KELSEYVILLE >> Bib Hamner brought the Kelseyville High School gym alive on Friday night as the Knights turned back Orland 59-34 in the winner’s semifinal round of the 45th annual Stokes Invitational Basketball Tournament.
Kelseyville (3-0) will face two-time Stokes champion Cloverdale in the girls title game for the second year in a row. The Eagles won last year’s meeting 40-31. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
Hamner scored only two points for the Knights, but the Kelseyville crowd certainly appreciated her effort in doing so.
“She sprinted after and dove for a loose ball,” Kelseyville coach Jim Hale said. “She tapped it to a teammate (Brisa Villa) and then got the ball back and was fouled. She hit both free throws.”
Acknowledging Hamner’s effort on the play, Hale said, “The crowd erupted.”
Payton Conrad led the Knights with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, while Alma Perez had 17 points and Haleigh Meyer eight.
The Knights led 32-22 at halftime.
“We made some defensive adjustments at halftime and were focusing on defense in the second half,” Hale said. “It was like night and day from the first half. We were making it uncomfortable for the other team.”
Looking to tonight’s Stokes title rematch with Cloverdale, Hale said, “It’s going to be a great a game.”
In other action Thursday in the girls bracket:
Upper Lake 58, Ferndale 37
Despite running into a bit of foul trouble, the Upper Lake Cougars bounced back from a lopsided first-round loss to Cloverdale to easily handle Ferndale in the consolation semifinals.
Upper Lake’s Natalie Karlsson picked up her third foul late in the second quarter and her fourth early in the third quarter. While she was on the bench, Kayla Nevarez entered the game and kept the offense running smoothly.
“Kayla Nevarez stepped it up and sparked us with her nine points,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith. “She kept the lead where we wanted it, right around 15 points.”
Karlsson ended up with a big game despite her extra time on the bench in foul trouble. The senior guard finished with 26 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five steals and one block.
“She was pretty dominating,” Smith said. “She wasn’t being double-teamed all the time and was able to show off her skills.”
Upper Lake outscored Ferndale in each of the first three quarters to build a 47-25 lead.
After opening the season against two of the top teams in the North Central League I — Kelseyville and Cloverdale — Smith said Upper Lake’s players were feeling pretty good about their first win of the 2016-17 season.
“They were smiling for a change, excited about the next game,” Smith said. “Our girls weathered the storm and we should be able to get on track a little bit.”
Upper Lake draws St. Helena today at noon in the consolation championship game.
Cloverdale 62, Rancho 51
The Cloverdale Eagles are returning to the Stokes Tournament finals. The two-time defending Stokes champions beat the Rancho Cotate Cougars on Friday and will once again face Kelseyville in the championship game. Action tonight tips off at 6 p.m.
Tehya Bird, who is only a freshman, led the Eagles with 26 points and junior Camryn Figueroa added 18 in the victory.
Cloverdale defeated Kelseyville 40-33 in last year’s Stokes final although the Knights went on to beat the Eagles twice in league play.
St. Helena 41, South Fork 32
Marieli Rubio accounted for more than half of St. Helena’s offense, scoring 21 points in a consolation-semifinal victory over South Fork.
Citali Garcia had 10 points for the Saints. Noelia Alatorre’s nine points led South Fork. The Cubs play Ferndale in the seventh-place game today at 9 a.m.
