KELSEYVILLE — Free throws down the stretch by Dalton Slater, Benat Love and Louis Avalos sealed Upper Lake’s 51-49 victory over the Elsie Allen Lobos on Friday in a boys consolation semifinal game at the 48th annual Stokes Invitational Basketball Tournament in Kelseyville.
Upper Lake (9-2) led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter after Jay Arroyo sank back-to-back 3-pointers. Elsie Allen chipped away at the lead, closing to 40-36 by quarter’s end and moving to within one point of the Cougars in the final seconds. Avalos hit one of two free throws with 6.1 seconds left to make it a 51-49 game, leaving the Lobos enough time to attempt a last-second 3-pointer.
“I just told them not to foul,” Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said of the game’s final play. “We fouled them on a 3-pointer in the third quarter and they made all three free throws. We didn’t want that to happen again.”
Elsie Allen junior guard Julian Lopez pulled up from well behind the 3-point arc and his shot wasn’t close.
“He drew air,” Arroyo said.
Lopez (12 points) and teammate David Roldan (19 points) combined for nine 3-pointers in the game.
It was a nice bounceback victory for an Upper Lake team that was thoroughly dominated by Cloverdale 70-31 in Thursday’s opening round.
“Our spirits were up and body language was good,” Arroyo said. “We were taking care of the ball and not rushing things.”
Upper Lake led 25-16 at halftime.
“They were pressing us, but they were overly aggressive and we were able to get into the bonus and hit some big free throws,” Arroyo said.
Slater led Upper Lake with 16 points, Arroyo added nine – all on 3-pointers – and Avalos finished with seven points. Love and Hank Nevarez each had six.
Upper Lake plays Ferndale in the consolation championship game Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Ferndale defeated Technology 62-24 in the other consolation semifinal on Friday.
