UPPER LAKE — New year, new decade and new uniforms, but the same old Upper Lake Cougars, and that’s a good thing.
Behind 18 points from Alana Sanchez, and 12 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two blocks from freshman Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow, Upper Lake beat Esparto 57-15 in non-league varsity girls basketball action Monday night in Upper Lake.
On the floor for the first time since beating Kelseyville 42-36 in the championship game of the Stokes Invitational on Dec. 21 in Kelseyville, the Cougars looked sharp while improving their record to 11-2.
“They came out and played really well,” Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith said of the Cougars. “That’s the best ball movement I’ve seen out of this group. They looked completely comfortable out there.”
All of Loans Arrow’s points came on 3-pointers. Point guard Maddy Young added seven points, five assists and four steals while Zoey Petrie, a sophomore transfer from Clear Lake High School, made her Upper Lake debut with six points.
“Zoey really takes some of the pressure off Maddy and that allows her to concentrate more on her offense tonight,” Smith said. “I had a better sense of a more relaxed feeling on offense from Maddy.”
Sanchez dominated the Spartans (4-5) down low, according to Smith.
“She found her post position and we did a good job of feeding the ball to her,” Smith said. “She was solid all the way through.”
The Cougars’ new home uniforms were well received by the players, according to Smith, and the road uniforms will get their first test Friday in Laytonville in the third meeting this season between the two Division V schools. Upper Lake won the first meeting and Laytonville the second.
Upper Lake opens its North Central League II schedule on Jan. 14 against St. Vincent in Petaluma.
Junior varsity
Upper Lake’s junior varsity squad received 13 points apiece from Tayler Minnis and Kat Geary-Lopez, and Lupy Monlo-Duncan added another 11 in a 53-14 win over Esparto.
“Kat did a great job handling the point while giving my reserves a lot of time,” Upper Lake coach Angelina Arroyo said. “We had strong defense from Nathaly Velasco, great passing from Lupy, and great rebounding from all my down-low players.”
Upper Lake (7-4) dominated from the opening tip.
“The girls came out aggressive, hungry for the ball and passed very well to find the open teammate for the easiest baskets,” Arroyo said. “I couldn’t be happier with their play. I suited up 13 girls. We definitely came back from break hungry to get a win.”
The JV squad hosts Victory Christian Academy on Wednesday. There is no varsity game.
