KELSEYVILLE >> The sport is basketball and not track, but the Kelseyville Knights just cleared a giant hurdle in their pursuit of the North Central League I varsity girls’ championship after beating the Cloverdale Eagles 58-42 on Tuesday night in Kelseyville.
The victory leaves the Knights at 9-0 in league 18-3 overall with five league games remaining. The only team with a winning NCL I record among those five is Middletown (8-1, 16-5), not that Kelseyville coach Jim Hale or his Knights are looking past Willits, Lower Lake, Clear Lake or St. Helena. They’re not.
“Just one game at a time for us,” Hale said.
Kelseyville’s focus against Cloverdale, a traditional league rival, was razor sharp.
“Defensively we did a couple of different things against them. We pressured the heck out of them, which is what they always do to us. We sort of turned the tables on them,” Hale said.
Kelseyville not only swept the league series from Cloverdale with its latest victory but also won the season series two games to one (the Eagles beat the Knights in early December at the Stokes Tournament in Kelseyville).
Cloverdale falls to 6-3 in league play.
The Knights trailed late in the second quarter before going on a 10-0 run that put them ahead to stay at halftime 31-24.
“We scored in spurts,” Hale said. “We had some nice runs.”
Heidy Cano starred for the Knights on offense and defense, scoring a season-high 19 points and limiting one of Cloverdale’s top players, Angel Bernardi, to just eight points.
“She had a great night for us,” Hale said of Cano, who also pulled down seven rebounds.
Alma Perez added 14 points and Riley Goff had 13, including three 3-pointers, to help keep Kelseyville undefeated in league play. Goff needs nine points to reach 1,000.
The Knights return to action Thursday night in Willits before returning home Saturday to play Lower Lake.
