UPPER LAKE — Freshmen aren’t supposed to hit pressure-packed free throws down the stretch but that’s exactly what the Upper Lake Cougars did in the fourth quarter Tuesday night to stun the Laytonville Warriors 45-35 in a clash of undefeated small-school varsity girls basketball squads at Upper Lake.
Laytonville (3-1), the North Coast Section Division 6 runner-up and a state playoff qualifier each of the last two seasons, returns plentiful firepower again in 2019-20 but had its hands full against a swarming Upper Lake defense that held the Warriors to a season-low total in points scored.
“Their composure on the court was incredible,” Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith said of the young Cougars (3-0), who suited up eight players on Tuesday, five of them freshmen and three of those in the starting lineup – Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow (12 points, 16 rebounds, two blocks), Maddy Young ( five points, nine steals, four assists) and Maddy Young.
“At one point I had four freshmen on the court in crunch time,” Smith said. “Maddy Young’s composure at the point was amazing.”
Two of Upper Lake’s projected starters — a sophomore and a senior — have yet to take the court this season but should be in uniform later this month.
Laytonville held a 9-1 lead after one quarter as the Upper Lake offense struggled while playing before the home crowd for the first time this season.
“I just tried to keep them focused on playing good defense,” Smith said. “They hustled and they believed.”
As the offense slowly began to click, Upper Lake fought its way back into the game, closing to 14-13 by halftime. Laytonville took a 25-23 lead into the fourth quarter before the Cougars surged in front. As the Warriors began to fight back, they kept putting the young Cougars at the free-throw line and they responded by hitting 14 of 22 shots in the quarter. Loans Arrow buried seven free throws while junior Molly McCabe (11 points) hit four clutch free throws, according to Smith.
Upper Lake’s defense took care of the rest.
“I don’t have a whole lot of words I was so impressed with their composure,” Smith said. “They (Warriors) were making a push but we just kept hitting our free throws.”
Upper Lake ended up outscoring Laytonville 22-10 in the fourth quarter to open up a double-digit advantage. The two teams spent most of the game separated by just a couple of points.
Added Smith of his players, “We have a ways to go, but they get after it and they are just relentless on defense.”
Called up from the junior varsity squad to help out on Tuesday, Kathleen Geary-Lopez contributed seven points. Alana Sanchez added another five and Karlee Zimmerschied had four.
Akeela James and Athena North each had 13 points to lead the Warriors, who could end up facing Upper Lake twice more this season. The teams will definitely meet during a Jan. 10 rematch in Laytonville, but they could also meet during the Dec. 12-14 Potter Valley Tournament.
“That could be a nice trilogy,” Smith said.
There was no junior varsity game although the JV Cougars (2-1) are home Wednesday to play Fort Bragg at 5 p.m.
In other girls basketball action Tuesday:
Willows 40, Clear Lake 34
At Lakeport, the Clear Lake Cardinals (1-1) gave powerhouse Willows all it could handle before falling to the playoff-tested Honkers in a non-league game.
Willows, the North Section Division 4 champion in 2017-18 and the section runner-up last season, is gunning for another section title this season led by 5-foot-9 senior guard Meghan Weinrich.
“She’s an absolute stud,” Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said. “She touched the ball on their first two possession and hit two 3-pointers from about 4 feet behind the arc. I called a timeout and we either double-teamed her every time she touched the ball or played a box-and-one around her the rest of the night. We had to shut her down.”
Weinrich ended up with 15 points, about 20 below her average.
Against a taller and more physical Willows squad, Psalmonds said the Cardinals couldn’t afford to get into a half-court game with the Honkers, so they decided to push the pace.
The strategy worked for a quarter as the Cardinals led 13-8 after the opening period, but they couldn’t sustained a wide-open running game.
“We only had eight girls in uniform, we were shorthanded and it showed,” Psalmonds said. “We started to run out of gas. It was a battle of can we last long enough to play at this pace that gives us the best chance of beating them.”
Willows (1-0) outscored Clear Lake 14-4 in the second quarter to open up a 22-17 lead. The Cardinals closed to 27-24 through three quarters but couldn’t quite reel the Honkers in down the stretch.
“We’re just not good enough yet,” Psalmonds said. “We were exposed in several areas and that’s great because we can work on those things.”
Joy Ingalls led Clear Lake with 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals while Sydney Howe added seven points. Rylee Mix had six points, five steals and four rebounds, and freshman Sierra Bruch chipped in two points, four assists, two rebounds and a steal.
“I was really proud of how the girls played,” Psalmonds said. “I’m pleased with the effort.”
Clear Lake returns to action Thursday against Sutter at 4:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Colusa Tournament.
There was no junior varsity game Tuesday.
East Nicolaus 43, Middletown 26
At Middletown, two weeks behind schedule because half of his roster was still playing soccer, first-year Middletown High School varsity girls basketball coach Andy Brown said the Mustangs struggled with nearly all facets of the game while dropping their season opener to East Nicolaus.
“We shot well at the free-throw line, but we didn’t do much else right,” Brown said.
“Literally half my team played on the championship soccer team and it was worth it,” Brown said of such players as sisters Sophie and Olivia Kucer and Paige Astley, who were instrumental in the Mustangs winning the North Coast Section Division 1 title last month.
Middletown (0-1) stayed with East Nicolaus for a quarter before the offense stalled out. Trailing 10-6 after the opening period, the Mustangs scored a combined four points over the next two quarters and were down 34-10 entering the final period.
“We shot poorly, we rebounded poorly,” he said.
Sophie Kucer led the team with eight points and Astley added seven more.
It also was the season opener for the Spartans (1-0).
Middletown had better luck in the JV game, winning 51-10 (scoring not reported).
The varsity Mustangs return to action Tuesday against Piner in Santa Rosa. They open play in the Corning Tournament on Dec. 12.
