SANTA ROSA >> On a Wednesday night when the Upper Lake Cougars were minus four players for disciplinary reasons, Kenny Hodges took charge in a 63-32 victory over Roseland Collegiate Prep in the North Central League II opener for both of these varsity boys basketball teams at Santa Rosa.
Hodges scored 36 points, including a dunk in the first quarter, while leading Upper Lake (1-0, 9-2) to an easy victory. Hodges also sank two 3-pointers and 10 free throws while pulling down 11 rebounds and dishing out four assists.
Off since Dec. 16 because of winter break, the Cougars didn’t have anything close to perfect attendance during their holiday workouts and head coach Justin Dutcher said several players were held out of the league opener as punishment. As a result, the Cougars had just eight players eligible to play.
“We played pretty well given we were shorthanded,” Dutcher said.
Hodges took up a lot of that slack with his big night.
“Kenny put it on his shoulders and went for it,” Dutcher said. “He had a size advantage and he was killing it inside.”
Many of Hodges’ baskets were part of three-points plays as he worked his way to the foul line several times.
Colton Goetjen just missed a double-double of his own with nine points and 10 rebounds and Andrew Brackett added five points and 10 rebounds.
“Both of them did a good job inside,” Dutcher said.
Upper Lake’s coach also was happy with his team’s ball movement as the Cougars registered 15 assists.
“Everybody stepped up and played well when they were out there,” Dutcher said.
Upper Lake has a bye Friday but plays three league games next week beginning with Credo on Tuesday in Rohnert Park.
In other boys basketball action Wednesday:
Lower Lake 50, St. Helena 47
At St. Helena, Izzac Carver’s 16 points and 15 more from Hokulani Wickard carried the Lower Lake Trojans to a win in their NCL I opener against the St. Helena Saints.
Lower Lake (1-0, 5-8) trailed 12-0 early in the first quarter before bouncing back to catch St. Helena 14-14 by the end of the period.
“I called a timeout to talk it over with them and we came out (of the timeout) a whole different team,” Lower Lake head coach Tim Biasotti said. “Thank goodness.”
The two teams were never separated by much after that. It was 27-27 at halftime, and 38-37 Lower Lake through three quarters. With the Trojans clinging to a 49-47 lead in the final seconds, St. Helena missed a 3-pointer and Elijah Hernandez pulled down the defensive rebound and was immediately fouled by the Saints. With Lower Lake in the double bonus, Hernandez hit his first free throw and missed the second. All the Saints could do was get off a desperation 3-point shot from halfcourt as time expired.
“It’s always a tough place to play,” Biasotti said of the St. Helena gym. “They’re always big and physical and they were again tonight. I didn’t want to get into that type of game with them but we did and won.”
Carver had a lot to do with the victory, according to Biasotti.
“He had a big game and created a lot of hustle plays,” Biasotti said. “He was attacking the hoop strong and creating a lot of opportunities for us.”
Darian James and Michael Taliaferro had eight points apiece for the Trojans.
Lower Lake also won the junior varsity game 53-38.
The Trojans return home Friday night to play Willits.
Cloverdale 45, Middletown 38
At Cloverdale, the Middletown Mustangs played tenacious defense but couldn’t generate enough offense while falling to the Cloverdale Eagles in the NCL I opener for both teams.
“They’re averaging 67 points a game and our goal was to hold them to 50,” Middletown coach G.J. Rockwell said. “We did that, but we just could not get into an offensive flow.”
Middletown (0-1, 7-5) didn’t help itself at the free-throw line, hitting just four of 17 shots.
Andres Cervantes’ 13 points paced the Mustangs.
Cloverdale also won the JV game 56-46 despite 24 points by Middletown’s Will Aden and another 10 from Jorge Fonseca. Tanner Pachie had seven points for the Mustangs.
“We did very well with their man-to-man defense and their press,” Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn said. “Ultimately it was their 3-point shots that put us up against the wall.”
