PETALUMA — Hoping to come away from Friday’s consolation semifinal against Lower Lake with a victory, the Clear Lake High School varsity boys basketball team did one better; it came away with two wins in the St. Vincent Tournament at Petaluma.
After using a big second half to beat Lower Lake 54-46 in their scheduled game, the Cardinals came right back onto the floor to beat Westlake Christian 45-37.
Tournament officials were in a bit of a spot after a team that lost in Thursday’s opening round suddenly pulled out of the tournament, leaving a hole in Friday’s schedule.
“They asked us if we could fill it,” Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said. “We had an one open game on our schedule, so it worked out well for both of us.”
Clear Lake 54, Lower Lake 46
Clear Lake trailed Lower Lake 24-18 at halftime in the regularly scheduled consolation semifinal, but the Cardinals began to pick up the pace in the third quarter and pulled even at 36 by quarter’s end. They dominated the final eight minutes.
“Our energy finally picked up and we started hitting some shots,” Damiata said. “This is a real simple game if your shots are going in.”
Cody Hayes was a force inside for the Cardinals as he led the team with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
“He played a really strong game,” Damiata said.
Clear Lake’s backcourt of Jake Soderquist and Jesse Hayes also had a solid outing, according to Damiata, especially on the defensive end.
Graden Greer added 12 points in the win.
“We played more consistent in the second half,” Damiata said.
Jett Guralas led Lower Lake (4-5) with 22 points while Buddy Felder had 12.
Clear Lake 45, Westlake Christian 37
Soderquist scored 13 of his team-leading 20 points in the first half against Westlake Christian.
A 12-4 third quarter extended Clear Lake’s lead to 41-31.
“It was good for us, we needed the reps and everyone got some time,” Damiata said of the Cardinals’ surprise bonus game.
Jesse Hayes added nine points in the victory and Cody Hayes finished with six points and eight rebounds.
In other tournament action Friday:
M’town JVs 53, Clear Lake JVs 38
At Cloverdale, Anthony Bowerman’s 14 points and 11 rebounds powered the Middletown junior varsity boys basketball team to a win over the Clear Lake Cardinals at the Cloverdale JV Tournament.
Jon Hawkins also had a double-double for the Mustangs with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Middletown gradually pulled away from Clear Lake and took a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter.
“We’re still a little rusty,” Clear Lake coach Shady Cerezo said. “It was only our second game and we were missing a lot of layups under the basket. We had a bunch of open looks and didn’t knock them down.”
Kaden Graham’s 10 points led Clear Lake (1-1) while Zane McAuley added nine and Peyton Portlock eight.
Upper Lake JVs 60, Mendocino JVs 26
At Upper Lake, Beaux Stiritz led the Upper Lake Cougars with 18 points in a first-round win over Mendocino at the Cougar Classic JV Tournament.
Delaney Allison added nine points and 10 rebounds while Connor Vogel had eight points and Jerod Rosales finished with six points and 10 rebounds.
“He played great,” Upper Lake coach Thomas Santana said of Allison.
Santana said Vogel’s defense and rebounding as well as Rosales’ play on the boards figured prominently in the Cougars’ lopsided first-round victory.
