PETALUMA — Minus Natalie Karlsson, the Upper Lake Cougars put up the best fight they could before bowing 50-35 to the St. Vincent Mustangs in a North Central League II varsity girls basketball game on Friday night in Petaluma.
Karlsson was ejected from Upper Lake’s 53-37 loss to Rincon Valley Christian on Tuesday night in Upper Lake and had to sit out the St. Vincent game. While that was bad news for the Cougars, who fell to 5-4 in league play and 12-10 overall, the Mustangs didn’t seem to mind, especially after dumping a 46-35 decision to Upper Lake on Jan. 25, a game in which Karlsson scored 33 points.
“St. Vincent wasn’t disappointed, that’s for sure,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said.
Upper Lake trailed 18-11 after the opening period but managed to tighten up its defense in the second quarter although the Cougars couldn’t close the gap and still trailed by seven — 26-19 — at halftime.
“We couldn’t put the ball in the basket enough,” Smith said.
St. Vincent pushed its lead into more comfortable territory with a 17-7 third quarter.
“The girls played hard, they never gave up,” Smith said.
The loss eliminated Upper Lake from the NCL II title hunt.
Brenna Sanchez led the Cougars with 13 points, Isabel Rorabaugh added eight points and eight rebounds, and Liliana Roman-Ibey had six points.
Upper Lake returns to action Tuesday night at home against Roseland Collegiate Prep before returning to the road Friday against Sonoma Academy. The Cougars also have a non-league game on Feb. 11 against Elsie Allen in Santa Rosa.
