UPPER LAKE >> Kelseyville is open for business.
Behind 18 points from Alma Perez, 13 from Heidy Cano and another 12 from Riley Goff, the Knights overpowered the Upper Lake Cougars 63-35 in non-league varsity girls’ basketball action on Tuesday night in Upper Lake.
Not even 22 points and five 3-pointers from Upper Lake’s Natalie Karlsson could keep the Cougars (1-1) close against the Knights, who opened up a 38-16 halftime lead in their season debut.
“They’re solid and they’re just going to get better,” Upper Lake head coach and Kelseyville alumnus Mike Smith said of the Knights. “They’re tough and they put pressure on us in the first half.”
The Knights (1-0) are loaded with firepower and can score from inside the paint and beyond the 3-point arc, according to Smith. They had six 3-pointers on Tuesday.
“We were happy to be down by only nine after the first quarter (18-9) but they hit three 3s in about a minute’s span in the second quarter to open up a big lead. Alma had two and Taylor (Hale) hit one. We never recovered from that.”
Hale just missed joining teammates Perez, Cano and Goff in double digits with nine points.
“Hale is much improved from last year,” Smith said.
Outside of Karlsson’s big night, the Cougars struggled to put the ball in the hoop. Isabel Rorabaugh’s six points were the next best Upper Lake total.
“Natalie scored 22, but she had to work her butt off to get shots against their defense,” Smith said of the Knights, who return nearly their entire squad from last season. They’ve also added freshman guard Payton Conrad, who scored five points in both her high school and varsity debut.
Kelseyville is looking to improve on last season’s 16-10 mark.
“It’s a good place to be,” Kelseyville coach Jimmy Hale said of a balanced Kelseyville squad that wasn’t even at full strength Tuesday night, suiting up just seven players. “We had two girls out with injuries, so we only had the seven. It’s not a bad seven to have.”
Hale said the team has higher expectations this season even though the balance of the Kelseyville roster consists of underclassmen, even the veterans outside of the senior Cano. “The bar is set a little higher this season. We’re still a young team, but I think our maturity level is going to come up.”
In their first effort of the new season, the Knights passed the ball well and cleaned the boards on both ends of the floor.
“Heidy and Carli (Mendonca) got just about every rebound they could,” Hale said.
As for the Cougars, now 1-1 on the season, Smith said his squad played “better and harder” compared to its season-opening win over Round Valley on Nov. 20.
Both Upper Lake and Kelseyville return to action Thursday in the opening round of the Stokes Tournament at Kelseyville High School. Upper Lake plays St. Helena at 10 a.m. while Kelseyville takes on South Fork at 5:30 p.m.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Smith said.
Kelseyville also won the junior varsity game, beating Upper Lake 58-15.
