LOWER LAKE >> The second annual Chernoh Excavating Classic basketball tournament tips off on New Year’s Day and runs through Saturday at Lower Lake High School’s new and old gymnasiums. Varsity and junior varsity boys’ and girls’ teams are entered.
Lake County schools in the field are Lower Lake, Upper Lake and Kelseyville in all four divisions. Clear Lake’s JV boys’ and girls’ teams are also entered.
Standard eight-team brackets are used in the varsity divisions. First-round games are New Year’s Day, consolation and winner’s semifinals are Friday, and the championship, third-place, consolation championship and seventh-place games are Saturday.
JV brackets consists of six teams. After play on New Year’s Day and Friday, teams will be re-seeded before Saturday’s final round.
Joining Lower Lake, Kelseyville and Upper Lake in the varsity girls’ bracket are El Molino (Forestville), Hoopa, Unity (Oakland), Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) and Vintage (Napa). In the varsity boys’ bracket, Averroes (Fremont), Point Arena, Thurgood Marshall (San Francisco) and St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Vallejo) join tournament host Lower Lake (which has a first-round bye), Kelseyville and Upper Lake.
In first-round varsity action Thursday in the new gym, Upper Lake plays Averroes at 10:30 a.m. and Kelseyville plays St. Patrick-St. Vincent at 7:30 p.m. in boys’ action while Kelseyville plays Unity at 9 a.m., Vintage plays Upper Lake at 3 p.m., and Lower Lake plays Rancho Cotate at 6 p.m. in girls’ action.
In first-round JV action Thursday in the old gym, Kelseyville plays Point Arena at 9 a.m., Lower Lake plays Upper Lake at noon, and Clear Lake plays Ukiah at 3 p.m. in boys’ action while El Molino plays Kelseyville at 10:30 a.m., Clear Lake plays Vintage at 1:30 p.m., and Upper Lake plays Lower Lake at 4:30 p.m. in girls’ action.
