HEALDSBURG — Down eight points with 90 seconds remaining, the Kelseyville Knights found a way to stun the Fortuna Huskies 50-49 in the winner’s semifinal round of the Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament on Friday night at Smith Robinson Gym in Healdsburg.
Kelseyville (5-1), a winner of five straight, will play Ukiah for the girls championship on Saturday at 5 p.m.
A three-point play by Kaylei Davis and back-to-back 3-pointers by Payton Conrad, the second one from the corner with 2.6 seconds remaining, erased a 49-41 Fortuna lead.
However, the excitement was only beginning for Kelseyville head coach Jim Hale. After a Healdsburg timeout, the Greyhounds were able to work the ball down the floor despite intense Kelseyville defensive pressure and attempt a corner 3-pointer of their own as time expired.
“It looked so good coming out of her hand, it looked like it was going in,” Hale said.
The shot caught part of the back iron as the buzzer sounded and bounced harmlessly away.
While a flurry of points in the final seconds rallied the Knights to victory, it wasn’t all about offense, according to Hale.
Trailing 49-47 after Conrad’s first 3-pointer down the stretch, the Knights’ pressing defense forced a huge turnover as post Grace Davidson stole the ball near midcourt. She passed it to Ryann Taylor, who in turn found Conrad alone in the corner for what turned out to be the game-winning basket.
“It was such a stressful game, but it was a fun game,” Hale said. “We’re playing with house money against Ukiah. They’re a Division III team, a really good team.”
The Wildcats bring a 4-2 record into Saturday’s championship game.
Conrad led the Knights with 22 points while Taylor added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Davis and Davidson each finished with seven points, and Davidson also pulled down 11 rebounds and had three steals.
In other girls tournament action Friday:
Potter Valley 42, Upper Lake 22
At Potter Valley, not enough patience, not enough rebounds and not enough points for the Upper Lake Cougars in a winner’s semifinal-round loss to the host Potter Valley Bearcats at the Potter Valley Tournament.
Potter Valley broke open a fairly close game with a 20-7 fourth quarter.
“We got outplayed all the way around,” Upper Lake coach Nick Williamson said. “It was a decent effort, just not enough productivity. We were giving them three to four shots inside the key each possession. You can’t do that and win.”
Williamson said the Cougars weren’t patient enough with their offense, especially with the passing game.
Molly McCabe’s eight points, including two 3-pointers, led the Cougars (4-4). Vanessa Loans Arrow added four points.
Upper Lake plays either Willits or Mendocino for third place on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Cougars are away Monday to take on Lower Lake in a non-league game that begins at 5:30 p.m.
Middletown 49, Pierce 33
At Corning, Middletown point guard Kassi Agapoff scored a team-high 13 points and Emily Santiago added 10 more as the Mustangs notched their first win of the season with a victory over Pierce in the consolation semifinals of the Corning Sweet 16 tournament.
“She did her job,” Middletown head coach Anthony Bazzano said of Agapoff. “She doesn’t score a lot of points for us, but she’s capable. She distributed the ball well. We had balanced scoring and that was a good thing.”
Ellie Bazzano finished with seven points while Breanne Jones and Abbey Brown had six points apiece.
After a slow start, Middletown (1-2) outscored Pierce 17-7 in the second quarter to open up a 25-17 halftime lead.
“We’ve got to change that,” Bazzano said of Middletown’s slow starts in its first three games. “We’re hoping to get out to a quicker start tomorrow. If we don’t, it’s going to be an uphill fight.”
Middletown draws McKinleyville Saturday at noon in the consolation championship game.
Durham 48, Lower Lake 23
At Durham, nothing went right for the Lower Lake Trojans in a lopsided loss to Durham during a consolation semifinal game at the Durham Tournament.
“We played terrible,” Lower Lake head coach Dave Milano said. “If we play like this, we’re really, really going to struggle in league. It was brutal.”
Durham led 25-12 at halftime and 31-14 going to the fourth quarter.
No Lower Lake player scored more than four points.
The Trojans (1-5) play Bear River for seventh place Saturday at noon. On Monday, Lower Lake hosts Upper Lake in a varsity-only game at 5:30 p.m.
In the junior varsity division, Lower Lake beat Arcata 39-36 behind 12 points from Kayla Doud, who made one 3-pointer, and 11 points from Teralyn Jermany.
The Trojans play Fall River for the championship Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Clear Lake JV tourney
Kelseyville 47, St. Vincent 36
At Lakeport, MJ Boardman and Larue Furlani scored nine points apiece to lead a balanced Kelseyville attack as the JV Knights defeated St. Vincent in the opening round of the Clear Lake JV Tournament at Clear Lake High School.
Kelseyville (2-0) plays two more games Saturday as the tournament wraps up, including an 11:30 a.m. game against either Roseland Prep or Fort Bragg.
Kasandra Villalobos had eight points for the Knights, Emily Sandoval added seven and Skye Mateer had six.
