LIVE OAK >> Sharpened to a fine point were the Lower Lake Trojans in a 62-48 victory over Hamilton City in the opening round of the Live Oak Tournament on Wednesday night in Live Oak.
Fill-in point guard Logan Carlson, who is taking the place of the injured Marlon Jones right now, did his job on both ends of the court for the Trojans, now 2-2 on the season.
“He was scoring and facilitating our offense with his ball movement,” Lower Lake coach Shannon Tubbs said. “He was solid on defense, too. He played a really solid game for us tonight.”
Carlson, one of four Lower Lake players to score in double figures, finished with 16 points and had two of the team’s 10 3-point field goals. Hokulani Wickard led the way with 17 points, including five treys, while Ethan Watson and Jordan McGrath added 10 points apiece.
“They’re starting to grasp the concept of ball movement,” Tubbs said with an eye toward the team’s season-high 16 assists. “That’s the best job we’ve done all season.”
Lower Lake’s marksmanship from behind the 3-point arc also made a big difference, according to Tubbs.
“Our 3-point shooting put a damper on their night,” Tubbs said of the Braves (3-1), who suffered their first loss of the season.
Lower Lake draws either Live Oak or Mira Loma today at 4 p.m. The tournament concludes on Friday.
In other tournament action Wednesday:
Round Valley 66, Upper Lake 60
At Potter Valley, the Upper Lake Cougars didn’t take care of business at the free-throw line against the hot-shooting Round Valley Warriors in the opening round of the Potter Valley Tournament.
“I’ve got to give them (Warriors) credit,” Upper Lake coach Justin Dutcher said. “They hustle and shoot the ball well. They can shoot the lights out.”
Round Valley trailed 14-11 after one quarter but had a 29-23 lead by halftime. The Warriors’ 18-9 second quarter turned out to be the difference in the game, that and their ability to hit free throws down the stretch.
“We got it down to three points with a minute left, but Round Valley won the foul game,” Dutcher said. “They made their shots and we didn’t.”
The Warriors went 19-for-30 from the line compared to Upper Lake’s 8-for-20.
“That’s not going to get it done any night,” Dutcher said.
Early foul trouble also hurt the Cougars as Kenneth Hodges picked up two quick fouls to open the game.
“He was in foul trouble all night, but he hit a couple of big threes for us down the stretch to get us close,” Dutcher said.
Isaiah Garcia’s 19 points led the Cougars (1-4) and Tim Beffa added 15. Hodges finished with 10.
Upper Lake plays Mendocino on Friday at 1:30 p.m. when the round-robin tournament continues.
