LOWER LAKE >> Kelseyville’s normally erudite coach Scott Conrad was rendered speechless on Saturday afternoon by the explosiveness of Hokulani Wickard and the Lower Lake Trojans.
After what he had just witnessed in the Lower Lake gym — Lower Lake’s 73-63 overhauling of his Knights — the nonplussed Conrad apologized to a reporter for his inability to talk about the game, which was critical in the mad scramble for the championship of the North Central League I.
“I don’t want to be rude, but nothing productive can be said about that game,” Conrad said. “No comment. Congratulations to Lower Lake.”
But by the time the sensational sophomore Wickard finished a 30-point performance pretty much all that could be said was accomplished by the spectators. Their words: Mostly “Ooh!” “Ahh!” and “Wow!”
And how did Wickard manage to bring the excitement to that peak? Let us count the ways.
— By scoring 30, including four 3-point field goals, which is not that uncommon until you consider from where and when he scored them. From beyond the arc? Hummph! More like from beyond the zip code. In rhythm with the half-time buzzer and Kelseyville leading 36-32, he nonchalantly rippled the cords with a shot from half-court. It proved to be an omen of things to come.
— By going 10-for-10 at the free throw line, every shot hitting nothing but net.
— By leading the Trojans through a final quarter during which they outscored the Knights 22-8 and allowed them only a single field goal in the final 3 1/2 minutes.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Trojans’ Marlon Jones was brilliant in his own way with 18 points, nine in the final quarter. Another plus was center Jerod Alexander staying in the game for the distance, this was after fouling out in the two games leading up to this one. He had four fouls at the finish but ended up with 12 points
Conrad had good reason to be dismayed by all of this. The Knights had opened this season by winning the Stokes Tournament and Record-Bee Classic, which put them on target with respect to their goals for the season.
Least of all did they — or anyone else — expect Lower Lake to derail them. But two of Kelseyville’s three defeats in a so-far 7-4 NCL I campaign were administered by the Trojans, that after the Knights beat them by 32 points in mid-December at the Record-Bee Classic.
But on Saturday it looked as if Lower Lake might be vulnerable. The Trojans were down by 13 points (32-19) in the second quarter before coming all the way back to win by double digits.
As it stands now Lower Lake has won seven of its last eight games and is tied with Cloverdale, both at 9-2, atop the NCL I standings. Those two teams meet on Friday in Cloverdale.
In his first varsity head coaching job, Shannon Tubbs presently looks like no less than a master strategist for recently moving Wickard to point guard. Wickard has rewarded Tubbs for that move by scoring 58 points in his last two games.
Tubbs says that Wickard was out of position earlier this season.
“He’s been a big part of the game by changing in that situation,” said Tubbs. “He changed the dynamic of our game completely. When you have a kid that big with a brain there’s a lot of things you can do.”
Nick Pfaan had 15 points for Kelseyville and both Logan Barrack and Ean Valenzuela had 11.
“We need to decide where (the program) is going,” said Tubbs, “but it’s a fun rivalry with Kelseyville.”
In Kelseyville they might take issue with that.
