FORT BRAGG — The Clear Lake Cardinals couldn’t recover from a three-point first quarter, falling 61-45 to the Orland Trojans on Wednesday in first-round varsity boys play at the Vern Piver Holiday Tournament in Fort Bragg.
Orland led 16-3 after one quarter and Clear Lake (5-4) was never closer than nine points the rest of the way.
“We could not put the ball in the basket in the first quarter, it was as simple as that,” Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said. “We ran our offense well, but we couldn’t score.”
A three-point play by Jake Soderquist with 4:57 left in the game brought the Cardinals within nine points of the Trojans. Soderquist, a junior guard, finished with 14 points as did Cody Hayes, who scored all of his points in the second half.
“Cody was in foul trouble in the first half,” Damiata said. “He picked up three quick fouls.”
Clear Lake matched Orland point for point in both the second and third quarters. It was 49-36 going to the final period.
“They were solid but beatable,” Damiata said of the Trojans. “They rebounded well and we didn’t. That’s been our Achilles heel so far. We’ve got to rebound better.”
Damiata gave high marks to the overall play of Soderquist and to Liam Orr’s defense off the Clear Lake bench.
“Jake was really aggressive the whole game,” Damiata said. “Liam was really good on defense, he’s long and lean.”
Clear Lake plays Upper Lake in the consolation semifinals Thursday at 9:30 a.m. The tournament runs through Friday.
In another first-round game Wednesday:
Cristo Rey 65, Upper Lake 23
Cristo Rey De La Salle of Oakland beat the Upper Lake Cougars in first-round action and will advance to Thursday’s winner’s semifinal round against Orland. The winner of that game will play for the tournament championship on Friday.
Upper Lake (4-6) draws Clear Lake in the consolation semifinals Thursday at 9:30 a.m. with the winner moving on to the consolation championship game Friday.
Upper Lake individual scoring and other game details were not reported.
St. Vincent JV Tourney
Middletown 38, San Rafael 37 (OT)
At Petaluma, after missing a chance to win the game in the final seconds of regulation, the Middletown Mustangs beat the San Rafael Bulldogs in overtime in the winner’s semifinal round of the St. Vincent Tournament for junior varsity boys basketball teams.
The victory, Middletown’s second in as many tournament games, puts the Mustangs into Thursday’s championship game against St. Vincent at 3 p.m.
“It was nerve-wracking,” Middletown head coach Wyatt Hall said of the back-and-forth game.
Middletown (6-2) had a 31-29 lead late in the fourth quarter when San Rafael hit a basket with 18 seconds remaining. The Mustangs worked for a final shot and missed it as San Rafael grabbed the rebound, however Jon Hawkins came up with a steal and launched a 17-footer as time expired.
“It was a throw-up prayer,” Hall said.
And the prayer was nearly answered as the ball rattled around the hoop before falling out.
“It was so close,” Hall said. “I was holding my breath.”
San Rafael scored the first point in overtime on a free throw but Middletown came back to take the lead. The Mustangs went up 38-34 on an Anthony Bowerman basket before San Rafael sank a 3-pointer to make it 38-37.
With time running out, the Bulldogs immediately fouled Middletown’s Aidan Wilson, who missed the front end of a one-and-one. San Rafael missed a shot to take the lead and Wilson pulled down the rebound and dribbled the final seconds off the clock.
“It was close all the way through,” Hall said of the overtime period.
Bowerman led the Mustangs with 10 points and also pulled down nine rebounds. Troy Taber added nine points and a team-best 12 rebounds while Hawkins finished the game with seven points and eight rebounds.
St. Vincent 55, Clear Lake 47 (OT)
At Petaluma, Clear Lake’s AJ Bruch scored at the buzzer in regulation to force overtime, but the Cardinals fell to tournament host St. Vincent in the winner’s semifinal round. They’ll play San Rafael, a loser in overtime to Middletown in Wednesday’s other semifinal, in the third-place game Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
Clear Lake trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half before rallying all the way back. The Cardinals even briefly led in the fourth quarter.
“I challenged them at halftime,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “In the second half we just fought the whole way. I told them after the game that’s the team I’m proud of. That’s the team I want to coach all the time.”
Trailing 44-42 with one second left in regulation, Zane McAuley inbounded the ball to Bruch under the St. Vincent basket.
“He (Bruch) cut to the basket and shot it right away,” Cerezo said. “He hit a floater.”
St. Vincent jumped out in front early in the overtime, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, and never looked back.
McAuley led the Cardinals (3-3) with 19 points and Peyton Portlock added 15.
“I’m proud of my guys for battling in the second half,” Cerezo said.
