LAKEPORT >> Corin Alakszay’s timing couldn’t have been any better for the Clear Lake Cardinals in a 48-40 victory over the Upper Lake Cougars during the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division V girls basketball playoffs on Saturday night in Lakeport.
The eighth-seeded Cardinals (20-9) advance to the semifinals on Wednesday night and will play fourth-seeded Urban (12-16) at 7 p.m. in San Francisco. Upper Lake closes out the season at 16-12.
“She just stepped up,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said of Alakszay, who led the Cardinals with 13 points, most of them coming in the fourth quarter.
“They found a hole in our zone and she hit a big three,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said. “She also made a couple of nice driving layups later in the quarer.”
Upper Lake was trailing by only two points when Alakszay found all net on her second and final 3-pointer of the game.
“She didn’t even hesitate when she got the ball (in the left corner),” Reynolds said. “She just drained it to give us a five-point lead.”
The Cardinals had control of the game from then on. A Valerie Hutton 3-pointer, two layups by Alakszay following Upper Lake turnovers, and clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch from Hutton, Camille Donald and Kiana Richardson secured Clear Lake’s second straight postseason victory.
Upper Lake’s Natalie Karlsson led all scorers with 25 points, but Reynolds said he could live with that given what the Cougars’ senior guard is capable of scoring.
“I thought one of the keys was us keeping her in the 20s,” Reynolds said. “I knew if we did that we had a really good shot.”
“They got Natalie out of her comfort zone,” Smith said of the Clear Lake defense. “They were able to keep her about a step to a step and a half out of her comfort range.”
“Valerie guarded her most of the game and did a great job,” Reynolds said of Hutton. “She used up a lot of energy doing that and we knew it might affect her on the other end, but that didn’t concern me.”
Reynolds said that one of Clear Lake’s strengths this season has been a balanced scoring attack that isn’t overly dependent on any one player, so whatever Hutton lacked on the offensive end while guarding Karlsson could be made up by someone else. On Saturday that was Alakszay, the only Cardinal to score in double figures. Hutton finished with nine points, Kortnie Reynolds added eight and Richardson had seven.
After Karlsson, Upper Lake’s scoring fell off to seven points for Brenna Sanchez.
The Cardinals also got a big lift from senior Courtney Hiatt, who was able to effectively replace Richardson on the floor when she ran into foul trouble in the second half.
“She scored all (four) of her points in the fourth quarter,” Reynolds said. “She did a great job.”
The teams were never separated by much during the first three quarters. It was 7-all after one period, 21-17 Clear Lake at halftime and 30-27 Cardinals moving to the fourth quarter.
A capacity crowd rooted on both teams, something both coaches were thrilled to see.
“We had a great crowd,” Smith said. “The support of the Upper Lake community was fantastic.”
“The energy was so good in the gym,” Reynolds said. “It was almost like a big family event. It was packed and I’m hoping we have a big crowd when we go down there (to face Urban in the semifinals).”
Upper Lake shocked No. 1 seed Convent of the Sacred Heart 58-56 to reach the quarterfinals, an upset the likes of which the North Coast Section has never seen before. Clear Lake dominated Holy Names 61-28 in its first-round game.
“These girls and this team have come a long way since that ugly game two years ago against Round Valley,” Smith said.
Looking ahead to the semifinals, both coaches like Clear Lake’s chances to reach the Division V championship game next Saturday.
“I think they can beat that team,” Smith said of Urban. “They play real solid basketball.”
Added Reynolds, “We like our chances. The kids are excited.”
Game notes: Karlsson finishes her four-year career with 1,819 points, second on the all-time list behind only Laura Wilder (1,897), a four-year standout for the Cougars from 1990-94.
