KELSEYVILLE — Offense, defense, rebounding and teamwork. It was all there for the Kelseyville High School varsity girls basketball team on Thursday night as the Knights beat an undefeated Elsie Allen squad 62-34 in the opening round of the 48th annual Stokes Invitational at Kelseyville.
Playing at home for the first time this season, Kelseyville (2-7) snapped a six-game losing streak.
“Being on the homecourt kind of boosted their confidence and attitudes,” Kelseyville head coach Skyler Olsen said of her players. “I’m very proud of them.”
The Knights were remarkably consistent on offense for the first three quarters, building a commanding 55-29 lead. Sharing the ball and making that extra pass to locate an open teammate were a couple of the keys, according to Olsen.
“They decided not to be super selfish and were passing the ball,” Olsen said.
Kelseyville’s balanced scoring attack featured 10 points apiece from Allison Bryant, Malena Murray and Sam Carter. Maddy Barker added eight points, Paloma Ortiz had seven and Ryann Taylor six.
The Knights led 19-11 after one quarter. Their defense limited Elsie Allen (12-1) to single-digit totals in the next three quarters.
“Our press finally picked up that energy a little bit,” Olsen said. “They finally picked themselves up out of the rut they were in.”
Bryant and Murray each had six steals in the game and Bryant also had five rebounds. Taylor and Ortiz added four steals apiece.
Kelseyville plays Ferndale in the second round of the round-robin girls bracket Friday at 7:30 p.m. Ferndale dropped a 53-14 decision to Upper Lake in another first-round game Thursday. The tournament runs through Saturday.
