SANTA ROSA — Being back at full strength wasn’t nearly enough for Upper Lake on Thursday night as the Sonoma Academy Coyotes ran over the Cougars 77-40 in varsity boys basketball action in Santa Rosa.
Upper Lake’s five starters missed each of the team’s previous two games while serving two-game suspensions for participating in an adult league basketball game last week. The Cougars (16-7) went 1-1 during their absence, losing a non-league game to Mendocino but rallying for a win against Tomales in league action Tuesday night in Upper Lake.
Facing a very tough customer in the Coyotes, who improved to 18-4 overall, the Cougars needed to bring their A-game, but it didn’t happen.
“They run by us, around us, through us, every which way,” Upper Lake head coach Justin Dutcher said. “We came out flat-footed and with no energy. They just smoked us big time.”
Sonoma Academy scored 18 of the game’s first 20 points and had a commanding 28-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. It didn’t get any better in the second quarter as the Coyotes continued to pull away. It was 46-13 by halftime.
“They’re the best team in the league, no doubt,” Dutcher said of the Coyotes. “They wanted it and we didn’t.”
Kenny Hodges led the Cougars with 16 points, the first time this season he’s failed to score at least 20, and Ray Moran added nine points, all on 3-pointers. Hodges also had three 3-pointers.
“It was just a bad night all the way around,” Dutcher said.
And it doesn’t get any easier for the Cougars on Friday when they return to Santa Rosa to play Roseland University Prep (15-4), a team they lost to 67-58 on Jan. 15 in Upper Lake. The Cougars close out their regular season next week, beginning with yet another road trip to Santa Rosa on Tuesday to play Rincon Valley Christian, then they return home Feb. 7 to take on Credo.
Sonoma Academy won the junior varsity game 46-43.
In other boys basketball action Thursday:
Cloverdale 61, Lower Lake 47
At Lower Lake, the Cloverdale Eagles secured their hold on third place in the NCL I standings with a victory over Lower Lake (3-8, 11-12), a loss that drops the Trojans below the .500 mark for the first time in nearly two months.
Cloverdale improved to 8-3 and trails both Clear Lake (11-0) and Middletown (10-1) in the league standings. All three teams have three games remaining.
Cloverdale led only 29-28 at the half. The Eagles began to pull away with a 16-7 third quarter.
Vann Wilkins led the Trojans with 24 points, Mike Taliaferro added eight points and Darian James had seven.
The Trojans are on the road Friday to play Middletown. JV action starts at 6 p.m.
