HEALDSBURG >> One starter down to begin the game, the Clear Lake Cardinals lost Valerie Hutton to a possible concussion early in the first quarter of their 50-21 victory over the Willits Wolverines in the third-place game of the 69th annual Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament (REIBT) on Saturday afternoon in Healdsburg.
Clear Lake bounced back from a 43-33 loss to Justin-Siena of Napa in the winner’s semifinal round on Friday to dominate the Wolverines, a team they will face at least twice more this season in North Central League I action.
Even without Kiana Richardson, who did not play because of an excused absence, and Hutton, one of the team’s top defenders, Clear Lake took it to Willits from the start, opening up a 15-3 lead after one quarter.
Corin Alakszay (14 points), Kortnie Reynolds (13 points) and Camille Donald (11 points) led the way for the Cardinals (5-1). Each sank two 3-pointers along the way.
“We had to make some adjustments without Kiana and Valerie and it took us awhile before we got going,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said. “We’re deep and we have players who can fill those spots. Once they adjusted to the role, we did fine.”
Hutton left the game just a couple of minutes in after falling and hitting the back of her head on the floor. Reynolds said she couldn’t remember who the Cardinals had played the day before (Justin-Siena), so they decided to keep her on the bench. She left the game a short time early to get checked out.
Clear Lake’s other starters and the bench picked up the slack and then some for their injured teammate. The Cardinals had a 26-7 lead by halftime and a 34-14 cushion through three quarters.
Both Alakszay and Donald were named to the All-Tournament team.
“It was late last season when her game began coming around,” Reynolds said of Alakszay. “She’s playing superb basketball for us right now. She had a really good tournament.”
Alakszay and Donald each had 14 points in the loss to Justin-Siena on Friday.
Boys basketball
M’town 45, Roseland Prep 38
In the third-place boys game of the REIBT, the Middletown Mustangs emerged from their three-team pool with the second-best record and beat Roseland Prep of Santa Rosa, which had the second-best record in the other three-team pool.
While Middletown’s offense remains a work in progress, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Mustangs’ defense, which kept them in the game until their shots started to drop. Trailing 16-6 with 4:36 left in the first half, Middletown went on a 12-0 run to push in front 18-16 on Trey O’Neill’s 3-pointer.
A 20-20 game at the half, the two teams exchanged baskets for most of the third quarter. Andres Cervantes scored a basket with 1:40 left in the period to Middletown ahead to stay at 28-26. Jeffrey Morris’ one-handed runner and two Cervantes free throws pushed the Mustangs’ lead to 32-26 by quarter’s end.
Middletown had to remove Cervantes just eight seconds into the fourth quarter when he picked up his fourth foul, but the Mustangs were able to keep their lead despite his absence until he re-entered the game about a few minutes later and Middletown still on top 36-33.
“I told them we needed to hold on for three minutes,” said Jon Hoogendoorn, who was filling in for head coach G.J. Rockwell (away on a business trip).
When Cervantes returned to the court, he scored on a driving layup and added one of two free throws a few seconds later to make it 39-33. Roseland Prep got as close as 39-35 before Middletown’s Thomas Cook buried a pair of free throws with 2:20 remaining.
Cervantes scored down low before fouling out with 36.8 seconds left in the game. Single free throws from O’Neill and Morris sealed the victory.
“Any time you can fill in for the varsity coach and win two of three games, that’s a pretty good tournament,” Hoogendoorn said. The loss to Justin-Siena (in Thursday’s opening round) still haunts me a little bit, but I’ll take two out of three here.”
Between his JV coaching job and his time spent as a youth coach, Hoogendoorn said he’s been working with many of the current crop of varsity players since the third grade, so stepping in at the varsity level wasn’t a difficult transition.
Morris led the Mustangs with 13 points, Cervantes added 11 and Cook had nine. Morris, who hit the boards hard for Middletown on both ends of the floor throughout the tournament, was named to the All-Tournament team along with Cook.
“It’s unbelievable the strides he has made in his four years at Middletown,” Hoogendoorn said of Morris. “He’s now a leader on the court.”
Middletown defeated El Molino 54-40 on Friday in a second-round game. Cook and Cervantes led the Mustangs with 14 points apiece.
The Mustangs are home Tuesday night to play El Molino.
