LAKEPORT — Tyler Cerini’s slam dunk early in the first quarter created quite a buzz in the crowd and on the Clear Lake bench as the Cardinals took off from that point and went on to hammer Langston Hughes of Stockton 74-34 in the varsity division of the second annual Paul Larrea Memorial Tournament on Friday night in Lakeport.
“They (Titans) pulled down a rebound and Cerini stole the ball, took off and threw it down,” Clear Lake head coach Scott De Leon said. “That ignited the crowd and it ignited us. Those were his first two points and they set the tone early. We carried it through the rest of the way.”
Clear Lake (2-0) went on to outscore Langston Hughes 23-8 in the first quarter. Guard Darius Ford scored 14 points in the period, including four of his five 3-pointers on the night. He played sparingly after that and finished with a team-high 19 points.
“My starters didn’t play in the fourth quarter,” De Leon said.
As pleased as he was with the play of the offense, De Leon said a Clear Lake defense that came up with 16 steals was even more impressive.
“The bench guys did a really good job maintaining the momentum and defensive pressure,” De Leon added.
Treppa Marcks (13 points) and Jaron Mertle (12 points) joined Ford in double figures. Donovan Valadez and Keanu Ford added eight points apiece.
Clear Lake dished out 20 assists as a team while committing only seven turnovers.
The Cardinals play twice more on Saturday as the tournament wraps up. They draw Bay School at 1:30 p.m. and finish up with Vacaville Christian at 7:45 p.m.
“Bay School looks really solid,” De Leon said.
Bay School defeated Vacaville Christian 54-46 in the early varsity game.
In the JV bracket, Clear Lake took all of the suspense out of this one early, outscoring College Prep 21-4 in the first quarter and 36-16 in the first half while rolling to a 62-40 victory in its Larrea Tournament opener. Ethan Maize led a balanced Clear Lake scoring attack with 16 points, Zane Robinson added 14 and Jack Daskam had 14.
“We had great pressure defense right away and got to them early,” Clear Lake coach Scott Persons said. “It’s the best team game we’ve played so far.”
The Cardinals are in action twice Saturday at the tournament concludes. They play Lower Lake at 10:30 a.m. and Vacaville Christian at 4:45 p.m.
Lower Lake beat Vacaville Christian 49-44 in another first-round JV game behind 19 points from Marquis Jones, eight from Dean Cook and seven from Jett Guralas. The Trojans take on tournament host Clear Lake Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and return later in the day to play College Prep at 3:15 p.m.
In other boys tournament action Friday:
St. Helena Tournament
Kelseyville 57, Son. Academy 45
At St. Helena, while the third quarter proved to be Kelseyville’s undoing a night earlier in a 58-57 loss to Fortuna a night earlier, the Knights used a 21-6 third quarter Friday against Sonoma Academy to rally past the Coyotes for a victory in the consolation semifinals. They’ll play either El Molino or John Swett for the consolation championship Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Sonoma Academy took a 25-22 lead into the second half against the Knights (2-1). In the third quarter, Bodhi Baird erupted for nine of his team-leading 16 points while Jake Keithly (15 points) hit a pair of 3-pointers.
“We played great defense in that third quarter,” Kelseyville head coach Jeremy Linnell said.
Robert Chavez added 14 points in the win.
In JV action, Kelseyville beat Potter Valley 57-41 in the opening round of the Potter Valley Tournament. Zach Cummings led the Knights (1-1) with 12 points, Tyler Leary added 10, Manny Acosta had eight and Carson Mayo six.
“We looked pretty sluggish, but we’ll take it,” Kelseyville coach Oscar Lopez said of the Knights’ first win of the season.
Kelseyville pulled away from Potter Valley with a 22-9 third quarter.
The Knights play two more games Saturday as the tournament concludes. Their first game is against Upper Lake at noon.
Cougar Classic
Upper Lake 63, Willits 62 (OT)
At Upper Lake, Louis Avalos hit the first of two free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Upper Lake Cougars to a thrilling win over the Willits Wolverines in the opening round of the Cougar Classic.
Willits got off a shot from half court as time expired, but the ball harmlessly bounced off the backboard. The Wolverines forced overtime by hitting a shot from deep inside the paint with six seconds left in regulation.
“They had two 6-5 guys that they did not have the first time we played,” Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said. “That really helped them on the boards and they were getting some second-chance shots that were keeping them in the game.”
Upper Lake (3-1) led 29-23 at halftime but trailed 41-40 going to the third quarter.
The Cougars shot well from the field and finished with nine 3-pointers, including two each from Avalos (18 points), Benat Love (17 points), Russell Gordon and Jay Arroyo. Dalton Slater added nine points and Hank Nevarez had seven.
The Cougars play Potter Valley on Saturday at 1 p.m. as the tournament wraps up.
In JV action at the Potter Valley Tournament, Upper Lake defeated Potter Valley 49-43 behind big nights from Sammy Avalos (22 points) and Kai Young (21 points).
“They were doing real well,” Upper Lake coach Nick Williamson said of his one-two scoring punch.
Upper Lake (4-1) held an eight-point lead late.
“We pulled it together at the end,” Williamson said.
The Cougars are scheduled to play two more games Saturday as the tournament wraps up, beginning with a noon game against Kelseyville.
Matador Holiday Classic
Woodside 70, Lower Lake 39
At Mira Loma, Woodside dominated Lower Lake in the winner’s semifinals of the Matador Holiday Classic and will play for the championship on Saturday. The Trojans (1-1) will play a team to be determined for third place at 2:30 p.m.
“It was definitely a team that had a lot more games under its belt,” Lower Lake head coach Marcus Humphrey said of Woodside (4-0). “They had us scouted out pretty well.”
With only seven players in uniform for the tournament, the Trojans lost guard Vann Wilkins in the first quarter when he aggravated an ankle injury sustained in the Trojans’ win over Mira Loma during first-round action Thursday night.
“We taped it up and he tried to go, but he couldn’t,” Humphrey said.
When Makhi Johnson picked up his fourth foul in the second quarter and had to leave the game, the Trojans used the same five players until Johnson finally returned in the fourth quarter.
“We were playing with five for half the game,” Humphrey said. “They (Wildcats) pressure the ball really well. They had a good half-court press and were able to capitalize on it.”
Lorenzo Zuniga led the Trojans with 12 points and Gavin Watson had nine.
Pierce Tournament
Pierce vs. Middletown
At Arbuckle, defending champion Pierce played Middletown in the championship game of the Pierce Tournament on Friday night but results were not reported to the Record-Bee.
In the tournament’s junior varsity division, Middletown (4-0) beat Colusa 60-46 to win the tournament championship. All-Tournament selection Lucas DaCosta led the Mustangs with 24 points and averaged better than 20 points a game during the tourney’s three-day run. Cole Ketchum added 12 points while Roberto Chaires and Zach Dubois each had nine points. Dubois also earned All-Tournament honors.
Middletown had a 26-22 lead at halftime and gradually pulled away during the second half.
“They (Red Hawks) were actually doing some good things to break up some or our stuff,” Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn said.
Middletown plays a non-league game Monday in Calistoga.
