WALNUT CREEK >> The Clear Lake Cardinals shook off the three-hour ride to Walnut Creek and their underdog status on Wednesday night, stunning No. 5 seed Berean Christian 63-55 in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division V boys basketball playoffs.
Clear Lake (14-14), the No. 12 seed, advances to the quarterfinal round on Saturday and will play No. 4 seed Bently in Lafayette.
“We’re playing another game and the guys are thrilled,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said of the Cardinals’ big win, one that keeps their season alive. “I really appreciate all the fans who made the trip down here. We had a lot of them and it was great.”
It turned out to be a good night all around for Clear Lake basketball as the Lady Cards routed Holy Names of Oakland 61-28 in their Divison V opener and now move into the quarterfinals on Saturday against No. 16 seed Upper Lake, a 58-56 upset winner over No. 1 seed Convent of the Sacred Heart. That game will take place in Lakeport.
“That’s pretty cool,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said of the all-Lake County quarterfinal. “I’m glad they won. I was texting Mike (Smith, the Upper Lake coach) back and forth.”
Boys
Clear Lake used a big first half — 36-21 — to gain all the leverage it needed against the fifth-seeded Eagles.
“They were struggling with our defense (a matchup zone) and they came out in a man defense against us, which surprised me,” De Leon said. “We expected to see a zone.”
Not that the Cardinals were complaining as they shredded both Berean Christian’s man and press defenses.
“We beat the press and ended up getting layups,” De Leon said. “And we really took advantage of their man defense.”
Balanced scoring in the first half and for the game was a factor in the win, according to De Leon, who had five players score between nine and 14 points. Lucas Stahr and Ryan Damiata led the way with 14 points apiece, Jacob Elsa and Max De Leon each had 10, and Tanner Hutton had nine.
“We did a good job driving to the hoop and getting the ball to the open guy. We got a lot of really nice looks,” De Leon said.
Girls
The Clear Lake Cardinals heated up in the second half and outscored Holy Names 39-16 to blow open the game at Lakeport.
“Before you knew it we were up by 20 points,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said. “Everyone who played tonight did something to help us.”
Clear Lake had a 13-4 lead after one quarter and a 22-12 advantage at halftime.
“We weren’t great in the first half, but in the second half we really shot well,” Reynolds said.
Valerie Hutton led the way with 19 points, including seven during the Cardinals’ 18-point third quarter that opened things up. Corin Alakszay scored all nine of her points in the fourth quarter as Clear Lake nailed down the victory and a quarterfinal meeting with Upper Lake, a team they beat 49-47 in Upper Lake back on Dec. 20.
“That’s really great to see,” Reynolds said. “It’s a great matchup, it’s going to be fun.”
Camille Donald scored 11 points for the Cardinals and Kortnie Reynold added nine more. Clear Lake hit eight 3-pointers, four of them by Hutton.
