FORT BRAGG — Despite suffering through its worst shooting night of the season, the Clear Lake Cardinals found a way to get it done, holding off a determined Fort Bragg squad 54-46 in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action on Friday at Fort Bragg.
“Anytime you come over here and get out of here without getting someone hurt and with a victory, it’s a huge win,” Clear Lake head coach Scott De Leon said.
Clear Lake won its 10th straight game and is now 9-0 league and 19-2 overall. The Cardinals maintained their one-game lead over Middletown (8-1) in the NCL I standings.
“Fort Bragg came out and threw everything they had at us,” De Leon said of the Timberwolves (4-5). “They were running the floor, pushing the pace all game. All credit to them. They were flying, scrambling all over the floor.”
Fort Bragg led 22-21 at the half. Clear Lake, playing without guard Darius Ford, wrested momentum away from the Timberwolves during a 15-9 third quarter to regain the lead at 36-31. The Cardinals led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter before Fort Bragg closed the gap a bit.
“It wasn’t as close as the final score,” De Leon said.
With Ford gone and Jaron Mertle scoring only one point in the win, Josh Damiata (17 points) and Preston Jones (16 points) carried the scoring load for the Cardinals. Rodrigo Lupercio added 11 points.
“We were ice-cold,” De Leon said. “We haven’t shot the ball this poorly all year.”
Ford missed the game as a precaution because he participated in a men’s league basketball game the previous night at the Robinson Rancheria gym in Nice, which is a violation of CIF rules and carries a two-game suspension. Five Upper Lake players are facing two-game suspensions for the same reason (see related story). Ford may also have to sit out out the Cardinals’ home game Monday against Lower Lake.
“We’ll see,” De Leon said.
In the junior varsity game, Clear Lake beat Fort Bragg 57-33 to improve to 9-0 in league play and 18-2 overall. Donovan Valadez led the Cardinals with 15 points, Matthew Martin contributed 12, Treppa Marcks had 11 and Keanu Ford nine.
In other boys basketball action Friday:
Middletown 69, St. Helena 44
At Middletown, Middletown stayed tight on Clear Lake’s heels in the league standings with a victory over the visiting St. Helena Saints as four Mustangs scored in double figures led by Andres Cervantes’ 16 points.
“We played well tonight,” Middletown head coach G.J. Rockwell said of only the Mustangs’ fourth home game of the season. “That was kind of nice, too.”
Middletown (8-1, 15-5) hits the road Tuesday to take on Kelseyville, then returns home to play four straight to close out the regular season, including what is shaping up to be another first-place showdown with Clear Lake (9-0) on Feb. 7.
“We had a good rhythm on offense,” Rockwell said. “They shared the ball and made one more pass to find the open man.”
Middletown’s rotations on defense were solid throughout the night as well. The Mustangs had a 33-16 lead by halftime and continued to pull away in the second half.
Samuel Cervantes added 14 points in the victory while Noah Brown and Jimmy Rockwell each hit four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points overall.
“We moved the ball better than we have in our last two or three games,” Rockwell said.
Middletown also won the JV game 55-22 behind 10 points from Cole Ketchum, nine from Jorge Fonseca, eight from Luke Hoogendoorn, and seven from Zack Dubois.
Middletown, now 6-3 in league, struggled with a taller lineup on the floor in the first quarter. The Mustangs switched to a smaller lineup the next quarters, pressed the Saints at times and carried a 45-16 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We have 11 guys rotating in,” Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn said of his deep lineup.
Lower Lake 58, Willits 40
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans jumped back into the win column with an easy home victory against the Willits Wolverines.
It was the first win in three games for the Trojans (3-6, 11-10) since head coach Tim Biasotti resigned last week.
“We came out pretty hot,” Lower Lake coach Jeremy Jakubowski said of the 18-9 lead his team built in the first quarter. “In the first half we played really well.”
Lower Lake took a 34-18 lead into halftime. After struggling a bit in the third quarter, the Trojans pushed their advantage to 20 points early in the fourth quarter.
“And I put all my reserves in,” Jakubowski said.
Seven different players score six or more points led by Vann Wilkins with 10, Makhi Johnson with nine and Mike Taliaferro and Semaj Clark with eight apiece. Johnson also pulled down nine rebounds while Elijah Hernandez added eight boards and six points. Darian James finished with seven points, three assists and three steals.
Willits won the JV game. The score was not reported.
Cloverdale 67, Kelseyville 40
At Kelseyville, the Cloverdale Eagles built a 59-25 lead through three quarters while beating the Kelseyville Knights in NCL I action.
“It all around wasn’t a well-played game by us,” Kelseyville head coach Gus Schillinger said as the Knights fell to 1-9 in league play and 4-17 overall. “They dictated the tempo and played pretty crisp all night. My hat’s off to them. That’s why they’re one of the top teams in the league.”
Kelseyville ran into early foul trouble that only made things worse. Center Jonny Rixen picked up three of the first four fouls called in the game and had to take a seat on the bench. Without their center, the Knights had a difficult time keeping track of Cloverdale center Josh Lemley, who finished with 23 points.
“All of the early fouls took away our aggressiveness,” Schillinger said.
Rixen picked up his fourth foul right before halftime.
A 26-9 third quarter put the game away.
“They just blew our doors off,” Schillinger said.
Bodhi Baird followed up a 26-point game on Tuesday against Clear Lake with a team-best 17 against Cloverdale, including two 3-pointers.
“I thought he played hard throughout,” Schillinger said.
Tyler Linnell added eight points.
The Knights were without the services of starter Robert Chavez for personal reasons.
“We missed his physicality,” Schillinger said.
Cloverdale also won the JV game. The score was not reported.
