KELSEYVILLE >> That’s three straight 20-win seasons for the Kelseyville Knights, 74-20 winners over the Willits Wolverines in the North Central League I and season finale for both of these varsity girls basketball teams on Thursday night in Kelseyville.
Next stop for the Knights (11-3 league, 20-6 overall) is the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs, which open Wednesday. The field will be announced Sunday.
“Defensively we can play with anybody,” Kelseyville coach Jim Hale said when asked about the upcoming playoffs. “We’ll struggle at certain times with our scoring, but we always find a way to score.”
Hale said it’s unlikely Kelseyville we’ll be seeded high enough in the Division IV field to earn a first-round home game.
“I hope I’m wrong,” he added.
Kelseyville overpowered Willits from the opening tip and led 25-4 after one quarter and 37-7 at halftime. Bib Hamner led the way with 21 points while Payton Conrad finished with 18 points, including all four of the Knights’ 3-pointers. Grace Davidson and Linda Baqleh added nine points apiece and Allison Bryant had eight.
Looking back on Kelseyville’s regular season, Hale said he has absolutely no complaints with how his players performed.
“I’m very happy with the way we ended,” Hale said. “I was nervous early in the year but they kept surprising me.”
In junior varsity action, Kelseyville closed out its season with a 45-17 victory over Willits behind a balanced scoring attack that had Ryann Taylor with seven points and Skye Mateer, Samantha Carter, Dianna Pfann and Lily Nowlin with six apiece.
Kelseyville finishes 8-6 in league and 13-7 overall.
“It was fun and I can’t wait to do it again,” Kelseyville’s Lindsey Hamner said of her rookie coaching season.
In other girls basketball action Thursday:
Lower Lake 69, Fort Bragg 44
At Fort Bragg, the Lower Lake Trojans avenged a 33-31 loss at Fort Bragg earlier this season with a league- and regular-season-ending victory over the Timberwolves.
Lower Lake (8-6, 17-9) will apply for an at-large berth in the Division IV playoffs and the tournament field will be set on Sunday.
“I think they’re good,” Lower Lake coach Dave Milano said when asked about Lower Lake’s chances of securing an at-large berth in the competitive Division IV tournament. “I think we have a chance to sneak in.”
Lower Lake reached the Division IV playoffs last season and lost a 76-65 first-round battle with Marin Catholic of Kentfield.
If the Trojans receive an at-large berth into this year’s postseason field, senior guard Aleia Milano will get at least one more chance to add to career total of 1,740 points, 13 of which came on Thursday night.
“She was kind of the sacrificial lamb,” Milano said of his daughter, who was the target of a box-and-one defense by the Timberwolves.
“In the second half we decided to move her down low to the baseline,” Milano said. “We went to a high post and two wings up top … it was basically a 4-on-2 game. We picked them apart.”
Vanessa Hughes picked up much of the scoring slack with a team-high 25 points while Katelyn Farrell added 10 points and Samantha Caires nine. Moving up from the JV to the varsity squad was Heather Felder and she contributed another seven points.
Fort Bragg kept it close in the first half and trailed only 30-23 at halftime.
“They were one game under .500 in league and overall coming in and it was a game they really needed (to make the playoffs),” Milano said. “They came out with a lot of energy and really played us tough.”
Tomales 44, Upper Lake 25
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars honored their seniors before falling to the Tomales Braves in the NCL II finale for both teams.
Upper Lake finishes the 2017-18 campaign at 5-11 in league play and 11-15 overall.
The Cougars are losing six seniors, including their star post player Brenna Sanchez. She scored a team-best 19 points against Tomales, 13 of those in the second half as she tried to rally Upper Lake from a 22-8 halftime deficit.
“She went out a warrior,” Upper Lake co-coach Mike Smith said. “She went out tough.”
Tomales led only 10-7 after one quarter but Upper Lake struggled to put the ball in the hoop in the second period and managed just a single free throw.
“It doesn’t matter how good of defense you play if you score one point,” Smith said. “It’s going to be rough when you do that.”
Other seniors besides Sanchez honored prior to the game were Delaney Love, Nastasia Cullen, Bailey Young, Julia Mooney, and Anisha Kalan, who will be attending U.C. Berkeley in the fall.
The Upper Lake JV team closed with a 24-20 win over Tomales, giving the Cougars an 8-8 final record. Jessica Lee led the way with eight points and four rebounds, Molly McCabe added four points and 13 rebounds, and Haley Reams had six points and six rebounds.
