GRIDLEY — Gridley outscored Kelseyville 24-5 in the first quarter en route to a 62-35 win over the Lady Knights in the winner’s semifinal round of the Gridley Basketball Tournament on Friday night in Gridley.
Kelseyville (1-2) will play Chico on Saturday at 2 p.m. for third place.
“We didn’t play our game,” Kelseyville head coach Skyler Olsen said. “Hopefully we’re going to learn from all of this and play better the next time.”
Sam Carter’s 12 points paced the Knights while Allison Bryant had eight.
“Sam had a pretty good game for us under the hoop,” Olsen said.
The Knights played respectable ball over the final three quarters but never made a serious run at the Bulldogs.
In other girls tournament action Friday:
Cougar Classic
Upper Lake 51, Ferndale 22
At Upper Lake, freshman Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow just missed a triple-double as the Cougars blasted the Ferndale Wildcats in the opening round of the Cougar Classic. Loans Arrow finished with team highs in points (16), rebounds (15) and blocked shots (nine) as Upper Lake improved to 4-0, its best start since a 10-game winning streak to open the 2014-15 season.
“She was pretty dominant inside tonight,” Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith said.
And she wasn’t the only go-to post player for the Cougars. Alana Sanchez added 10 points and 15 rebounds.
“They both did really well blocking out and getting to the boards,” Smith said.
Although ahead 23-9 at the half, Smith said his team played its best basketball in the second half.
“At halftime we talked about moving the ball better and getting the ball to Heaven in the post. We were a lot more in sync in the second half.”
Another freshman, Maddy Noble, scored all nine of her points in the second half.
“She came out strong in the second half,” Smith said. “It was kind of a breakout game for her.”
Molly McCabe added seven points and Karlee Zimmerschied had six.
Loans Arrow also had three of the team’s four 3-point field goals.
Upper Lake plays Potter Valley on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. as the tournament wraps up.
Colusa Tournament
Pierce 50, Clear Lake 35
At Colusa, the Pierce Bears parlayed a 19-9 first quarter into a win over the Clear Lake Cardinals in the consolation semifinals of the Colusa Tournament. Clear Lake (1-3) will play a team to be determined in the seventh-place game Saturday at 3 p.m.
“We’re taking some lumps right now but we’re going to get to work and fix them,” Clear Lake coach Phil Psalmonds said of the Cardinals third straight loss.
Joy Ingalls’ 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, led Clear Lake. Sydney Howe and Rylee Mix finished with six points apiece.
In the tournament’s junior varsity bracket, Montana Wells and Abby Mertle scored 13 points apiece as the Clear Lake Cardinals led from opening tip to final buzzer, beating Pierce 43-25 in the winner’s semifinals. Clear Lake meets either Colusa or Durham in the championship game Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Between Wells’ shooting from the outside and Mertle’s play inside, the Cardinals (3-1) forged a 25-11 halftime lead and never looked back.
Rubi Ford had eight points in the win and Stella Hill added six.
Piner Tournament
Lower Lake 34, Novato 33
At Santa Rosa, the Lower Lake Trojans held off Novato to claim their first win of the season. After leading most of the game, Lower Lake (1-3) fell behind 33-32 late in the fourth quarter. The Trojans missed the front end of a one-and-one with time running out, but after a wild scramble under the basket for the rebound, the Trojans scored to push in front 34-33.
“It was a scrum underneath, I can’t even tell you who scored,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said.
Novato had a couple of opportunities to win the game in the final seconds but came up empty.
“The girls gutted it out,” Tubbs said. “We’re taking our lumps but are getting better.”
Lower Lake outscored Novato 10-0 in the first quarter and led 17-6 at halftime. Novato made a game of it with a 27-17 second half.
“Novato had trouble shooting in the first half and we had trouble shooting in the second half,” Tubbs said.
Margo Cordova led the Trojans with 10 points while Alicia Jones and Shelby Sapeta each added eight.
Lower Lake plays Mt. Eden of Hayward on Saturday at 3 p.m. for the consolation championship.
