UKIAH >> A fifth and final meeting this season between Kelseyville and Cloverdale Eagles ended the way head coach Jim Hale said he was hoping for as the Knights prevailed 64-49 in the North Central League I postseason tournament championship game on Saturday afternoon at Mendocino College Ukiah.
Kelseyville’s final tuneup before the start of the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs on Wednesday (see story, bottom of page) pretty much went according to plan, according to Hale, as the Knights not only posted the victory but gained some big-time momentum heading into the sectional playoffs.
“We were up by 20 at one point (in the second half),” Hale said. “We switched defenses up on them, gave them something they haven’t seen from us before, and it kind of messed them up.”
Simply put, a ballhawking, man-to-man pressure Kelseyville defense dropped back into a 2-3matchup zone that the Eagles didn’t know what to do with at first, according to Hale.
Kelseyville held a 31-23 lead at halftime and Cloverdale never made a serious push in the second half. It was quite the contrast from the previous two meetings between the two teams. While the Knights dominated the first two games, Cloverdale made it close in the first league meeting and then won the second one in Cloverdale.
Alma Perez led the Knights with 20 points while Payton Conrad added 18 points, four assists and four steals as Kelseyville improved to 25-3 on the season. Taylor Hale and Carli Mendonca added seven points apiece.
Tehya Bird’s 16 points propelled Cloverdale.
“The girls had three goals coming into the season,” Hale said of his senior-dominated squad. “We wanted to win the Stokes Tournament, we wanted to hang a banner (the Knights tied Lower Lake for the league title) and we wanted to get a home playoff game (for the sectional tournament). We did all three things, so we’re pretty happy about that.”
Expanding on that list now, Hale said it would be a crowning achievement for the Knights to reach the NorCal playoffs, which would mean winning at least two games in the section tournament, beginning with Fortuna on Wednesday in Kelseyville at 8 p.m.
“This has been a great group of girls to work with,” Hale said.
