LOWER LAKE — In a battle of teams vying to stay close to North Central League I leaders Cloverdale and Middletown, the Clear Lake Cardinals and Lower Lake Trojans locked up in a thriller on Tuesday night in Lower Lake.
In a varsity girls basketball game that went down to the wire, it was a 10-foot fadeaway basket by Sydney Howe with seven second remaining that lifted Clear Lake to a dramatic 41-40 victory.
“It was really fun,” said Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said of the final outcome although the Cardinals (3-1 league, 8-5 overall) blew a 13-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
Trailing 41-40 with 16 seconds remaining, Clear Lake missed a shot but Howe came up with the offensive rebound and scored with seven seconds left.
“It was beautiful,” Psalmonds said of Howe’s game-winning shot, which caught all net.
Lower Lake drew up a final play that almost went amiss when a loose ball near midcourt resulted in a jump ball, possession remaining with the Trojans with only 3.8 seconds remaining.
Lower Lake (2-2, 6-10) could only get off a long 3-pointer that missed its mark as time expired.
“We just couldn’t get downhill enough,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said of the Trojans’ final shot. “We couldn’t get a good, clean look at it.”
Clear Lake outscored Lower Lake 18-8 in the third quarter to open up a 36-23 advantage, but Sam Hughes led the Trojans back during a 17-5 fourth quarter. The senior scored all 11 of her points in the final period, including three 3-pointers.
“They were on fire,” Psalmonds said of the Trojans’ hot shooting from the floor as they rallied down the stretch.
Howe led the Cardinals with 13 points and Joy Ingalls added eight. Alisha Jones had a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds to power the Trojans. Kayla Doud added nine points, including two 3-pointers.
“It was hard walking into the locker room after the game,” said Tubbs, who called it one of the tougher losses of his career. “The girls took it hard, but there is no quit in them. They’re going to be gritty and tough the whole way.”
Ironically, Tubbs said he lost in similar fashion to Clear Lake last season when he was coaching Lower Lake’s junior varsity girls. Clear Lake’s Rylee Mix, now up with the varsity, hit a last-second shot to beat the Trojans.
“They (Cardinals) have a good group of kids over there and I love that group,” Tubbs added.
“That game totally could have gone either way,” Psalmonds said.
In JV action, Mikayla Fifield’s 15 points powered the Clear Lake Cardinals past the Lower Lake Trojans 43-27. Stella Hill and Montana Wells finished with eight and seven points, respectively, for the Cardinals, now 4-0 in league play.
Clear Lake led 30-10 at the half.
“We played great defense in the first half,” Clear Lake assistant coach Jeff Mertle said.
Terilyn Jo Jermany led Lower Lake with 17 points and Kyleigh Mock had seven.
In other girls action Tuesday:
Middletown 32, Fort Bragg 16
At Fort Bragg, despite scoring only 10 points in the first half, the Middletown Mustangs beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves to improve to 4-0 in league play and 9-5 overall.
As cold as Middletown was in the first half, Fort Bragg’s offense was in an even deeper freeze, scoring only six points. In fact, the Mustangs (4-0, 9-5) had the only two points of the second quarter to take a 10-6 lead into halftime.
Middletown head coach Andy Brown didn’t have an answer as to why the Mustangs struggled so much on offense in the first half, but he said it’s hard to be upset with a team that limits the opposition to six points in the first half and nine points through three quarters.
“We had plenty of shots, but the ball literally wouldn’t go in,” Brown said. “But it was an outstanding defensive effort. They (Timberwolves) scored only six points in the first half. I can’t ask them to do better then that.”
Things began to loosen up a bit on offense in the third quarter when Jessica Pollack, the Mustangs’ leading scorer with nine points, hit a 3-pointer to open the second half. Georgia Guerrero’s only three points of the game came on a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter.
“Those were both big shots for us,” Brown said. “Georgia’s three sparked the offense in the fourth quarter.”
Middletown scored a game-high 13 points in the final period.
“A typical Fort Bragg game night … on a Tuesday, long drive,” Brown said. “I’ve been coming over here since the fourth grade and it’s always been like this.”
Abbey Brown had eight points for Middletown and Olivia Kucer, despite going scoreless for the night, pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds.
The Mustangs host Cloverdale in a first-place showdown on Friday night.
“They’re going to test our abilities in every facet,” Brown said of the Eagles, the defending league champions.
Middletown beat Fort Bragg 60-37 in the JV game.
Kelseyville 46, Willits 39
At Kelseyville, the Kelseyville Knights are in the win column in league play after beating the Willits Wolverines in a battle of 0-3 teams entering Tuesday’s action.
Behind 13 points and two 3-pointers from Maddy Barker, the Knights gave first-year head coach Skyler Olsen her first NCL I victory.
“It was a satisfying win for us,” Olsen said.
Olsen pulled her starters late in the game but had to put them back on the floor late in the fourth quarter when Willits (0-4) cut Kelseyville’s lead to four points.
“It got a little too close at the end,” Olsen said.
A 16-7 second quarter gave the Knights (1-3, 4-11) a 23-16 halftime lead and they held that same seven-point cushion going to the final period.
Kelseyville’s pressure defense forced Willits into a number of mistakes, according to Olsen.
Allison Bryant finished with only five points but had six rebounds and six blocks for the Knights. Ryann Taylor added nine points and seven rebounds while Sam Carter chipped in with seven points and six rebounds. Sarah Parlee had six points for Kelseyville, which hits the road Friday to play Lower Lake.
In the JV game, Larue Furlani’s double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds carried Kelseyville to a 45-32 win over Willits. The Knights are 3-1 in league and 8-1 overall.
Emily Sandoval joined Furlani in double digits with 10 points.
