KELSEYVILLE — There’s no reason to strike up the band, but the Kelseyville Knights can celebrate a bit after beating the Willits Wolverines 59-50 on Tuesday night in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action at Kelseyville.
Both teams entered play at 1-9 and tied for last place in the league standings. Kelseyville (2-9, 7-15) is now out of the cellar thanks to a second victory over the Wolverines. The Knights won the first meeting 50-31 on Jan. 14 in Kelseyville.
“We’ll take it,” Kelseyville head coach Jeremy Linnell said. “We shot the ball well tonight and we shot our 3s well tonight.”
Kelseyville carried a 53-34 lead into the fourth quarter and had as much as a 20-point lead before Willits (1-10) began to chip away.
“They played hard, they battled to the end,” Linnell said of the Wolverines, who broke a 44-game league losing streak earlier this season with a win at Lower Lake but have dropped eight in a row since then.
Kelseyville sank four 3-pointers in each half. Bodhi Baird scored 13 of his team-leading 17 points during a 25-16 third quarter, including three 3-pointers, as the Knights pulled away.
Joining Baird in double digits were Tyler Linnell and Jake Keithly, both with 15 points. Joey Mendonca added seven points.
In the junior varsity game, Kelseyville beat Willits 46-32 to snap a three-game league losing streak and improve to 5-6 in the NCL I standings.
“We just played really good defense for two quarters,” Kelseyville coach Oscar Lopez said. “We held them two points in the second quarter and three points in the third quarter.”
Luke Watkins led a balanced Kelseyville attack with 12 points while Kyle Leary and Joey Gentle each had nine. Carson Mayo added five more.
Kelseyville’s teams are on the road Friday to play Lower Lake.
In other boys action Tuesday:
Upper Lake 71, Tech 46
At Rohnert Park, the Upper Lake Cougars used a big second half to rout Technology in NCL II interlock action. Trailing 29-28 at the half, Upper Lake (15-6) outscored the Titans 43-17 in the second half.
“It was a matter of getting out and running and taking care of the boards,” Upper Lake head coach Tony Arroyo said. “We limited them to one shot.”
Upper Lake switched from a man-to-man defense in the first half to a zone in the second half and the Titans struggled from the field. Meanwhile the Cougars were heating up from the field as they outscored the Titans 21-4 in the third quarter.
“Most of our (seven) 3-pointers came in the second half,” Arroyo said.
Big factors in the win were the play off the bench of Rocco Bassignani (12 points) and Russell Gordon (11 points).
“Rocco gave us a shot in the arm in the first half when he scored 10 of his 12 points,” Arroyo said. “Russell hit some big 3s.”
Louis Avalos led the Cougars with 15 points and Dalton Slater added 10 more. Hank Nevarez went 2-for-2 from behind the 3-point arc.
Upper Lake returns home Friday to play Roseland University Prep in NCL II action. It’s the Cougars’ final home game of the regular season and they’ll honor their seniors before the opening tipoff.
There was no JV game on Tuesday night.
Fort Bragg 65, Middletown 40
At Fort Bragg, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves beat the Middletown Mustangs in NCL I action, dropping Middletown (5-6, 12-10) below the .500 mark in league play.
No other results were reported.
In the JV game, Middletown beat Fort Bragg 55-19 to move into a tie for first place with Clear Lake and Cloverdale atop the NCL I standings. All three teams are 9-2 with three games remaining, including Cloverdale at Middletown on Friday.
“We just need to take care of our own business,” Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn said of the Mustangs’ final three games – home vs. Cloverdale, at Willits (Tuesday) and home vs. Lower Lake (Feb. 13).
Against Fort Bragg, Middletown closer the second quarter with a 20-3 run for a 31-13 halftime lead. Roberto Chaires (21 points) outscored the entire Fort Bragg team. Cole Ketchum added 10 points, Zach Dubois had seven and Luke Hoogendoorn six.
“He just played a really good game inside and out,” Hoogendoorn said of Chaires.
Playing primarily reserves in the second half, Middletown limited Fort Bragg to three points in the third quarter and three points in the fourth quarter.
