ST. HELENA >> The St. Helena Saints aren’t even on the radar as far as the North Central League I varsity boys’ basketball race is concerned this season, but they sure made it a lot more exciting for those teams who are after routing an understrength Lower Lake squad 83-52 on Tuesday night in St. Helena.
It was the first league win this season for the Saints (1-9). Lower Lake, a winner of five straight league games entering play, falls to 7-2 and 11-9 overall. The loss cost the Trojans their hold on sole possession of first place in the league standings as they’re now tied with Cloverdale (7-2) and Fort Bragg (7-2).
Lower Lake was minus starters Jerod Alexander and Logan Carlson, both benched for school disciplinary reasons. Alexander, the team’s center, was especially missed against a tall St. Helena squad.
“We had no one inside who could protect the middle,” Lower Lake coach Shannon Tubbs said. “They got layup after layup after layup.”
On the absence of the two starters, a disappointed Tubbs said, “These kids don’t understand what their actions mean to everyone else. It’s a pretty selfish thing to do.”
St. Helena started fast and led 22-9 after one quarter. Lower Lake trailed by double digits the rest of the way as the Saints continued to increase their lead throughout the game.
Hokulani Wickard and Marlon Jones led the Trojans with 15 points apiece and Ethan Watson had 13.
Lower Lake’s schedule doesn’t get any easier the rest of the week. The Trojasn are home Thursday to play Fort Bragg and home again on Saturday to take on Kelseyville (6-3).
In other boys’ action Tuesday:
Upper Lake 64, RVC 58
At Santa Rosa, the Upper Lake Cougars completed a season sweep of Rincon Valley Christian behind a season-best 39 points from Isaac Nevarez.
Now 6-3 in league and 13-7 on the season, Upper Lake is now guaranteed of a winning record in the regular season.
“He was pretty solid,” Upper Lake coach Justin Dutcher said of Nevarez, who had 21 of his points by halftime.
It was the most points scored by a Lake County player — boy or girl — in a single game this season.
The Cougars led 32-22 at halftime but trailed 44-42 entering the final period.
“It was back and forth until about three minutes to play,” Dutcher said. “We went on a nice run and went up by 10 points.”
Cody Rybolt had nine points for the Cougars and Tim Beffa added eight.
Upper Lake won the JV game 73-55.
Clear Lake 51, Middletown 37
At Middletown, the Clear Lake Cardinals improved to 3-0 against the Middletown Mustangs this season behind 17 points and eight rebounds from Ryan Damiata and 14 points and nine rebounds from Tyler Dore.
“They had a lot of energy early in the game … it was their homecoming … but we shot well early,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said. “We came out and matched that energy and played a good, solid first half.”
Dore scored eight points in the first quarter as Clear Lake (4-5, 12-9) went up 13-7. Damiata had eight of his points in the second period as the Cardinals increased their lead to 31-21 by halftime.
The second half was even more physical than the first, according to De Leon.
“I’m proud of my guys,” De Leon said. “They punched us in the mouth and we didn’t back down. We kept battling.”
Josh Rebolledo’s 10 points paced Middletown (1-8, 5-11) and Jake Rivera had eight.
Damiata had three of Clear Lake’s five 3-pointers.
“We shot the ball a little bit better than they did and that was the difference between this game and the first time we played them in league (a 35-34 Clear Lake win last month in Lakeport),” De Leon said.
Clear Lake won the JV game 50-45.
Girls’ basketball
M’town 60, Clear Lake 44
At Middletown, a triple-double performance by Makenzi Smith and another in a long line of double-double outings by Ashlyn Welton powered Middletown past the Clear Lake Cardinals. The Mustangs (8-1, 16-5) remain one game behind Kelseyville in the NCL I standings.
“I was pretty happy with the first half on both ends of the court,” Middletown coach Anthony Bazzano said. “We played well offensively in the second half as well but giving up 27 points is not our MO (Modus operandi). We need to get it corrected quickly. We have some work to do.”
Smith finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds, 10 steals and five assists for Middletown.
“She had a big, big game,” Bazzano said.
Welton led the team in scoring with 29 points and also had 10 rebounds.
Taylor Helms led the Cardinals (4-5, 11-9) with 19 points, leaving her 19 shy of 1,000 for her career. Camille Donald added eight points.
Middletown led 18-8 after one quarter and 30-17 at halftime.
RVC 57, Upper Lake 26
At Santa Rosa, the Upper Lake Cougars opened a two-game NCL II road trip and the results weren’t particularly impressive as they suffered one of their worst losses of the season against the Rincon Valley Christian Eagles, a team they beat 40-35 back on Jan. 8 in Upper Lake.
“It was pretty ugly,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said as the Cougars slipped to 7-2 in league play and 12-9 overall. “There wasn’t a whole lot of effort.”
The Cougars now trail league-leading Sonoma Academy (9-0) by two games in the standings.
Upper Lake fell behind 10-3 early and it didn’t get any better. Rincon Valley led 21-10 at the end of the first quarter and 35-16 at halftime.
One game after registering career point No. 1,000, Natalie Karlsson finished with a team-high 11 against the Eagles (6-3, 15-6). She’s scored fewer points only one other time this season. Nine of those points came on 3-pointers.
“Maybe it was a hangover from Friday night,” Smith said. “I don’t know.”
The Cougars stay on the road Friday to play St. Vincent in Petaluma before returning home next Tuesday to take on Calistoga.
Upper Lake won the JV game 35-14.
Lower Lake 74, St. Helena 27
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans snapped a five-game league slide and beat the winless St. Helena Saints in NCL I action.
“We came out and played really well,” Lower Lake coach Bryce Brin said of the Trojans’ 26-point first quarter. “We got the ball up and down the court and found open teammates.”
Lower Lake’s balanced scoring against the Saints (0-9) certainly reflected that. Jolean Scarborough led the Trojans (3-6, 11-10) with 13 points, Ashlynn Mock and Katelyn Farrell each had 11, Aleia Milano added 10 and Samantha Caires had nine.
The Trojans led 26-7 after the opening period and 41-13 by halftime.
It was Lower Lake’s first win since Jan. 12 against Fort Bragg.
Lower Lake’s JVs beat St. Helena 63-23.
