KELSEYVILLE >> A sluggish start proved costly as the Kelseyville Knights fell 55-49 to Sonoma Valley in the varsity boys” bracket of the 43rd annual Stokes Invitational on Friday night in Kelseyivlle.
Cyle Caselli scored 23 points to lead Sonoma Valley into tonight”s championship against Elsie Allen at 7:30 p.m. Kelseyville (1-1) will play Colusa for third place at 4:30 p.m.
“We dug ourselves a bit of a hole early on although the rest of the game I was pretty pleased how we stood in there physically,” Kelseyville coach Scott Conrad said. “They”re pretty big and strong and physical and I thought that we would have a tough time matching up. The first three or four possessions we did.”
Kelseyville trailed 13-6 after the opening period.
Too many turnovers and a 3-for-20 shooting night from beyond the 3-point arc didn”t help Kelseyville”s cause, according to Conrad.
“Our kids played good defense to keep us in the game. We did not shoot well at all,” Conrad said. “Most of that is just getting confidence.”
Kyle Ellis scored 13 points and Nick Pfann added 10 points and five assists to pace Kelseyville. Hunter Beatty had five points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
Colusa presents the Knights with another strong challenge in today”s third-place game, according to Conrad.
“That will be tough,” he said. “They”re a well-coached and active team.”
In other boys” action Friday:
El Molino 48
Clear Lake 45
The El Molino Lions used a 19-9 fourth quarter to catch and pass the Clear Lake Cardinals in a consolation semifinal game. Clear Lake (0-2) took a 36-29 lead into the final period but couldn”t hold it again at El Molino team that got a big lift down the stretch from Montag Genser, who scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Jordan Chana came off the bench to score all of his seven points in the fourth quarter for Clear Lake, which has struggled mightily in the second half of each of its first two tournament games.
“The second half did us in again,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said. “We have to learn how to finish. We have to put two good halves together.”
Max De Leon and Jared Strate led the Cardinals with 12 points apiece and Ryan Damiata added eight.
Garrett Anderson scored 12 of his team-leading 20 points in the second half for El Mollino. Jordan Kirkvliet added 11 points.
Clear Lake and Upper Lake meet in today”s seventh-place game at 10:30 a.m.
South Fork 58
Upper Lake 31
In the other consolation semifinal on Friday, the South Fork Cubs knocked off the Upper Lake Cougars (0-3) behind double-digit scoring performances from Cole Moody (16 points), Grant Wick (15 points) and Kevin Vandenack (10 points).
The Cubs led 26-13 at the half and 37-17 after three quarters.
J.T. Claunch scored all of his team-leading eight points in the fourth quarter for Upper Lake. Jon Sparks added six points.
Elsie Allen 65
Colusa 53
Elsie Allen advanced to the championship game of the Stokes Invitational with a victory over the Colusa Redhawks. Jalen Busby powered the Lobos with 29 points while Bradley Greiner added 19.
Max Valdez had 15 points and Hunter Mobley added 12 for Colusa.
Elsie Allen plays Sonoma Valley tonight at 7:30 p.m. Colusa meets Kelseyville for third place at 4:30 p.m.
Girls
Cloverdale 49
Kelseyville 37
The Kelseyville Knights gave the Cloverdale Eagles all they could handle for three quarters before falling in the winner”s semifinal round.
Kelseyville (1-2) led 29-28 going into the fourth quarter. Cloverdale outscored the Knights 21-8 in that decisive final period.
“I think we were running on some tired legs,” Kelseyville coach Jim Hale said. “For a young team to play them (Eagles) like that, that”s a good sign.”
Riley Goff”s 16 points paced the Knights, who meet El Molino today at 3 p.m. in the third-place game. Alma Perez added seven points and Heidy Cano had six.
“Goff played a strong all-around game and Mary (McCallister) did a great job on defense and on the boards,” Hale said. “They played a full-court man-to-man and Alma did a good job handling that.”
Angel Bernardi”s 16 points paced the Eagles, who meet Ferndale tonight at 6 p.m. for the title. Ali Perez added 12 points.
Ferndale 53
El Molino 25
Rachell Regli scored 12 of her team-leading 24 points in the third quarter as Ferndale advanced to the Stokes Invitational championship game with a rout of the El Molino Lions. Ferndale meets Cloverdale tonight at 6 p.m. for first place. Alondra Perez had 11 points for El Molino.
Lower Lake 37
St. Helena 16
The Lower Lake Trojans secured their first win of the season, beating the St. Helena Saints in the consolation semifinals.
Lower Lake (1-1) shook off a rough start to easily beat St. Helena.
“We had more fouls than points,” Lower Lake coach Jim Salmina said of a first quarter that ended with St. Helena ahead 7-5.
It was all Lower Lake the rest of the way.
The Trojans, who are young and are platooning players during the tournament, led 14-9 at the half and 25-13 after three quarters.
“There”s not a lot of difference between my starters and backups,” Salmina said of what is the youngest team he has ever coached, both at Lower Lake and at Kelseyville. “I felt like we played better last night (in a first-round loss to Ferndale), but the kids played hard. They started working better as a team. They seem to be coming around.”
Ashlynn Mock”s 10 points paced the Trojans while freshman Aleia Milano had nine and Gabby Jauregui eight.
“Mock and Milano both did a good job and Gabby had a big game. She had eight points and I don”t know how many steals,” Salmina said. “We only gave up 16 points, so we were playing pretty well on defense.”
Lower Lake draws Calistoga in today”s consolation championship game at noon.
Calistoga 43
South Fork 23
In the other consolation semifinal on Friday, the Calistoga Wildcats got 17 points from Jenna Franquelin to beat the South Fork Cubs. Franquelin sparked a 34-point Calistoga first half with 11 points of her own.
Stefany Lopez had nine points for the Wildcats.
Shandra Moser”s 11 points, eight coming in the first half, led South Fork. Victoria Van Meter added seven points.
