LAKEPORT >> Corin Alakszay scored 17 points and Kiana Richardson pulled down 13 rebounds as the Clear Lake Cardinals beat the Sonoma Academy Coyotes 47-33 in non-league varsity girls basketball action on Thursday night in Lakeport.
Clear Lake (6-1) outscored Sonoma Academy 17-5 in the second quarter to account for nearly all of the difference in the final score.
“We were very sluggish the whole game,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said. “I asked them what was going on at halftime and they told me it’s finals week and they’ve been up late studying. That’s something I can understand and we still came away with the win.”
Clear Lake had spurts of good play, according to Reynolds, but the Cardinals were unable to maintain their intensity for long stretches.
“We’d go up by a bunch and then let them back into it,” Reynolds said. “We just couldn’t keep the momentum.”
On a more positive note, Reynolds said Clear Lake avenged a 32-27 road loss to Sonoma Academy last season.
Kortnie Reynolds fueled Clear Lake’s big second quarter with a pair of 3-pointers. In fact, the Cardinals sank three of their four treys in that period to open a 26-13 halftime lead. Reynolds and Richardson finished with nine points apiece. Reynolds also had five rebounds and three assists.
Clear Lake is off until Dec. 23 when it plays at Healdsburg.
In other non-league basketball action Thursday:
Casa Grande 43, Middletown 37
At Middletown, the Casa Grande Gauchos made the most of Middletown’s foul trouble, sinking 12 of 14 free throws in the second half to beat the Mustangs in a non-league game.
“They (Gauchos) were in the double bonus the last seven minutes of the game and they took advantage,” Middletown coach Anthony Bazzano said. “”We put ourselves in that situation by picking up some silly fouls.”
The game was close throughout. Casa Grande led 11-6 after one quarter, 19-17 aft halftime and 28-26 through three quarters.
“Defensively we were solid and played well enough to win,” Bazzano said. “We let it get away from us there at the end but the girls played real hard. We’ll use it as a learning experience and move on.”
Ellie Bazzano’s nine points led the Mustangs, Alyssa Hart and Emily Santiago added seven apiece, and Kassi Agapoff had six.
Middletown (3-2) returns to action Wednesday on the road at Rodriguez.
Middletown’s junior varsity girls basketball team beat Casa Grande 37-32 to improve to 4-1 on the season. Olivia Kucer’s 10 points paced the Mustangs while sister Sophie Kucer added eight points. Jessica Pollack added another eight in the win.
Middletown’s JVs play Fort Bragg on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Ukiah Tournament.
Boys basketball
Clear Lake 57, S. Academy 34
At Lakeport, Tanner Hutton fired up Clear Lake’s offense with 19 points and Darius Ford made his varsity debut, scoring six points, as the Cardinals defeated the Sonoma Academy Coyotes in non-league varsity boys basketball action.
“It was a good bounceback game for us after last night (a 55-50 home loss to Maria Carrillo on Wednesday),” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said. “Our outside shooting is coming around and we’re still rebounded well.”
Although the Cardinals (4-4) once again struggled with turnovers, committing 10 in the first half while building a 30-14 lead, they did a better job of protecting the ball in the second half.
“We cut it down to five turnovers and I was pleased with that,” De Leon said.
Hutton, mired in a bit of a shooting slump, burst out and sank three 3-pointers as part of his 19-point total.
“He had a solid night and he hit a couple of big ones (two 3-pointers) in the fourth quarter,” De Leon said.
The Cardinals used a 19-10 fourth period to put the game away.
Ford, only a sophomore and the leading scorer for Clear Lake’s undefeated junior varsity team this season, got his first taste of varsity ball and didn’t disappoint, according to De Leon.
“He had fairly limited minutes, but he played great defense,” De Leon said. “He’s a really, really solid player.”
Ford also made the first 3-pointer of his varsity career.
The Cardinals are off until Dec. 22 when they host St. Bernard’s of Eureka.
