FORT BRAGG >> The Kelseyville Knights made the long ride to Fort Bragg on Tuesday night and lost 74-61 to the host Timberwolves in the North Central League I opener for both of these varsity boys’ basketball teams.
Coming off a solid 10-2 preseason, the Knights (0-1, 10-3) never really found their groove against Fort Bragg in the shooting department, according to head coach Scott Conrad.
“Our effort was really good but we didn’t shoot well,” Conrad said. “We missed on the front end of the rim all night.”
Kelseyville led nearly the entire first half but Fort Bragg came up with a loose ball in the final seconds of the second quarter and banked in a 3-pointer to go up 31-29.
It remained a back-and-forth game until the final two minutes when the Timberwolves (1-0) pushed their lead from four points to double digits.
Kyle Ellis led the Knights with 15 points, Nick Pfann added 14 and Hunter Beatty had 12.
Kelseyville did win the junior varsity game 68-55 behind 15 points and four 3-pointers from Randy Pfann, 15 points from Adrian Villalobos, and 13 points from Scott Sanchez. The Knights are 9-4 overall.
In other boys’ action Tuesday:
Lower Lake 61, M’town 53
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans beat the Middletown Mustangs for the second time this season behind a team-leading 15 points from Ethan Watson, who came off the bench.
“He gave us a huge spark on offense,” Lower Lake coach Shannon Tubbs said.
Hokulani Wickard added nine points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Trojans improved to 1-0 in league and 5-6 overall.
“He did stuff away from the ball that really helped,” Tubbs added.
Garrett Chernoh finished with 13 points while Marlon Jones and Jerod Alexander each had 10.
Josh Rebolledo’s 17 points paced the Mustangs (0-1, 4-5).
Lower Lake also won the JV game 57-44. Angel Jauregui led the Trojans with 15 points and Trey O’Neill had 11 for Middletown.
Upper Lake 66, Esparto 35
At Esparto, back in action after a two-week layoff,Upper Lake hammered Esparto in non-league action, a final tuneup before the Cougars open their NCL II schedule tonight in Tomales.
Isaac Nevarez had a big night for the Cougars (7-3) with 28 points, 11 rebounds, six steals, five assists and three blocks.
“He scored something like eight points in a 30-second span in the third quarter,” Upper Lake coach Justin Dutcher said. “He scored 14 points in the third quarter to put the game away.”
Upper Lake took a 51-32 lead into the final period.
Derek Pritchard had 10 points for the Cougars.
Upper Lake also won the JV game 54-13 behind 13 points from Nathan Snead and 10 from Chris Fecht.
Girls’ basketball
K’ville 36, Fort Bragg 32
At Kelseyville, the Kelseyville Knights erased a 19-13 halftime deficit to edge the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in the league opener for both teams.
“Fort Bragg is a pretty darn good team,” Kelseyville coach Jim Hale said.
A halftime adjustment helped the Knights (1-0, 10-3) rally in the second half.
“We found a defense that worked for us and put a little more pressure on them,” Hale said. “Our offense struggled the whole game.”
Alma Perez led the Knights with 13 points and 13 steals. Haleigh Meyer added 10 points and nine rebounds.
“We had 30 steals as a team,” Hale said. “Our defense and rebounding were real good tonight.”
Kelseyville won the JV game 65-10 behind 15 points from Brisa Villa and 13 from Bailey Couey.
Cloverdale 37, Clear Lake 36
At Lakeport, the Clear Lake Cardinals gave the Cloverdale Eagles all they could handle before coming up just short in the league opener for both teams.
Taylor Helms led the Cardinals (0-1, 7-5) with 16 points but no other Clear Lake player had more than five.
Clear Lake missed two shots in the finals seconds and was preparing to attempt a third when the final horn sounded.
“I was happy to see the girls leave it on the court,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said of his team’s effort. “They played great defensively.”
Clear Lake won the JV game 51-36 behind 16 points from Grace Davidson and 11 from Brooklyn Jenkins.
Upper Lake 57, Esparto 28
At Upper Lake, Natalie Karlsson scored a season-high 28 points as the Cougars returned from a two-week layoff to defeat Esparto in non-league action.
It’s the first of three games for the Cougars (5-7) this week as they open their NCL II schedule tonight in Tomales before returning home Friday to play Rincon Valley. The team is trying to get back to the .500 mark by week’s end, according to head coach Mike Smith.
“That’s our goal,” Smith said.
Karlsson scored all of her points in the first three quarters, 16 of them – including both of her 3-pointers – in the opening period as Upper Lake moved out to a 25-8 lead.
“We pressed them and she took apart their guards,” Smith said of Karlsson.
Kejhana Taylor added 10 points and seven rebounds while Shably Navarro came off the Upper Lake bench to add eight points.
Smith also had high praise for the play of Brenna Sanchez on defense.
“She didn’t score a lot of points (two) but defensively she was a beast,” Smith said.
Sanchez blocked six shots and pulled down six rebounds.
Upper Lake’s JVs won 35-21 behind 29 points from Julia Mooney.
