APTOS — Former Upper Lake High School star Natalie Karlsson played a primary role in helping the College of the Siskiyous women’s basketball team win its eighth straight Golden Valley Conference championship this season with a 8-2 record.
Karlsson, a sophomore guard, led the team with a 17.5-points-per-game scoring average. She also averaged 6.7 rebounds a game as the Eagles finished the regular season at 18-7 overall, good enough to draw the No. 10 seed in the California Community College Championships, which got underway Friday with Siskiyous hitting the road to play No. 7 seed Cabrillo College (18-4) in a second-round game at Aptos. If the Eagles prevail, they’ll advance to round three on March 9 against the winner of a round-two game between Santa Rosa (12-14) and No. 2 seed Merced (26-3).
College of the Siskiyous began the season with nine players but enters the playoffs with only six, including Karlsson, who is second on Lake County’s list of career scoring leaders with 1,846 points. Former Lower Lake standout Aleia Milano, who is Lake County’s third all-time leading scorer with 1,761 points, opened the season with Siskiyous but left the team last month and is now attending Butte College in Oroville.
