LAKEPORT >> Eight games into their 2015-16 schedule, the Clear Lake Cardinals finally got to play at home on Wednesday night against the Upper Lake Cougars in non-league varsity girls’ basketball action in Lakeport.
And it was indeed a case of home sweet home.
Taylor Helms found the range on six 3-pointers, four of them in the second quarter, and finished with 26 points overall as Clear Lake used a big first half to beat Upper Lake 60-41. Helms, a senior guard chasing 1,000 career points, had 19 by halftime, including five 3-pointers.
“Taylor shot really well tonight and that helped because some of our players are still off right now,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said.
Clear Lake (6-2) scored the game’s first six points before Upper Lake tied it up with six quick points, including a 3-pointer by Natalie Karlsson.
The Cardinals took a timeout at that point and Reynolds offered a bit of advice.
“They were already getting comfortable after that (taking a 6-0 lead). I told them to get that intensity back and they did. They brought it back up.”
Helms hit her first 3-pointer moments later and Clear Lake never looked back. A 10-point first quarter from teammate Jasmine Rice had the Cardinals sitting pretty at 20-7 by quarter’s end, one of two Rice 3-pointers in the period closing out the scoring.
Clear Lake continued to pull away during a 23-9 second quarter. Helms hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Cardinals’ advantage to 31-13 and she connected twice more from beyond the 3-point arc to help make it a 43-16 by halftime.
“They’ve got shooters and I think they’re going to do pretty well in their league,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said of the North Central League I. “They are the fourth NCL I team we’ve faced (Cloverdale, Willits and Kelseyville being the others) and they’re better than both Cloverdale and Willits. It’s going to be fun when they play Kelseyville.”
While Smith’s Cougars, now 4-6 on the season, are young compared to the last two seasons when they were veteran dominated, that hasn’t stopped the Upper Lake coach from scheduling up against bigger NCL I schools. In fact, the team is 4-1 outside of its five losses to NCL I opponents (they lost twice to Cloverdale).
“We’re getting our big girls ready for league and they (players) are buying into it,” Smith said. “We’re not going to be facing shooters like we’ve seen so far when we get to league (NCL II).”
Karlsson, a junior guard also pursuing the 1,000-point milestone this season, is Upper Lake’s go-to scorer and Smith admits his third-year varsity player is asked to carry the scoring load for the Cougars.
“Natalie’s been off as far as her shooting goes the last three or four games and I think the (winter) break will do her good,” Smith said. “She’s playing on tired legs right now. I ask a lot of her and she’s still doing it all.”
Karlsson didn’t shoot the ball well against the Cardinals but still finished with 18 points in addition to five assists, four steals, three rebounds and three blocks.
Upper Lake’s scoring after Karlsson dropped off to six from Kejhana Taylor. Helms and Rice (10 points) led the Cardinals while Valerie Hutton, Corin Alakszay and Kiana Richardson added six points apiece.
Reynolds said the Cardinals are as deep on the bench as any team he’s coached at the school.
“We’re at least nine deep and I’ve told them I’m not afraid to use any of them. We don’t drop off much when we substitute.”
Off to a solid start this preseason, Reynolds said the Cardinals are looking forward to the upcoming NCL I race.
“They are excited about it and they want the competition,” he said .
Clear Lake’s final tuneup for league play takes place Dec. 28-30 at the Fort Bragg Tournament where the Cardinals open against River City, a team that defeated them 71-29 in the first round of the same tournament in December of 2012. Helms was a freshman playing up with the varsity at that time.
“She probably remembers that,” Reynolds. “We get another shot at them.”
Upper Lake hosts St. Joseph Notre Dame of Alameda on Tuesday, its final game before the winter break.
Clear Lake beat Upper Lake 58-18 in the junior varsity game behind 11 points from Kortnie Reynolds and 10 from Lilli Hill.
