COLUSA >> All five of Clear Lake High School’s starters scored in double figures on Thursday night as the Lady Cardinals routed Pierce 71-42 in the opening round of the Colusa Tournament.
Four of those starters — Valerie Hutton (18 points), Camille Donald (13 points), Kiana Richardson (12 points) and Corin Alakszay (11 points) — only recently joined the team after Clear Lake’s deep run into the volleyball playoffs.
“I thought we might be a little rusty, but I’ll take 71 points any time,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds of the Cardinals’ season-opening victory. “We ran the court really well. We really worked well together.”
Kortnie Reynolds (11 points) was the fifth Clear Lake starter in double figures.
Clear Lake used a 22-12 second quarter to pull away from Pierce. The Cardinals led 36-23 at halftime and 55-33 entering the final period.
Clear Lake draws either Sutter or Durham in the winner’s semifinal round on Friday at 6 p.m.
In other girls basketball action Thursday:
Kelseyville 74, Orland 30
At Colusa, Payton Conrad led the way with 22 points, one of four Kelseyville starters in double figures, as the Knights opened their season and the Gridley Tournament with a 74-30 victory over Orland.
The Knights (1-0) play either Gridley or Willows on Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the winner’s semifinal round.
“I was pretty comfortable with the girls I had last year so I was kind of nervous going into tonight, maybe more nervous than the players,” Kelseyville coach Jim Hale said of a Kelseyville squad that has a new look this season.
“I do have five players returning, but it’s a new mix,” Hale said. “Once we got going I kind of relaxed and the girls did well.”
Real well, in fact. Kelseyville jumped all over Orland early and led 26-6 after the first quarter. The Knights had the game all but won by halftime with a 41-12 cushion.
Conrad buried six 3-pointers among her 22 points. The target of Orland’s defense early on, things eased up for Kelseyville’s three-year varsity veteran when sophomore teammate Allison Bryant hit three 3-pointers of her own.
“They weren’t expecting that,” Hale said of the Orland defense.
Bryant finished with 10 points. Brisa Villa (12 points) and Bib Hamner (11 points) also finished in double figures.
Grace Davidson anchored the Kelseyville defense with her hustle and team-leading nine rebounds, according to Hale.
“She was all over the place on defense,” Hale said.
Lower Lake 72, McKinleyville 48
At Eureka, the one-two punch of Aleia Milano and Vanessa Hughes plus a solid game from Elizabeth Ingalls propelled the Lower Lake Trojans (2-0) past the McKinleyville Panthers in the first round of the Arcata Classic.
Milano scored 32 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had four assists while Hughes added 29 points and 11 rebounds. Ingalls pulled down a team-best 14 boards to go along with six points.
“Ingalls had a really good game,” Lower Lake coach Dave Milano said. “She cleaned up on the boards. That’s as good as I’ve ever seen her play.”
Lower Lake led 20-12 after the opening period, slowly built its lead through the middle quarters and put the game away with a 20-9 surge in the final period.
McKinleyville unsuccessfully tried to pressure Lower Lake’s guards, according to Milano.
Lower Lake meets either Hoopa or Arcata in the winner’s semifinal round on Friday at 8:30 p.m.
Upper Lake 45, Geyserville 8
At Upper Lake, Brenna Sanchez scored eight of her team-leading 12 points in the first quarter as the Upper Lake Cougars worked over the Geyserville Broncos in the opening round of the Cougar Round Robin.
“It was nice to get her going early,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said. “That’s the kind of scoring from the post we need. It was kind of nice to see that.”
Geyserville scored just two points in each of the four quarters.
Kaila Willard joined Sanchez, who also had six rebounds, in double figures with 10 points as Upper Lake improved to 2-0 on the season. Cheyanne Obedoza added four points and four assists. Nastasia Cullen led the team with five steals.
Upper Lake returns to action Friday against Potter Valley at 6 p.m.
