KELSEYVILLE — In emphatic fashion, the Clear Lake Cardinals snapped a 10-game losing streak spanning nearly four calendar years to archrival Kelseyville with a 66-34 victory on Wednesday night in the North Central League I varsity boys basketball opener for both teams at Kelseyville.
Prior to Wednesday, the last time Clear Lake emerged victorious against Kelseyville was on Feb. 10, 2015, a 62-54 win at Kelseyville. It was the third meeting that season between the two teams and the Cardinals’ first win. They dropped four games to the Knights in 2015-16, four more in 2016-17, and both meetings last season.
“We haven’t won in that gym in a long time,” Clear Lake head coach Scott De Leon said. “I didn’t realize it (losing streak to Kelseyville) was that long.”
Clear Lake (1-0 league, 11-2 overall) used its pressure defense to great effect in the first half, building a 33-13 halftime lead. “We played pretty solid defense tonight. The defense was the strong part of our game.”
“I thought (Rodrigo) Lupercio had a great game for them,” Kelseyville head coach Gus Schillinger said. “He leaked out to score some easy baskets and his defense triggered their fastbreak.”
Lupercio wasn’t Clear Lake’s top scorer, but the senior point guard did finish with 15 points, six of those coming in the first quarter as Clear Lake jumped out in front 16-6.
“All in all he had a really good game on offense and defense,” De Leon said.
Darius Ford’s 23 points powered the Cardinals and his 3-point shooting set the tone early on, according to De Leon.
“Darius went off with his shooting and he hit a couple of 3-pointers early,” De Leon said.
Ford connected six times from behind the 3-point arc and the Cardinals had eight treys overall compared to just one for the Knights.
“We just left him wide open on our rotations and he hit some uncontested 3s,” Schillinger said.
While many of the Knights are playing together for the first time, not so the Cardinals, according to Kelseyville’s first-year coach.
“I think some of those guys have been playing together since the fourth grade. They know each other and it shows in the way they play,” Schillinger added.
Clear Lake’s size advantage also figured heavily in the outcome as the Cardinals dominated on the boards, including 10 rebounds by Jaron Mertle, seven of them offensive. He also added eight points.
Joey Mendonca’s 10 points paced the Knights (0-1, 3-10) while Damian Ledesma added nine.
“We’re still trying to figure out our identity offensively,” Schillinger said.
Clear Lake also dominated the junior varsity game, winning 67-42 behind 23 points from Evan Coakley and 15 apiece from Donovan Valadez and Matthew Martin.
“We got after ’em with our pressure and it was effective,” Clear Lake coach Phil Psalmonds said of the Cardinals’ defense. “That’s the game we play. We play great team defense.”
Clear Lake had no problem scoring points either and led 37-16 lead at halftime.
“Coakley is the engine that gets us going,” Psalmonds said.
“It’s always nice to beat your rival,” Psalmonds added.
Cory Holt’s 17 points paced Kelseyville.
In other boys basketball action Wednesday:
Middletown 76, Cloverdale 60
At Middletown, in another NCL I opener matching two of the league’s more successful programs the last decade, the Middletown Mustangs got a big night from Andreas Cervantes and Jimmy Rockwell to turn back the Cloverdale Eagles in the league opener for both teams.
Cervantes went off for 27 points despite making only one 3-pointer while Rockwell added 17 points, including a team-best five 3-pointers. Point guard Will Chastain added another 11 points.
“It’s the first game this season we’ve had everyone back,” Middletown head coach G.J. Rockwell said. “We played well together and our defensive game was nice. We also rebounded well.”
Middletown led 19-10 after one quarter and had a 58-40 lead entering the final period.
“Andre was very, very active tonight,” Rockwell said of his top scorer. “Chastain did a very good job managing our offense and he also scored 11. He had a good game.”
Jonny Hoogendoorn’s play off the bench provided another lift, according to Rockwell.
“He made some pretty good hustle plays. He gave us a real nice spark.”
Sophomore center Josh Lemley, one of four Cloverdale players to score in double figures, led the Eagles with 18 points.
“Their big guy did a really nice job,” Rockwell said of Lemley. “But Cloverdale was just a little cold from the arc.”
In JV action, a game that went down to the wire saw Cloverdale edge Middletown 57-55.
“We had the game locked up, but a couple of unfortunate things happened down the stretch,” said Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn, who didn’t want to elaborate.
Middletown trailed by as many as 14 points midway through the third quarter before rallying against the Eagles.
Jorge Fonseca’s 13 points paced the Mustangs, Roberto Chaires added 10 and Greyson Rockwell and Luke Hoogendoorn had nine apiece.
Middletown’s teams are on the road Friday against St. Helena.
