HEALDSBURG >> The Clear Lake Cardinals were so desperate for offense on Wednesday night against the Maria Carrillo Pumas in the opening round of the Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament (REIBT) that they moved guard Valerie Hutton down low to center.
“She played pretty well for never playing post before,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said following Clear Lake’s 51-34 loss to Maria Carrillo, a setback that snapped the Cardinals’ three-game winning streak.
Hutton finished with 10 points and Taylor Helms led the Cardinals (3-2) with 13 points, but no other Clear Lake player had more than three.
“I can’t say they didn’t hustle and play hard, but we couldn’t buy a basket. We were getting really good looks, but we couldn’t hit nothing.” Reynolds said.
The team’s shooting woes from the field extended to the free-throw line as well. The Cardinals were just 2-for-13 from the stripe in the first half.
“That’s 11 points we could have used,” Reynolds said.
Kiana Richardson led the Cardinals with eight rebounds and Regina Faalelea had five.
Clear Lake draws the loser of today’s first-round game between Willits and Fortuna in the consolation semifinals on Friday at 4 p.m.
