SANTA ROSA >> Host Princeton had a long, long night against Upper Lake on Friday in the opening round of the Princeton Tournament for varsity girls” basketball teams at Princeton.
“They graduated a lot of seniors and this was also their first game of the season,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said after the Cougars pounded the tournament hosts 52-9.
Upper Lake (3-0), the defending tournament champion, draws Round Valley in the winner”s semifinal round today at 1:30 p.m. If the Cougars win, they”ll play for the title at 6:30 p.m. If they lose, they drop into the third-place game.
Upper Lake outscored Princeton 29-3 in the opening period.
“Obviously it was over after the first quarter,” Smith said.
Natalie Karlsson, the Cougars” leading scorer with 19 points, collected 12 of those — most coming off steals and driving layups — in the opening period. The sophomore also led the team with five assists.
Jojo Augustine added 12 points and three blocks while Skylar Orozco added 11 points and six rebounds. LaShaye Taylor finished with eight points.
Upper Lake”s defense shut out Princeton in the second and third quarters. The Cougars took a 46-3 lead into the final period.
In other girls” action Friday:
Whitney 56
Middletown 39
At Santa Rosa, the Middletown Mustangs threw a scare Whitney”s way but ended up falling in the winner”s semifinal round of the Maria Carrillo Tournament.
“They”re a strong team, Division II, out of Sacramento,” Middletown coach Anthony Bazzano said of the Whitney squad. “They”re loaded and they”ve got a legitimate player on the wing.”
Middletown (1-2) trailed 14-7 after one quarter but rallied to take a four-point lead in the second period before running into foul trouble.
“We took that lead and they were rattled,” Bazzano said.
Whitney regrouped and pushed back in front before upping its halftime lead to 27-20 by hitting six late free throws in the second quarter.
Middletown fell behind by double digits in the third quarter before closing to eight late in the period. Whitney closed out the quarter by hitting a 30-foot 3-pointer, according to Bazzano, pushing its lead to 41-30.
Makenzi Smith”s 12 points powered the Mustangs and Ashlyn Welton added 10.
“The girls battled,” Bazzano said. “Playing against such a high quality opponent will pay dividends down the road.”
Middletown plays San Rafael, the team it beat in the opening round on Thursday, in today”s third-place game at 1:30 p.m.
“They”re using a round-robin-type format, it”s weird,” Bazzano said of today”s rematch with San Rafael.
Clear Lake 40
Burbank 35
At Colusa, the Clear Lake Cardinals beat Burbank to advance to the consolation championship game of the Colusa Tournament. Clear Lake plays either Sutter or Wheatland today at 4:30 p.m.
“We got what we wanted,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said of the win, “but we didn”t shoot very well.”
Although Clear Lake (2-1) won by only five points, Reynolds said Burbank never made a serious run at the Cardinals down the stretch.
Aliza Atkins led the Cardinals with 12 points, Jasmine Rice added seven points and both Terra Morin and Taylor Helms finished with six.
Boys
Roseland Prep 56
Lower Lake 45
At St. Helena, Roseland Prep built a 37-19 halftime lead en route to beating Lower Lake in the winner”s semifinal round of the St. Helena Tournament.
Lower Lake plays either Willits or St. Helena today at 5 p.m. in the third-place game.
While Roseland Prep led by as many as 20 points early in the second half, Lower Lake (1-1) battled back to make a game of it, according to Lower Lake coach Tim Biasotti.
“It wasn”t for lack of effort that we lost, but for lack of execution, something we can work on,” Biasotti said.
“We never put our heads down, we played hard the entire way,” Biasotti said.
Dustin Martin”s 14 points led the Trojans and both Jerod Alexander and Hoke Wickard finished with nine points.
JV boys
Middletown 41
Fort Bragg 34
At Lakeport, the Middletown JV boys notched their first win of the season with a 41-34 victory over Fort Bragg in the consolation semifinals of the Clear Lake JV Tournament.
Beckett Hoage”s 15 points led the way as Middletown squared its season record at 1-1. Trey O”Neill added seven points and Ricardo Chaires had six.
JV girls
Clear Lake 48
Sutter 11
The Clear Lake JV girls” basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season with a lopsided victory over Sutter in the winner”s semifinal round of the Colusa Tournament. The Cardinals play Live Oak for the tournament championship today at 1:30 p.m.
Freshman Valerie Hutton lit up the scoreboard for Clear Lake, scoring a team-high 27 points that included a pair of 3-pointers.
Carin Alakszay and Taylor Meneigorni added five points apiece.
In first-round action on Thursday, Clear Lake beat Trinity 43-19 behind 14 points from Alakszay, 11 from Hutton, eight more from Camille Donald, and six from Kiana Richardson.
