UKIAH >> Five of the eight teams competing in the North Central League I postseason basketball tournament tonight at Mendocino College in Ukiah are from Lake County, including the No. 1 seeds in both the four-team boys and girls fields.
Only the top four finishers in the NCL I standings move on to the postseason tournament, which apart from being a moneymaker for the league has no bearing on the league races that concluded Tuesday night. The tourney can either help or hurt teams that are on the bubble as far as reaching the North Coast Section playoffs next week, and an extra win or two in the league tournament might also improve a team’s seeding for the upcoming sectional playoffs.
The two-day tournament consists of a total of six games. The four opening-round winners tonight advance to championship games on Saturday.
In the boys tournament, the No. 1 seed is league champion Kelseyville (13-1) followed by No. 2 Cloverdale (12-2), No. 3 Clear Lake (8-6) and No. 4 St. Helena (6-8). First-round games have Clear Lake playing Cloverdale at 5 p.m. and Kelseyville playing St. Helena at 8 p.m. As the higher seeds, Cloverdale and Kelseyville are the home team in their respective games.
Kelseyville won both of its league meetings with St. Helena this season, including a 60-54 victory on Tuesday to wrap up the NCL I title. Clear Lake and Cloverdale split their league meetings, each winning on its homecourt.
As far as advancing to the upcoming sectional playoffs are concerned, the Kelseyville and Cloverdale boys are locks in their divisions – Kelseyville in Division IV and Cloverdale in Division V. Clear Lake is on the Division V bubble at 13-13 overall entering play tonight. A strong tournament for the Cardinals could extend their season.
In the girls tournament, Lower Lake (12-2), the NCL I co-champion along with Kelseyville (12-2), is the No. 1 seed by virtue of a number-draw tiebreaker. The two teams split their league meetings. Kelseyville is the No. 2 seed, Clear Lake (11-3) is No. 3 and Cloverdale (8-6) is No. 4. Kelseyville plays Clear Lake at 3:30 p.m. while Lower Lake takes on Cloverdale at 6:30 p.m. Home teams are Kelseyville and Lower Lake.
Lower Lake and Cloverdale split their two league meetings while Kelseyville beat Clear Lake twice.
Looking ahead to the upcoming section playoffs, all four teams will be moving on – Cloverdale and Clear Lake in Division V and Kelseyville and Lower Lake in Division IV.
First-round winners tonight in both the boys and girls divisions advance to the championship round on Saturday. The boys championship game tips off at 2:30 p.m. and the girls championship game starts at 4 p.m.
On Sunday, at-large teams will be selected and the fields set in all divisions for next week’s sectional playoffs.
