KELSEYVILLE — In the end, more than anything else, Kelseyville High School coach Jim Hale said it was the play of his seniors that made the difference in a 41-39 victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals on Tuesday night in Kelseyville.
“That’s the benefit of being a senior-heavy team,” Kelseyville coach Jim Hale said of a roster that features six seniors, four of them starters. “They’ve been here before, they know how to handle the pressure in these close games, they understand the urgency.”
And there was plenty of urgency for the Knights (10-2 league, 21-3 overall), who needed a win to stay in the North Central League I varsity girls basketball race and keep alive their bid for a second straight league title. Had Kelseyville lost, it would have fallen two games behind the Cardinals (10-2, 17-7) with only two games remaining. Instead, the league race is now a three-team sprint between Kelsevyille, Clear Lake and Lower Lake, all at 10-2.
Kelseyville has the easiest road ahead with home game remaining against Middletown and St. Helena, two clubs with a combined three league wins going into Tuesday’s action. Clear Lake is home Friday against Willits before finishing up on the road Feb. 14 at Lower Lake. Lower Lake has the toughest road as it visits Cloverdale (7-4) on Friday before returning home Feb. 14 against Clear Lake.
“Definitely experience makes a difference,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds of the veteran Knights, who tied Middletown for the league championship a year ago. “Tonight in the fourth quarter we didn’t execute. We made too many turnovers, untimely turnovers.”
Kelseyville fought all the way back from a 18-5 deficit late in the first quarter to win the game.
“They came out and were on fire,” Hale said of the Cardinals’ shooting percentage from the field. “We were right on them but everything they put up seemed to go in.”
Kelseyville closed to 18-10 by quarter’s end and cut the Cardinals’ lead to 24-20 by halftime. It was a 35-32 Clear Lake lead entering what would be a back-and-forth fourth quarter. Kelseyville senior Alma Perez, who led all scorers with 19 points, finally settled the issue by hitting a shot from near the free-throw line with 13 seconds left to give the Knights a 41-39 lead. Clear Lake had time enough to tie or win the game in regulation but turned the ball over with 3.8 seconds remaining.
“We were trying to run a screen-and-roll with (Camille) Donald and (Valerie) Hutton, a play we execute very well most of the time,” Reynolds said. “But we tried a bounce pass and they (Knights) got it.”
Kelseyville brought the ball inbounds and Clear Lake was able to force a jump ball with .7 seconds remaining and the possession arrow in its favor. The Cardinals couldn’t get a shot off before time expired.
Perez and fellow senior Haleigh Meyer (12 points) powered the Knights in the second half. Meyer scored nine of Kelseyville’s 12 third-quarter points.
“Haleigh is playing at a good level right now,” Hale said. “She turned it up when we needed it.”
Hutton and Kortnie Reynolds led the Cardinals with 11 points apiece. While Clear Lake didn’t come away with a win, Reynolds said it’s the closest one of his clubs has come to beating Kelseyville the last two seasons. The Knights have won the last five meetings, most of them lopsided affairs.
“They played hard,” Reynolds said. “I’m proud of them.”
