FORT BRAGG — Taylar Minnis scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter while teammate Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow had 10 of her 14 points in the second half Wednesday afternoon as the Upper Lake Cougars rallied to beat the Fortuna Huskies 53-45 in first-round varsity girls action at the Vern Piver Holiday Tournament in Fort Bragg.
Trailing 26-20 at halftime, Upper Lake pushed in front late in the third quarter and took a 32-31 lead into the fourth quarter. The Cougars gradually pulled away, opening up a nine-point cushion with four minutes remaining.
“We were struggling from the field and line in the first half,” Upper Lake co-head coach Annie Pivniska-Petrie said. “We regrouped at halftime.”
Minnis’ strong fourth quarter propelled the Cougars to their 10th win in 11 games this season.
“She was struggling in the first half and we just told her to keep doing what she’s doing,” Pivniska-Petrie said of the senior.
Upper Lake’s defense also limited Fortuna to 19 second-half points.
“We adjusted the defense throughout the game depending on the personnel we had on the floor,” Pivniska-Petrie said. “The girls played really good defense.”
Maddy Young joined Minnis and Loans Arrow in double digits with 11 points and Madison Noble had seven.
Upper Lake plays Windsor in the winner’s semifinals Thursday at 5 p.m. The tournament runs through Friday.
In other first-round action Wednesday:
Windsor 35, Clear Lake 33
Trailing by 10 points early in the fourth quarter, the Clear Lake Cardinals came within a missed layup at the buzzer of sending their first-round game with the Windsor Jaguars into overtime.
“We must have missed 15 layups,” Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said of what was otherwise a strong effort by his Cardinals. “We got great looks … it’s the best game we’ve played this year. All we have to do is make the shots we should make. The girls took ownership of that.”
Sierra Bruch led the Cardinals (3-3) at both ends of the floor, including a team-best 16 points.
“She played a great game, her best game of the year for sure and maybe the best game I’ve seen her play as a varsity player,” Psalmonds said of the veteran senior guard. “On defense she always plays good.”
Windsor took a 25-21 lead into the fourth quarter and briefly pushed its advantage into double digits before the Cardinals rallied.
“I was happy,” Psalmonds said of the team’s overall performance. “We played good basketball against a good team, we just didn’t finish on several occasions when we had opportunities.”
Senior center Abby Mertle had seven points for the Cardinals, who last played Dec. 13.
Clear Lake draws Fortuna on Thursday in the consolation semifinals at 11 a.m.
