UKIAH — A big second half carried the Kelseyville High School junior varsity boys basketball team to a 58-35 win over the Willits Wolverines in the first round of the Ukiah Tournament on Thursday night at Ukiah High School.
Kelseyville (5-3) outscored Willits 38-21 in the second half to break open a close game — 20-14 — at halftime.
The Knights jumped out to a 14-4 lead early but were slowed by an injury and foul trouble in the second quarter.
Luke Watkins and Carson Mayo led the Knights with 14 points apiece while Kyle Leary added seven.
“We’re cleaning up some things, but we played well,” Kelseyville coach Oscar Lopez said.
Kelseyville plays Branson School of Ross on Friday at 4 p.m. in the winner’s semifinals.
In other JV boys action Thursday:
Cloverdale Tournament
Fortuna 57, Middletown 56
At Cloverdale, Fortuna scored a layup with 20 seconds remaining to erase a 56-55 deficit and the Huskies held on to beat the Middletown Mustangs in the first round of the Cloverdale Tournament.
Middletown (7-2) had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds on a shot by Lucas DaCosta that missed its mark.
“I thought he was fouled on the play, but you’re not going to hang your hat on that,” Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn said. “We let one get away from us.”
Middletown opened up as much as a 28-12 lead in the second quarter before Fortuna rallied to cut the deficit to 32-27 by halftime.
“It was back and forth after that,” Hoogendoorn said.
“We made a couple of key turnovers down the stretch that hurt us. They were pressing us and that’s our bread and butter, but we did some uncharacteristic things,” Hoogendoorn added.
Roberto Chaires scored a season-best 16 points to lead the Mustangs while Brody Breeden added 14 and Zach Dubois 12. Luke Hoogendoorn added six more.
Middletown is scheduled to play Cloverdale’s B team on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the consolation semifinals.
