KELSEYVILLE — Izabella Salazar scored from right underneath the basket with 32.6 seconds remaining Friday night as the Lower Lake Trojans won a back-and-forth 35-34 thriller with the Kelseyville Knights in second-round girls action at the 50th annual Stokes Tournament in Kelseyville.
“She’s had it rough this year,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said of the senior guard. “She lost her father earlier this year and she’s been going through a lot, so it was nice to see her get that last basket.”
Lower Lake (2-6) trailed 34-31 down the stretch. Ayla Ales (10 points) scored on a layup with 2:01 remaining to cut Kelseyville’s lead to a single point. Both teams had numerous possessions but were unable to capitalize from the field or free-throw line until Salazar’s basket produced the ninth and final lead change of the game.
Kelseyville head coach Terry McIntire called a timeout with 24.7 seconds remaining but the Knights turned the ball over. Tubbs called a timeout of his own with 16.9 seconds left. When play resumed, the Trojans inbounded the ball to their best free-throw shooter, junior guard Tiahna Tubbs, who drew a foul with 9.4 seconds to go. She went to the line for a one-and-one but missed the front end, however the Trojans came down with the offensive rebound but missed a chance to seal the game when Serenity McCoy’s shot missed its mark. Kelseyville pulled down the rebound this time before McIntire used another timeout to set up a final play with 4.1 seconds remaining.
A turnover to Lower Lake on the inbounds pass ended it.
“The same thing happened to us last year against Kelseyville,” Tubbs said. “We played them a few days before the tournament and beat them pretty good, but then they almost got us here.”
Fast forward to this year. Lower Lake defeated Kelseyville 45-27 in a North Central League I game on Tuesday in Kelseyville. Three days later the two teams battled to the very end in their Stokes Tournament meeting.
“You can’t assume just showing up gets you a W,” Tubbs said. “These tournament games are way more intense than league games. The crowd is bigger and louder.”
McIntire said his young Knights (1-9), who have struggled to score all season, were able to give the Trojans a game this time around because of their stellar play on defense.
“They played defense tonight, that’s what they did,” McIntire said. “That’s the best game they’ve played on defense and as far as rebounding. We also had some good shooting.”
Tubbs and McIntire are not strangers to each other. They coached middle school basketball — Tubbs at Konocti and McIntire at Terrace — back in the day.
“There’s an intensity between us, but it’s a fun intensity,” Tubbs said.
Both coaches also have daughters playing at the varsity level. Tiahna Tubbs, a junior, led the Trojans with 12 points while Faith McIntire, a freshman, led the Knights with 13 points, including four 3-pointers.
“Faith’s a strong player and she’s going to be a good one,” Tubbs said. “She’s aggressive and she’s going to play hard.”
Olivia Hommer, a sophomore, just missed a double-double for the Knights with nine points and 13 rebounds. Lily Wiser and Mikaylah Meyer combined for another 15 rebounds. Wiser also had seven points.
“That’s definitely our best game of the season in every category,” McIntire said.
Salazar finished with six points for Lower Lake and McCoy had five.
The two teams were never separated by more than four points in the second half. Lower Lake led 9-5 after one quarter, Kelseyville had a 17-14 halftime lead, and the game was deadlocked 26-all entering the fourth quarter.
Ferndale 54, Upper Lake 38
Ferndale dominated Upper Lake during a 19-7 fourth quarter to close in on its second straight Stokes Tournament championship.
The Wildcats (7-1) appeared to have the game well in hand with a 30-20 lead early in the third quarter but the Cougars (7-1) went on a 11-1 run to pull even at 31-all, a Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow’s putback with 1:43 remaining in the quarter knotting the score.
Ferndale scored back-to-back baskets to go up 35-31 by quarter’s end, and that momentum carried right over into the fourth quarter. Two free throws by Reaghan Langer (12 points) and a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Kyla Albee (18 points) pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 40-31.
Taylar Minnis (12 points) briefly cut the deficit to 40-33 with a basket inside before Albee scored the game’s next eight points — a 3-pointer, a basket, a free throw and another basket — to give the Wildcats a commanding 48-33 lead with 4:11 left in the game.
Ferndale led by as many as 18 later in the quarter.
“Ferndale did an excellent job all the way around,” Upper Lake co-head coach Raelene Cromwell said. “They were really strong.”
And the Wildcats are also really well conditioned as they suited up only seven players while the much deeper Cougars were substituting in fresh legs throughout the game.
Both teams also were in foul trouble by game’s end although only one player – Upper Lake’s Madison Noble — ended up fouling out.
“That’s the first time we’ve played a team with a man-to-man defense and it caused us some problems,” Upper Lake co-head coach Raelene Cromwell said. “We were able to run some of our our offense but not all of it. It gives us something to work on.”
The Cougars also were minus one of their top players, senior guard Maddy Young, who is competing in a wrestling tournament in Sacramento this weekend.
“It’s a significant loss and it showed up tonight against a strong team,” Cromwell said.
Senior guard Carly Carmesin joined Albee and Langer in double digits with 11 points and her play on defense also was impressive. During one stretch in the second quarter she had three straight steals, the first two resulting in Carmesin layups.
Clara Albee, a freshman guard, added six points.
Ferndale finishes up the tournament with the early game Saturday against Lower Lake. Upper Lake plays Kelseyville in the late game.
