LOWER LAKE — Taking care of business were the Clear Lake Cardinals with a 87-53 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action Tuesday night at Lower Lake High School.
Clear Lake (11-0 league, 20-3) won its 20th game of the season in dominating fashion, building a 49-23 halftime lead and coasting home in the second half for the victory.
Tyler Cerini scored 17 of his team-leading 26 points in the first half and Jaron Mertle had 17 of his 20 in the first two quarters as the Cardinals pounded the ball inside to their big men at will.
“They (Trojans) didn’t really have an answer for those two,” Clear Lake head coach Scott De Leon said. “They dominated in the paint. That’s what we needed them to do. That was our gameplan.”
“Cerini and Mertle absolutely took it to us in the first half,” Lower Lake head coach Marcus Humphrey said. “Almost all of their points were inside. They hit only one 3-pointer in the first half. I’ve got to hand it to them. They use all of that height to their advantage.”
Clear Lake outscored Lower Lake 25-8 in the second quarter to blow the game open.
On those occasions when Cerini and Mertle didn’t hit their first shot, they hit their second, according to Humphrey.
“If their shot didn’t go down, they were there to tip it back in,” Humphrey said.
Mertle finished with 10 rebounds, half of them on the offensive boards, while Cerini added nine total reobunds, four of them offensive.
De Leon said he began pulling his starters midway through the third quarter and that his reserves did a good job the rest of the way.
“The subs got some great minutes and they really took care of the basketball,” De Leon said. “Everyone got a chance to play and got a chance to shoot.”
Darius Ford added 10 points and a team-best eight assists while Travis Howe dished out five assists.
Vann Wilkins’ 14 points powered the Trojans (4-7, 6-11) while Semaj Clark and Joseph Hughes each had 13.
“They have a great program,” Humphrey said of the Cardinals.
Clear Lake hits the road Friday to play Fort Bragg while Lower Lake hosts Kelseyville.
In the junior varsity game, Lower Lake won on a steal and a layup by Jett Guralas in the final seconds of double-overtime to stun league leader Clear Lake (9-2, 19-3). The Cardinals fall into a first-place tie with Cloverdale and Middletown with three games remaining for each team. Cloverdale visits Middletown on Friday, and Clear Lake travels to Cloverdale on Feb. 13 in the final game of the season.
Marquis Jones led the Trojans with 39 points and Guralas finished with 12. For the Cardinals, Drake Smart led the way with 18 points, Ethan Maize added 15, Jack Daskam had 13, and Zane Robinson had 10.
“They got it, they deserve it,” Clear Lake coach Scott Persons said of the Trojans. “My hat’s off to them. Their No. 0 (Jones) just ate us up. He did not miss.”
Persons said four of his five starters played despite being sick and were less than 100 percent while his fifth starter missed the game with an injury.
“We just didn’t have the energy and hustle to beat them tonight,” Persons said.
