POTTER VALLEY — All 10 Upper Lake players scored on a Wednesday night when the Cougars’ starters spent only one quarter together before the reserves took over in a 67-13 victory over the Point Arena Pirates in first-round girls action at the Potter Valley Basketball Tournament.
The Lady Cougars improved to 6-0 on the season and will play a familiar foe, the Willits Wolverines, on Friday at 3 p.m. in the semifinals. Upper Lake beat Willits 39-37 on Saturday in the girls championship game of the Small Schools Classic at Upper Lake. Willits also beat Cloverdale 47-45 on Tuesday in the North Central League I opener for both teams.
“We’ll see where we stand after that,” Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith of the rematch with the Wolverines.
The winner of Friday’s game advances to Saturday’s championship round while the loser plays for third place.
Point Arena was in way over its ahead against Upper Lake, which held a 26-1 lead after the first quarter.
“We played all reserves after the first quarter with a sprinkling of starters,” Smith said. “I was proud of the starters who came in and worked with the reserves and helped them out.”
One of those reserves, Tristin Rhodes, scored 11 points, joining starters Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow (15 points) and Zoey Petrie (10 points) in double figures.
“She was aggressive driving to the basket and she pulled up for shots a couple of times,” Smith said of Rhodes. “Defensively she played well too.”
Two other players who shined off the bench were freshman point guard Kailyah Whipple and Karla Martin, according to Smith.
“She did a great job running the point,” Smith said of Whipple, who is not a natural point guard. “She’s learning the position.”
Martin led the reserves with five rebounds. She also had four points as did Whipple.
Even with a steady presence of reserves on the floor, the Cougars pushed their lead to 40-1 by halftime and 60-5 through three quarters.
Taylar Minnis had eight points in the win while Maddy Young and Lexy Wurm added five apiece.
In other girls tournament action Wednesday:
Healdsburg 44, Clear Lake 33
At Healdsburg, the Clear Lake Cardinals hung tough for three quarters before the Healdsburg Greyhounds (8-3) pulled away late to win a first-round game at the Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament (REIBT).
Healdsburg outscored Clear Lake 16-9 in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t hit shots and we gave them too many second chances,” Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said. “They (Greyhounds) cleaned up the boards pretty well.”
Despite the loss, Psalmonds said it was a nice change playing a team like the Greyhounds.
“Our last couple of games haven’t been very competitive,” Psalmonds said. “They play a real tough man defense and they have some strong posts.”
Healdsburg led 10-6 after one quarter but Clear Lake (2-3) went into halftime tied at 18. The Greyhounds took a 27-24 lead into the fourth quarter.
“I’m encouraged,” Psalmonds said of the Cardinals’ performance. “I think we can get there, but we definitely have some things to work on.”
Clear Lake returns to action Friday against Kelseyville in the consolation semifinals at 6 p.m.
McKinleyville 46, Kelseyville 24
At Healdsburg, Kelseyville led 10-8 after one quarter but the McKinleyville Panthers came storming back to beat the Knights in the first round of the Redwood Empire Invitational.
Both teams were looking for their first win of the season.
Emily Sandoval scored 10 points for Kelseyville (0-2) and Larue Furlani added eight. Kiara Rivas hit a 3-pointer.
Kelseyville draws Clear Lake (2-3) in the consolation semifinals Friday at 6 p.m.
