LAKE COUNTY — The smoke-delayed fall sports season continues in Lake County and the North Coast Section, but it’s being pushed hard by the start of the winter sports season.
Basketball games break out in full force next week with most Lake County teams swinging into action, the majority in tournaments spread around the north state. However, a couple of tourneys take place right here in Lake County. The Small School Round Robin Tournament (see story, this page) opens Thursday in Upper Lake and features both varsity boys and girls teams competing in a round-robin format, and the inaugural Paul Larrea Memorial Tournament tips off Friday and runs through Dec. 1 at the Clear Lake High School gym in Lakeport. That tournament is for varsity and junior varsity boys teams and replaces the old Clear Lake JV Tournament.
Other tournaments involving Lake County teams, all opening Thursday, are the Gridley Tournament (Kelseyville girls), the Arcata Tournament (Lower Lake girls), the Colusa Tournament (Clear Lake girls), the Tip-off Tournament in McKinleyville (Lower Lake boys), and the Pierce Invitational (Middletown boys).
A handful of single games precede those tournaments. In action this weekend, the Lower Lake girls make their season debut Saturday at home against Durham. In Monday action, the Upper Lake boys and girls travel to Petaluma to play St. Vincent, and the Lower Lake girls hit the road to play Ygnacio Valley (Concord).
If you’re a fan of Kelseyville varsity boys basketball or Middletown varsity girls basketball, you’ll have to wait a little longer to see your team’s season openers. The Kelseyville boys, under the direction of first-year coach Gus Schillinger, open Dec. 6 in the first round of the Redwood Empire Invitational in Healdsburg. The Middletown girls, coached by veteran Anthony Bazzano, take on Ygnacio Valley on Dec. 4 in Concord, then return to action in the Antioch Rumble tourney, which runs from Dec. 6-8.
Lake County teams won North Central League I championships in both varsity boys and girls basketball a year ago although both squads – the Kelseyville boys and Clear Lake girls – were hit hard by graduation. The tournament season dominates the month of December before Lake County’s teams open league play early in January.
