LAKEPORT >> Tanner Hutton is hotter than the surface of the sun right now.
After scoring 37 points in a 92-85 loss to Lower Lake on Tuesday night, Hutton came right back with 33 points on Wednesday as the Clear Lake Cardinals routed the St. Helena Saints 76-56 in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action at Lakeport.
The game was rescheduled from Jan. 10 when it was postponed because of a major storm that hit the North Coast.
Clear Lake completes the first half of its league schedule at 4-3 and is currently third in the NCL I standings, two games behind Kelseyville and Cloverdale, both 6-1.The Cardinals are 9-10 overall.
Hutton couldn’t miss from any location on the floor. He went 6-for-7 from two-point range, 4-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc, and 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. In his last two games, Hutton is 14-for-14 from the line.
“He’s moving without the basketball and that is kind of the key,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon. “The kids are finding him. They are unselfish and kept getting him the ball. I think of Max’s six assists almost every single one went to Tanner.”
Max De Leon also had eight points for the Cardinals, include two of the team’s nine 3-pointers.
Clear Lake benefited from two things on Wednesday that held it back a night earlier against Lower Lake, namely the return of Lucas Stahr and Austin Davis to the lineup. Both missed the Lower Lake game.
“And we didn’t get into foul trouble like the night before,” De Leon said. “We were able to play man-to-man defense and get after it.”
Ryan Damiata had 15 points for the Cardinals and both Stahr and Jacob Elsa added six apiece.
Clear Lake built a 45-19 halftime lead. St. Helena inched a little closer in the third quarter as Dylan Martin scored 20 of his team’s 23 points in the period. Like Hutton, he finished with 33.
The Cardinals face a big challenge on Friday when they travel to Cloverdale, a rematch of the league opener between the two teams on Jan. 3 when Clear Lake won 58-54 at Lakeport. Cloverdale center Jayson McMillan missed nearly all of that game with a nose injury sustained early in the first quarter.
“It’s a huge test,” De Leon said. “We’ve got to down to Cloverdale and face a team that is playing well.”
In junior varsity action, Clear Lake improved to 7-0 in the league standings and 17-2 overall with a 67-40 win. Seth Mix lead the Cardinals with 15 points, Preston Jones finished with 12 and Brady McGuire had nine. In JV action on Tuesday, Clear Lake defeated Lower Lake 71-46 behind 20 points from McGuire, 13 apiece from Jones and T.J. Marcks, and 12 from Mix.
