KELSEYVILLE >> Tick, tick, tick. The sound that you hear approximates the sole time that Clear Lake held a lead over ultimate tournament champion Kelseyville in the boys’ division title game of the 44th annual Stokes basketball tournament in the Kelseyville gym on Saturday night.
It occurred late in the third quarter of the game in which the Knights prevailed 63-51, and had several locals scratching their head trying to figure out the last time Kelseyville won its own tournament.
“Kelseyville has won this tournament before although it’s been a while. I don’t remember much about it. We won when I was a kid,” Kelseyville coach Scott Conrad said.
Conrad should know. He played for the Knights — then the Indians — when they last claimed the Stokes title with a 56-38 win over Lower Lake in 1986. Kelseyville also won the tournament in 1985, back when Stan Weiper coached the team.
Point guard Nick Pfann and multi-talented Kyle Ellis cored 23 and 15 points, respectively, to lead the Kelseyville charge. Pfann was named tournament MVP while Ellis landed on the All-Tournament team as well.
Led by Max De Leon’s 28 points – the game high and the only other double-digit scorer – the Cardinals gave the Knights a moment of concern in the third quarter on Saturday. Until then Clear Lake trailed by as many as nine points and had battled its way to a 46-45 lead with a 25-point quarter. The Cardinals entered the fourth period trailing just 48-46.
And then?
Clear Lake made not a single point for the first 6 ½ minutes of the fourth quarter. By then the Knights had completed a 13-2 scoring run accompanied by a 13-1 rebounding edge for the period and had thoroughly boxed out Clear Lake in the shooting lanes. The Cards were able to get off only two 3-point shots and were fouled on three two-point attempts.
So by the time Clear Lake point guard Stevie Diaz sank a pair of free throws the Knights held a 61-48 lead.
“We went up against a team that’s pretty good,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said. “They are well coached and disciplined and took us out of our game a little bit. We have to push the ball and shoot well and we didn’t shoot the ball that well tonight. We certainly didn’t play with the same energy we played the first two games.
“But you can’t take anything away from Kelseyville,” he added. “They have a solid defense and are very athletic. They have good shooters, a good strong inside game. They’re very balanced.”
Conrad said the play on the defensive side of the ball was critical against Clear Lake, which he added, “can shoot the heck out of the ball and we knew they were going to shoot the heck out of it at some point. Tonight it was the third quarter instead of the first. Thank God we weathered the storm. I don’t think that we gave them easy shots.
“I thought Max (De Leon) was on fire,” Conrad added. “We just rebounded defensively and just stayed with what we do. Tonight was a good night for us to find out a little about ourselves. We got a long way to go, but I’m happy with tonight.”
Both Clear Lake’s De Leon and Ryan Damiata, who finished with eight points, were named to the All-Tournament team.
The teams will meet at least three more times this season, twice in league play and later this month (Friday, Dec. 18) in the 22nd annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic at Middletown.
