UPPER LAKE — The momentum that carried Upper Lake to a 40-36 lead over St. Vincent through three quarters disappeared in the final two minutes as the visiting Mustangs rallied for a 57-50 victory over the Cougars in North Central League II varsity boys basketball action Friday night in Upper Lake.
Upper Lake (2-3 league, 14-6 overall) lost its lead with 1:51 left in the game.
“I told them there was no need to panic, but we did,” Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said. “We rushed our offense and didn’t take very good shots. We had the momentum up until then, then it shifted over to them just as fast.”
Upper Lake led 18-12 after one quarter but St. Vincent pushed ahead 29-28 by halftime.
Diego Velasco came off the bench in the second quarter to give the Cougars a lift after starter Hank Nevarez left the game in foul trouble. Velasco ended up scoring 14 points, the same number as teammate Benat Love. Dalton Slater joined them in double digits with 10 points.
“We let it get away from us,” Arroyo said.
Nevarez and Louis Avalos each had six points in the loss.
The Cougars play an interlock game Tuesday against Tech in Rohnert Park.
In JV action, St. Vincent defeated Upper Lake 56-26, a game in which the Cougars suited up only five players because of a hand injury to Kyle Grandi, one of their top scorers.
Kai Young led the Cougars with 18 points and Blaine Rhodes added five as Upper Lake fell 2-2 in league play.
“He had a really good first half, but he got into foul trouble in the second half,” Upper Lake coach Nick Williamson said of Young. “It was a very physical game and with only five guys, I couldn’t rest him.”
Upper Lake played St. Vincent tough in the first half and trailed only 28-20 at halftime.
But as the fouls began to pile up in the second half, Williamson said the Cougars couldn’t be nearly as aggressive on defense as they wanted to be.
“We had to back off,” he said.
The Cougars are off until next Friday they’re home against Roseland University Prep at 5 p.m.
In other boys action Friday:
Cloverdale 55, Kelseyville 42
At Kelseyville, the Cloverdale Eagles outscored the Kelseyville Knights 19-4 at the free-throw line as they improved to 9-1 in the league standings.
“We just fouled a little too much tonight,” Kelseyville head coach Jeremy Linnell said.
The Knights (1-9, 6-15) stayed close to the Eagles in the first half and trailed only 28-24 at halftime. Cloverdale began to pull away in the third quarter.
“I think our legs caught up with us in the third quarter after last night’s game,” Linnell said of a 66-40 road loss to Fort Bragg on Thursday.
Joey Mendonca’s 18 points, including four 3-pointers, led the Knights while Bodhi Baird added eight. Josh Lemley’s 18 points powered the Eagles.
“We played hard,” Linnell said.
In the JV game, Cloverdale edged Kelseyville 46-44 when the Knights missed a potential game-tying two-point basket at the buzzer.
“It hit the glass and went off the front end of the rim,” Kelseyville coach Oscar Lopez said.
Kelseyville, now 4-6 in league play, led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but the Eagles rallied with a 19-6 fourth quarter.
“We outscored them 16-7 in the third and it just kind of flipped in the fourth quarter,” Lopez said of the changing momentum.
Luke Watkins led the Knights with 11 points and Kyle Leary and Earl Linglong each had seven.
Kelseyville’s teams are home Tuesday to play Willits. JV action tips off at 5:30 p.m.
Lower Lake 77, Willits 70
At Willits, the Lower Lake Trojans beat Willits, avenging a last-second 54-52 loss to the Wolverines earlier this season in Lower Lake.
Lower Lake is 4-6 in league play and 6-10 overall.
No other game details were reported.
