TOMALES >> The mark of a veteran team is knowing when to go for it and knowing when to back off.
Upper Lake’s Cougars did a little of both on Wednesday night while hammering the Tomales Braves 64-21 in a North Central League II varsity girls’ basketball game at Tomales, the league opener for both squads.
Upper Lake (1-0 league, 11-2 overall) snapped a two-game losing streak in the process and there were no shortage of contributors. Sophomore guard Natalie Karlsson led the way with a triple-double performance of 16 points, 11 assists and 10 steals — all team highs. Jojo Augustine added 14 points and five rebounds in a little more than a half of playing time while LaShaye Taylor had 10 points.
“They (Braves) are a very young team and not very experienced,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said. “This game could have been a lot uglier than it was.”
That the game didn’t become even more lopsided is a credit to three of Upper Lake’s seniors and floor leaders — Augustine, Taylor and Skylar Orozco — according to Smith.
“They had a good head about them and showed some good leadership out there,” Smith said of the Cougars’ decision to burn clock and speed up the game. “They play intense but they understood the situation and played appropriately.”
Smith went to his bench often, reducing the minutes played by his starters.
“With only eight girls I used a rotation,” Smith said.
Upper Lake had the game well in hand by halftime with a 34-8 lead.
The Cougars return home Friday to play Technology before hitting the road next Tuesday for a key league matchup against Sonoma Academy.
“That’s a big one,” Smith said of the Sonoma Academy game. “Hopefully our games in the tournament prepared us,” he added of back-to-back losses to NCL I teams Lower Lake and Kelseyville last weekend in the Chernoh Classic at Lower Lake.
Upper Lake also won the junior varsity game 28-19 behind 12 points from Brenna Sanchez.
