters but couldn”t put the Bulldogs away in the fourth quarter.
“We were sloppy all night on offense and it kind of crept up on us in that fourth quarter,” Middletown coach Anthony Bazzano said. “We played well on defense the first three quarters.”
Senior guard Katie Depp contributed 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Nicole Corsetti turned in a strong all-around game with five points, seven rebounds and two steals.
“She does a little bit of everything for us,” Bazzano said of Corsetti.
Middletown committed 23 turnovers, many of them unforced.
“It”s still early and we”ve got some things to clean up,” Bazzano said.
Middletown draws Whitney out of Sacramento tonight in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m.
Durham 63
Clear Lake 19
At Colusa, Durham dominated the Clear Lake Cardinals in the varsity girls” bracket of the Colusa Tournament, which tipped off Thursday and runs through Saturday.
Durham led 18-4 after one quarter and 38-10 by halftime.
“We didn”t execute at all,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said. “They came out and were not aggressive, were timid and did not execute.”
Taylor Helms (nine points) and Aliza Atkins (eight points) accounted for all but two of the Cardinals” points.
Clear Lake plays either Burbank or Trinity today in the consolation semifinals at 3 p.m.
JV boys
Lower Lake 78
St. Helena 38
At Lakeport, Garrett Chernoh tossed in 24 points and Marlon Jones added a triple-double of 21 points, 10 assists and 10 steals as the Lower Lake Trojans pounded St. Helena in a first-round game at the Clear Lake JV Tournament.
Jermaine Watson had eight points and eight rebounds for Lower Lake in its season opener.
Lower Lake plays Clear Lake tonight at 7:30 p.m.in the semifinals.
Cloverdale 38
Middletown 36
At Lakeport, Cloverdale edged Middletown in a first-round game at the Clear Lake JV Tournament. It was also the season opener for the Mustangs, who were led by Ricardo Chaires” 12 points. Josh Wilson and Pierce Bracisco added six points apiece in the loss.
