FORT BRAGG — The Clear Lake Cardinals survived a 16-point first half by Upper Lake guard Darian Loans Arrow to beat the Cougars 57-45 in the consolation semifinal round of the Vern Piver Holiday Tournament on Thursday in Fort Bragg.
Clear Lake (6-4) draws either Fort Bragg of Making Waves (San Francisco) in the consolation championship game Friday at 2 p.m. as the tournament wraps up. Upper Lake (4-7) plays for seventh place at 11 a.m.
Loans Arrow’s big first half, which included four of his five 3-pointers, helped stake Upper Lake to a 29-28 halftime lead, that after the Cougars fell behind 18-4 late in the first quarter.
“They just outhustled us a little bit in that second quarter,” Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said. “They took it to us. Upper Lake plays hard.”
Clear Lake regrouped at halftime and dominated the second half, according to Damiata.
“Our defensive energy was definitely better in the second half,” Damiata said. “We took care of business.”
Loans Arrow (20 points) added four more points in the third quarter, including his final 3-pointer of the game, but was shutout by the Cardinals in the fourth quarter.
Clear Lake benefited from balanced scoring in the win. Jake Soderquist finished with 15 points, Jesse Hayes added 12 while Cody Hayes and Greyson Wind each had 10.
“Jake played consistently throughout,” Damiata said. “And they didn’t have an answer for Cody while he was in there, but he was in foul trouble again.”
Added Damiata, “It was a good team effort overall.”
Johnny Gozony had nine points for the Cougars while Robert Rosin added six.
In other boys tournament action Thursday:
St. Vincent JV Tournament
Middletown 42, St. Vincent 29
At Petaluma, led by Anthony Bowerman and Jon Hawkins, the Middletown Mustangs beat tournament host St. Vincent to claim the championship in the St. Vincent JV Tournament.
Bowerman led the Mustangs with 17 points and five blocked shots while Hawkins added 12 points and a team-best 14 rebounds. Hawkins was named tournament most valuable player while Bowerman and teammate Troy Taber received All-Tourney honors.
“We were stopping them with our defense,” Middletown head coach Wyatt Hall said. “Bowerman scored eight points in the first quarter and set the tone for the game.”
Middletown led 13-8 after one quarter and 23-13 by halftime.
Hawkins was a force rebounding the ball at both ends of the court, according to Hall.
“Six of his rebounds were on offense. Jon was flying all over the place.”
Middletown (8-2) beat San Rafael 38-37 in overtime Wednesday to reach the championship game, that after defeating Santa Rosa High School 56-44 in opening-round action Tuesday.
“We were very happy with that,” Hall said of the Mustangs’ combined three-game effort. “We finished second (at Pierce) and third (at Cloverdale) in our other tournaments, so the guys wanted to win this one. They were thrilled. I couldn’t have asked more from them. They stuck to the game plan and never faltered.”
Middletown, 2-0 in the North Central League I standings, has 14 league games remaining beginning with a home game next Thursday against St. Helena, part of a four-game set between the two schools. The Mustangs have a league bye Tuesday.
San Rafael 56, Clear Lake 54 (3OT)
At Petaluma, San Rafael scored the first basket during a sudden-death triple overtime period to edge Clear Lake in the third-place game.
With the contest still tied after two timed overtime periods, the officials informed both coaches that the third overtime would be sudden death – the first team to score wins.
“I have never heard of that,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “They told us it’s what they needed to do. They had the championship game after our game and then the St. Vincent (varsity) girls and (varsity) boys had (non-tournament) games.”
Clear Lake and San Rafael were tied 40-40 at the end of regulation and 46-46 after the first overtime. Clear Lake went up 46-43 on a pair of AJ Bruch free throws with only a few seconds left. San Rafael inbounded the ball and tied it on a half-court 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
“It went swish through the basket,” Cerezo said.
It was the second overtime loss in as many days for the Cardinals, who dropped a 55-47 decision to St. Vincent on Wednesday in the winner’s semifinal round.
Cerezo said two straight games against two quality opponents, the losses notwithstanding, should help the Cardinals down the road as they jump back into league play beginning Tuesday at St. Helena.
“Our goal is to win the league, we’re 1-0, and that’s all that matters,” Cerezo said.
Zane McAuley’s 21 points led the Cardinals against San Rafael while Peyton Portlock added 14 and Kaden Graham 10. Graham was named to the All-Tournament team.
