LAKE COUNTY — The 2019-20 Clear Lake High School varsity boys basketball team was fairly lethal on most nights as far as the competition was concerned, but on those occasions when big men Tyler Cerini and Jaron Mertle were both on their “A” game, they were virtually unstoppable.
Until the COVID-19-delayed 2020-21 sports season starts, the Lake County Record-Bee will take a look back at the local sports happenings of a year ago and the teams and athletes who were making the headlines.
Varsity boys basketball
One of those nights took place nearly a year ago today when Clear Lake overwhelmed the Lower Lake Trojans 87-53 in a North Central League I game was that pretty much over by halftime. In winning its 20th game of the season and improving to 11-0 in the North Central League I standings, the Cardinals had a 49-23 lead by the intermission, leaving the second half to its reserves.
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 wide 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 rebounds, four of them offensive.
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 league, 6-11 overall) while Semaj Clark and Joseph Hughes each had 13.
“They have a great program,” Humphrey said of the Cardinals.
In an exciting finish in the earlier junior varsity game, Lower Lake won 81-80 on a steal and a layup by Jett Guralas in the final seconds of double-overtime to stun the league-leading Cardinals. The upset loss dropped Clear Lake into a first-place tie with Cloverdale and Middletown.
Marquis Jones led the Trojans with 39 points and Guralas finished with 12. For the Cardinals, Drake Smart had a team-best 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.”
