UPPER LAKE — It was a lot closer than the Upper Lake Cougars and head coach Angelina Arroyo ever expected, but a win is a win is a win.
Behind 19 points from Taylar Minnis, the Upper Lake junior varsity girls basketball team, minus two of its starters, held on to beat the Anderson Valley Panthers 32-30 in non-league action on Tuesday night in Upper Lake.
To say the Panthers have improved since their first meeting with the Cougars way back on Nov. 21 in Boonville would be something of an understatement. In that early-season meeting nearly a month ago, Upper Lake won by 55 points — 59-4.
“Maybe they thought it was going to be that easy again,” Arroyo said of her players. “I got a lot of my younger girls in, but we didn’t think it would be that close.”
Upper Lake (7-4) trailed 14-9 at halftime before rallying over the final two quarters.
Lupy Monlo-Duncan had six points for Upper Lake. The Cougars travel to Fort Bragg on Thursday for a 4 p.m. non-league contest with the Timberwolves. Upper Lake’s varsity girls open play in the Stokes Invitational Thursday in Kelseyville with a 1:30 game against Ferndale.
