CLOVERDALE — The Cloverdale Eagles cleared the final significant hurdle to what is shaping up to be another North Central League I championship run, and perhaps an undefeated one at that, by beating the Kelseyville Knights 68-52 in varsity girls basketball action Friday night in Cloverdale.
Junior forward Tehya Bird erupted for 37 points as Cloverdale improved to 9-0 in the league standings while Kelseyville (6-3 league, 13-7 overall) fell three games off the pace with five games remaining for both teams. Sandwiched between the Eagles and the Knights is a 7-2 Middletown squad that has already lost to Cloverdale twice.
“She’s a machine,” Kelseyville head coach Jim Hale said of the multi-talented and powerful Bird.
Cloverdale set the tone early with a 24-5 first quarter and while Kelseyville came back with a big second quarter to close the gap to 35-28 by halftime, the uphill fight took a toll on the Knights.
“You go down to a team like that on their home floor, you just can’t do that,” Hale said. “We were unfocused at the beginning although we battled back in the second quarter to make a game of it.”
Too many turnovers and not enough rebounds hurt the Knights, according to Hale.
“Turnovers killed us and Cloverdale is a rebounding machine,” Hale said. “Our effort (on the boards) wasn’t there tonight.”
Grace Davidson’s 19 points led the Knights, freshman Kaleigh Davis added 11 points and sophomore M.J. Boardman had 10, including three of Kelseyville’s six 3-pointers.
In junior varsity action, Cloverdale beat Kelseyville 55-36 despite 13 points from the Knights’ Larue Furlani. Skye Mateer had eight points for Kelseyville while Megan Holland added six.
Kelseyville’s teams visit Middletown on Monday.
In other high school girls action Friday:
Lower Lake 47, Willits 46
At Lower Lake, Alisha Jones sank two free throws with 15 seconds remaining to lift the Lower Lake Trojans to a dramatic victory over the Willits Wolverines, a win that pushes the Trojans (5-4, 7-14) above the .500 mark in league play.
“We played really hard,” Lower Lake head coach Dave Milano said. “It was kind of an exciting game. We got a lot of shots.”
Heather Felder and Anahi Robles led Lower Lake with 14 and 11 points, respectively, while Jones and Sam Hughes finished with eight apiece.
“Heather was running the court and getting us some easy baskets,” Milano said. “Alisha did a really good job controlling the rebounds on offense and defense.”
And while Marnae Johnson didn’t score in the game, her defense proved key down the stretch, according to Milano.
“Especially when it counted,” he said.
Willits led 14-8 after one quarter but Lower Lake went into halftime with a 24-21 lead. The game remained close throughout the second half.
In the JV game, Willits defeated Lower Lake 40-27. Kyra Womack and Kim Bautista scored seven points apiece to lead the Trojans, now 4-5 in league play and 9-7 overall. Kyleigh Mock had five points.
“Once again we couldn’t keep them off the (free-throw) line,” Lower Lake coach Shannon Tubbs said. “They shot 30 free throws to our nine.”
Lower Lake’s teams host Clear Lake on Monday.
Middletown 56, St. Helena 15
At Middletown, the Middletown Mustangs regrouped from a 62-43 loss to league-leading Cloverdale on Tuesday with a big victory over the winless Saints (0-9).
Emily Santiago led the Mustangs (7-2, 13-8) with 22 points.
“She put herself in the right place on the floor, our guards did a good job breaking down their defense and finding her with the ball, and she was excellent from the free-throw line,” Middletown head coach Anthony Bazzano said of Santiago. “She kept getting to the line and knocking them down.”
Middletown’s offense was remarkably consistent all night. The Mustangs led 16-2 after one after, 29-6 at halftime and 41-9 through three quarters.
“I was pleased with the way the game flowed,” Bazzano said. “We actually played a pretty clean game for four quarters. Our play on offense was crisp and we were attacking the rim.”
Kassi Agapoff had eight points for the Mustangs while Breanne Jones and Abbey Brown added six apiece.
In the JV game, Middletown improved to 9-0 in the league standings and 18-3 overall with a 57-4 victory over St. Helena. The Mustangs outscored the Saints 38-0 over the final three quarters.
“Everybody got to play and everyone but one scored,” Middletown coach Andy Brown said.
Brooklyn Huffman led the Mustangs with 11 points and Ella Rockwell and Bella Dubois each had eight.
Fort Bragg 47, Clear Lake 29
At Lakeport, shooting just 4-for-28 from the paint, the Clear Lake Cardinals scored only 16 points after the first quarter and fell to the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in NCL I action.
“We were getting what you want,” Clear Lake head coach Kory Reynolds said of the Cardinals’ shot selection, “but you’ve got to put the ball in the hole.”
Fort Bragg (4-5) outscored Clear Lake 12-1 in the second quarter to take a 20-14 halftime lead. A 17-5 fourth quarter by the Timberwolves put the game out of reach.
Kortnie Reynolds sank four 3-pointers and finished with 19 points overall to lead the Cardinals. Joy Ingalls had five points.
Clear Lake is now 3-6 in league and 6-14 overall.
In the JV game, Sydney Howe led the way with 16 points as Clear Lake beat Fort Bragg 47-12. Rylee Mix and Hailee Bussard added 11 points apiece as the Cardinals upped their league record to 8-1.
