PETALUMA >> That’s 1,606 points and counting for Upper Lake High School senior guard Natalie Karlsson after her 33-point effort on Wednesday night in the Cougars’ 46-35 win over St. Vincent in a North Central League II varsity girls basketball game at Petaluma.
“And she could have had more,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said of Karlsson, who was only 14-for-26 from the free-throw line. “And she missed a couple of layups, too.”
Though in foul trouble in the first half when she picked up three fouls in the second quarter, Karlsson stayed in the game and helped Upper Lake build a 24-18 halftime lead.
The Cougars pushed their lead into double figures in the third quarter and were up 37-23 entering the final period.
Karlsson was the only Upper Lake player to score in double figures. Her night’s impressive stats line included 10 rebounds, eight steals and five assists.
Brenna Sanchez pulled down a team-best 14 rebounds for the Cougars, but their post players again struggled to score in the paint.
“We missed too many layups,” Smith said.
Karlsson is only the fourth Lake County player to reach 1,600 career points. The others are Upper Lake’s Laura Wilder (1,897), Kelseyville’s Scott Conrad (1,717) and Lower Lake’s Vince Alderman (1,672), who is the next player in Karlsson’s sights. She still has six league games remaining and the North Coast Section Division V playoffs to follow.
Upper Lake is currently tied for third place in the NCL II standings with Roseland University Prep. Both teams are 4-2, one-half game behind co-leaders Sonoma Academy and Rincon Valley Christian, both 4-1. The Cougars are 11-8 overall.
Upper Lake’s junior varsity squad fell 53-30 to St. Vincent despite 13 points from Alana Sanchez and seven more from Rebecka Harper.
The Cougars return to action tonight in Tomales.
Slow start dooms boys
Back-to-back road games on consecutive nights took a little bit of steam out of the Upper Lake Cougars on Wednesday night as they fell 59-49 to the St. Vincent Mustangs in North Central League II varsity boys basketball action at Petaluma.
Upper Lake (4-3 league, 9-10 overall) beat Technology 69-37 on Tuesday night in Rohnert Park.
“We gave ‘em everything we had,” Upper Lake coach Justin Dutcher said. “But we kind of ran out of gas in that fourth quarter.”
Upper Lake trailed only 39-37 entering the final period.
“We started out a little slow and weren’t getting the hustle plays we normally get,” Dutcher said of his team’s nine-point first quarter.
The Cougars trailed 25-20 at halftime.
Pancho Flores led Upper Lake with 10 points, Kenny Hodges added nine and Isaiah Garcia, Robert Neils and Sal Sanchez finished with eight apiece.
The Cougars play their fourth league game in a row tonight in Tomales.
