KELSEYVILLE — The Kelseyville Knights took a first step toward winning their own tournament with a 49-30 victory over the Calistoga Wildcats in a first-round girls game Thursday at the 48th annual Stokes Invitational in Kelseyville.
The Knights (6-2) are scheduled to play Forest Hill in a second-round game Friday at 1 p.m. The tournament runs through Saturday at the Kelseyville High gym. Unlike the standard eight-team boys bracket in the Stokes, this year’s girls bracket has only six teams.
Payton Conrad led Kelseyville with 16 points, nine assists and six steals, and Grace Davidson added 21 points and seven rebounds. Ryann Taylor pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds to go along with four points.
“We took care of business early,” Kelseyville head coach Jim Hale said.
The Kelseyville student body attended the game and Hale said that created a little extra pressure for the young Knights.
“We had a tough time getting focused,” he said. “Calistoga pressed us, they got after us a little bit.”
The pace of the game was choppy because of a high number of fouls called against the Knights.
“Lots of whistles, lots of fouls,” Hale said. “It was hard to get into a rhythm.”
Neither team made a 3-pointer.
In other Stokes action Thursday:
Piedmont 65, Clear Lake 35
At Kelseyville, the Piedmont Highlanders rolled past the Clear Lake Cardinals in a first-round game at the Stokes Invitational.
Clear Lake (2-6) led 10-9 after one quarter but the rest of the game belonged to the Highlanders, who were led by 18 points from Ashley Gao, 17 from Nakilah Johnson, and 11 from Kristen Seranian.
Kortnie Reynolds’ 14 points powered the Cardinals, who have dropped six in a row. Lilli Hill added seven points.
RVC 54, Foresthill 22
At Kelseyville, Caroline Chambers (29 points) and Elizabeth Chambers (17 points) combined to outscore Foresthill all by themselves in first-round Stokes action.
In other girls non-league action Thursday:
Rodriguez 73, Middletown 39
At Middletown, Rodriguez High School of Fairfield used a 25-7 third quarter to pull away from the Middletown Mustangs.
“Speed, speed, speed, we knew what we were getting ourselves into,” Middletown head coach Anthony Bazzano said of the Rodriguez team. “We actually played an excellent second quarter. I thought we were in a position to make a game out of it.”
Middletown trailed 30-20 at halftime.
Hanna Morris led the Mustangs with 15 points, including all three of the Mustangs’ 3-pointers. Kassi Agapoff, Abbey Brown and Emily Santiago added five points apiece.
“We’ve got to move on,” Bazzano said of his team’s 1-5 start. “We’ve got two home games next week (Tuesday against Piner and Friday against San Rafael).”
In the junior varsity game, Jessica Pollack’s three-point play with 18 seconds remaining lifted Middletown to a 46-45 win.
The Mustangs (4-2) rallied from a 15-point deficit to pull out the victory.
Olivia Kucer scored nine points for Middletown and Brie Alves added eight.
The Mustangs are home Tuesday to play Piner.
Analy 49, Lower Lake 21
At Sebastopol, the Analy Tigers outscored Lower Lake 15-2 in the second quarter to open up a 24-9 halftime lead and went on to rout the Trojans in non-league action.
Lower Lake is now 2-7 on the season. The Trojans play Rio Americano High School on Saturday at Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord. On Monday, Lower Lake plays El Molino in Forestville.
In JV action, the Analy Tigers beat Lower Lake 58-24. The Trojans (4-2) scored as many points in the fourth quarter (12) as it did in the first three quarters combined.
“”We really just had an off night altogether,” Lower Lake coach Shannon Tubbs said.
Kim Bautista’s 11 points paced the Trojans. Sonja Desano added seven.
