WILLITS — Russell Gordon and Brian Jimenez gave Upper Lake a big boost off the bench Friday night as the Cougars rolled past the Willits Wolverines 59-40 in non-league varsity boys basketball action at Willits.
Gordon led Upper Lake (2-0) with 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Jimenez finished with nine points, all of them coming in the first half as the Cougars used a 23-5 second quarter to open up a 31-17 halftime lead.
“The defense kind of sparked us and then we started shooting better (in the second quarter),” Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said. “Russell came off the bench and hit his first two 3-pointers.”
Upper Lake’s ability to take control of the defensive boards fueled the team’s fastbreak in the second quarter and again during a 23-14 third quarter that pushed the Cougars’ lead to 54-31.
“Once we took away that second shot from them, that was pretty much the difference,” Arroyo said.
Balanced scoring from starters and reserves alike also helped.
Benat Love finished with nine points, Louis Avalos got into foul trouble early and eventually fouled out with seven points, and Hank Nevarez and Jay Arroyo each had six. Nine different Cougars reached the scoring column before it was over.
The Cougars are off until Dec. 3 when they host Laytonville in a four-game set.
Junior varsity
In the junior varsity game, Kai Young erupted for 34 points as the smaller Upper Lake Cougars had no problem overcoming Willits’ size advantage to beat the Wolverines 64-53 in non-league action.
“They had a lot more size, but our speed and hustle really made a difference,” Upper Lake head coach Nick Williamson said.
Young’s hot shooting night produced three 3-point field goals, 11 two-pointers and three free throws.
“We made good passes, had good shot selection,” Williamson said.
Upper Lake led 26-17 after one quarter and pretty much held that lead the rest of the way. It was 39-29 at halftime.
“I think the closest they got after the first quarter was eight points,” Williamson said.
Julian Cruz and Blaine Rhodes joined Young in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
“He played really big for us and probably had 10-12 rebounds,” Williamson said of Rhodes. “He definitely was one of our defensive stars.”
Upper Lake is 2-1 on the season.
