LOWER LAKE >> Kelseyville served notice it”s a player among the county”s varsity girls” basketball teams this season by drilling the Upper Lake Cougars 77-45 in a final-round game on Saturday during the second annual Chernoh Classic at Lower Lake High School.
Nearly a month to the day Kelseyville lost 38-36 to Upper Lake in a non-league game at Upper Lake, the Knights (6-4) sputtered in the opening minutes before putting it all together against the Cougars during a 16-0 run late in the first quarter. From that point on, Kelseyville dominated in pretty much every phase of the game.
Upper Lake (10-2), undefeated entering the tournament, did make a run at the Knights in the second quarter, closing to 36-30 with 2:06 left in the half. Kelseyville absorbed the run and pushed right back, increasing its advantage to 41-31 by halftime.
“The team”s execution was very good,” Kelseyville coach Jim Hale said of a scoring column that featured five players in double figures, led by sophomore guard Riley Goff”s 24 points and four 3-pointers, three of which came during the Knights” game-changing run in the first quarter.
“They listen in practice and pay attention to what we”re trying to do,” Hale said of his players.
They obviously heard Hale”s advice at halftime when he said he told them to remain focused despite their 10-point lead and come out ever stronger in the third quarter against the Cougars, who were still smarting from their first loss of the season the night before against Lower Lake, a 49-48 game.
Beginning with a Heidy Cano”s bucket in the paint with 5:41 left in the third quarter, the Knights simply overpowered the Cougars, even when Goff took a breather midway through the period. At the same time Upper Lake had to do without one of its key players, LaShaye Taylor, who was poked in the eye and had to retire to the bench.
Kelseyville”s Mary McCallister sank a pair of free throws before teammate Haleigh Meyer scored seven points in a span of 45 seconds, including a steal off a layup and a three-point play, pushing the Knights” lead to 56-35. Several other Kelseyville players also were involved in the offense during a 25-point third quarter.
“That”s where we opened it up and really played well,” Hale said.
The Knights took 66-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
“Jimmy had those girls ready to go,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said. “They were playing man-to-man defense against us and they found a weak spot. We were slow-footed tonight and losing LaShaye (in the third quarter) didn”t help. Our bench depth continues to be an issue.”
On another big night by Goff, who scored 68 points in the Knights” three Chernoh Classic games, Smith simply said, “She”s tough. We know she”s going to get her points, but everyone else stepped up on that Kelseyville team.”
As Smith alluded to, Goff had plenty of support from teammates. Meyer finished with 13 points while McCallister, Alma Perez and Carli Mendonca added 10 apiece.
Upper Lake also had a pretty solid outing from its sophomore guard, Natalie Karlsson, who finished with a team-high 21 points, including the Cougars” lone 3-pointer. Jojo Augustine added 13 points but no other Upper Lake player had more than four.
“We knew it was going to be a tough tournament with those NCL I teams there,” Smith said of Lower Lake and Kelseyville. “We responded well against Lower Lake but not against Kelseyville. They (Knights) are going to be a force.”
In other final-round varsity girls” action:
Vintage 59
Lower Lake 43
Vintage picked up its first tournament win at the expense of Lower Lake (6-6), dropping the Chernoh Classic hosts out of contention for second place in the final team standings.
“I was disappointed with the outcome, but not with the girls,” Lower Lake coach Jim Salmina said. “When you”re as young as we are, you”re going to have these ups and downs. I think maybe they were expecting to beat them by just walking out onto the court, but you”ve got to bring it every night, you”ve got to play hard every night.”
Ashlynn Mock led the Trojans with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, while Aleia Milano added eight points.
“I just want to thank the Chernoh family for everything they”ve done and for putting on a great tournament for us,” Salmina said.
Rancho Cotate of Rohnert Park won the tournament championship.
Varsity boys
Kelseyville 82
Averroes 49
Sophomore guard Kyle Ellis led the way with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, and the Kelseyville Knights closed out a 2-1 tournament run with a lopsided victory over Averroes of Fremont. The Knights rolled out 52 points in the first half to put the game away early.
Austin Ferris had 13 points and Victor Fernandez and Hunter Beatty added 11 apiece as the Knights improved to 7-3 on the season. Brandon Huber chipped in another nine points.
The runner-up Knights” lone loss came to tournament champion St. Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejo in first-round action Thursday.
St. Pat/St. Vincent 84
Lower Lake 43
A 30-7 first quarter put Lower Lake (5-6) into a deep hole early as the St. Patrick/St. Vincent Bruins of Vallejo rolled to a big win and the Chernoh Classic championship behind 25 points from Tavian Henderson and another 18 from BJ Standley.
The Bruins led 48-22 at halftime.
Lower Lake crept to within 16 points of St. Patrick/St. Vincent in the second half before the Bruins answered with a big run to blow the game open again.
Freshman Hokulani Wickard led the Trojans with 14 points while Mauricio Jauregui and James Clark added 10 apiece.
Point Arena 55
Upper Lake 40
The Point Arena Pirates kept the Upper Lake Cougars (0-11) winless on the season. Upper Lake played Point Arena even for a half before the Pirates began to pull away in the third quarter. It was still a six-point game — 37-31 — entering the final period.
Francisco Gregorio”s 12 points led Upper Lake and Chase Goetjen added nine.
JV boys
Clear Lake 72
Lower Lake 52
Clear Lake improved to 11-1 on the season and clinched its third tournament championship with a come-from-behind victory over Lower Lake.
The Cardinals trailed 19-11 after one quarter and 31-28 at halftime before overpowering the Trojans during a 30-11 third quarter.
“It couldn”t have worked out any better for us,” Clear Lake coach Phil Psalmonds said of his team”s play to open the second half.
Tanner Hutton”s 23 points and eight rebounds led the Cardinals, who open their North Central League I schedule Tuesday night in Willits. Other key contributors were Cameron Borg with a season-high 16 points as well as nine rebounds, and Ryan Damiata with 11 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Lower Lake 46
Upper Lake 42
Taylor Scott, Jermaine Watson and Jordan McGrath scored 12 points apiece to lead Lower Lake past Upper Lake. JT Claunch”s 18 points propelled the Cougars.
Kelseyville 57
Ukiah frosh 34
Randy Pfann scored 13 points while Logan Barrick and Nate Carpenter had 11 points each in Kelseyville”s victory over the Ukiah frosh sqaud.
JV girls
Lower Lake 38
Vintage 21
Claire Alderson scored 18 points as the Lower Lake JV girls secured first place in their own tournament by beating Vintage High School of Napa.
Lower Lake 39
Upper Lake 14
Vanessua Hughes led the Lower Lake with a 15-point effort against Upper Lake. Ashley Aceves led Upper Lake with nine points.
Clear Lake 31
Kelseyville 29
Clear Lake finished tournament play with a 3-0 record but lost out to Lower Lake, also 3-0, on a points-scored tiebreaker. Camille Donald”s 11 points led the Cardinals while Rachel Linnell scored a team-best eight for Kelseyville.
