FORT BRAGG >> It wasn’t their prettiest win of the season, but the Clear Lake Cardinals did enough Tuesday night to beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 39-20 in North Central League I varsity girls basketball action on the Mendocino County coast.
Clear Lake (8-1 league, 17-3 overall) pulled even with Cloverdale (8-1) atop the league standings as the previously undefeated Eagles lost 63-50 at Kelseyville.
“We had an awful time shooting tonight,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said. “We were getting the shots we wanted but we couldn’t make them … twos, 3s, up close, free throws. It was just one of those nights.”
Clear Lake led 12-7 at halftime and 23-16 entering the fourth quarter.
Camille Donald scored six of her points in the first half while Kortnie Reynolds, who led the Cardinals with 12 points, picked up nine of those in the second half. Valerie Hutton had all eight of her points over the final two quarters.
“Donald was our only spark in the first half,” Reynolds said.
What the Cardinals lacked on offense they more than made up for on defense.
“Defense carries you a long way and tonight we really played well,” Reynolds of the single-digit point totals the Timberwolves had in all four quarters.
Clear Lake also received solid play off its bench from Lilli Hill, Kylie Udy and Tianna Jardstrom, according to Reynolds.
The Cardinals won the junior varsity game. The score wasn’t reported
In other girls action Tuesday:
Middletown 52, St. Helena 13
At Middletown, Hanna Morris led the way with 20 points as the Middletown Mustangs overpowered the St. Helena Saints, who suited up only five players.
Middletown (3-6, 10-11) shut out St. Helena (0-9) in the first quarter and led 21-3 at halftime.
“I can’t say we played a clean first half on offense,” Middletown coach Anthony Bazzano said. “We came out in the second half and our spacing was better and our ball movement was better. We did a much better job running our offense.”
Kassi Agapoff scored eight points for the Mustangs while Amy Gattoni and Emily Santiago added six apiece.
Middletown also won the JV game. The score was not reported.
Lower Lake 66, Willits 31
At Lower Lake, Aleia Milano and Vanessa Hughes combined for 49 of Lower Lake’s 66 points in a victory over the Willits Wolverines.
“We came out fast and are back to playing with great intensity,” Lower Lake coach Dave Milano said.
Lower Lake (5-4, 14-6) outscored Willits 22-7 in the first quarter and led 41-18 at halftime.
Hughes had four of the Trojans’ nine 3-pointers.
Credo 50, Upper Lake 32
At Upper Lake, Credo’s full-court pressure unhinged the Upper Lake Cougars early on in this NCL II game.
“We were not passing the ball well and we made too many unforced turnovers,” Upper Lake co-coach Mike Smith said. “We just panicked and you can’t do that at the varsity level.”
Despite falling behind 15-9 after one quarter, the Cougars (4-6, 10-10) closed to within two points of Credo late in the second half before a series of turnovers right before halftime allowed the Rohnert Park team to go on a run and build its lead to 24-14 by halftime.
Brenna Sanchez scored 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Cougars.
Upper Lake held off Credo to win the JV game 30-28. The Cougars were outscored 13-4 in the final period and Credo had a couple of chances to tie the game before the final buzzer sounded.
The Cougars improved to 3-3 in league play behind eight points from Molly McCabe and six apiece from Mallory Henry, Colene Pulido and Maria Wade.
“Basically we held on by the skin of our teeth,” Upper Lake coach Nick Williamson said.
