UPPER LAKE — Two varsity girls basketball teams that have struggled in North Central League II play but have been competitive against each other this season squared off for a third and final time on Tuesday night in Upper Lake.
And unlike the two previous times, it was the Upper Lake Cougars (2-4 league, 9-12 overall) coming away with a 35-26 victory to avoid a season sweep against the Tomales Braves (1-5, 10-8).
If there was a difference between the two teams when they met the first two times — a 41-36 Tomales win on Dec. 8 in the Potter Valley Tournament and a 41-39 Tomales victory on Jan. 11 in a league game at Tomales — it was the play of the Braves’ Isabel Sartori, a junior who scored her 1,000th career point earlier this month. This time around Sartori (11 points) was basically neutralized by the Cougars outside of an eight-point third quarter.
“One of the nice things about playing a team three times is you know their threats,” Upper Lake coach Nick Williamson said. “We did a good job making her take hard shots and making her work hard.”
Upper Lake’s defense made it tough on all of the Braves in the first half, limiting them to seven points while building a 18-7 halftime lead.
When Sartori did begin to warm up in the third quarter, she pulled her squad to within four points of the Cougars by quarter’s end at 22-18. Upper Lake’s 13 points in the final period held the Braves at bay and secured the team’s second league win.
While Alana Sanchez led the Cougars with nine points and Kaila Willard and Karlee Zimmerschied added seen apiece, Williamson said another big night on the boards from Katlyn Minnis also figured prominently in the victory.
Minnins, the Upper Lake center, finished with four points but led the team with 13 rebounds.
“A real good game, the second in a row where she’s rebounded in double digits,” Williamson said. “She’s starting to embrace the inside game. She also did a good job handling the ball when she needed to.”
Upper Lake has two more games this week, both of them in Santa Rosa – against Sonoma Academy on Thursdsay and against Roseland University Prep on Friday.
