FORT BRAGG >> One night after leading Upper Lake to a 53-45 first-round win over Fortuna, senior Taylar Minnis was back at it again against the Windsor Jaguars in girls winner’s semifinal round action at the Vern Piver Holiday Tournament in Fort Bragg.
Minnis scored a team-best 21 points, nine of them in the fourth quarter, as the Cougars beat the Jaguars 60-47. Against Fortuna on Wednesday, Minnis scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter.
“We’re working on getting the ball down low,” Upper Lake head coach Annie Pivniska-Petrie said. “She scored early and late for us.”
Besides her nine fourth-quarter points, Minnis scored 10 during Upper Lake’s 21-point second quarter.
Upper Lake (11-1) will meet a team to be determined in the championship game Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Windsor rallied from a 40-21 halftime deficit to get within six points of Upper Lake — 53-47 — with 2:12 left in the game.
“They’ve got some really good shooters who made a bunch of 3s,” Pivniska-Petrie said of the Jaguars. “That’s how they got back into it. They’re also a physical team and athletic. They pressed us and we struggled with it. It’s something we need to work on.”
Upper Lake’s defense countered by putting more pressure on those Windsor shooters in the final mintues, and with success.
“We tried to deny them the ball,” Pivniska-Petrie said. “We’re working on making adjustments on offense and defense.”
Two other Upper Lake seniors, Maddy Young (13 points) and Madison Noble (11 points), joined Minnis in double digits. Jayme Zimmerschied added seven points.
In other girls action Thursday:
Fortuna 48, Clear Lake 40
At Fort Bragg, the Fortuna Huskies outscored Clear Lake 17-8 in the fourth quarter to beat the Cardinals in the consolation semifinal round of the Vern Piver Holiday Tournament. Clear Lake (3-4) plays in the seventh-place game Friday at 9:30 a.m.
Clear Lake took a 32-31 lead into the final period against the Huskies.
“That’s two games against two good teams,” Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said. “That’s better than playing two weak teams. Hopefully this will help us in league.”
Clear Lake fell 35-33 to Windsor in first-round action Wednesday.
In a back-and-forth battle Thursday, Fortuna led 12-11 after one quarter but Clear Lake had a 18-17 halftime lead.
“We turned the ball over more than them in the fourth quarter and they were able to hit a few more shots than us, that was the difference,” Psalmonds said.
Montana Wells led the Cardinals with 10 points and Amber Smart had nine, all on 3-pointers. Abby Mertle added eight points.
“Amber Smart looked good,” Psalmonds said. “She was the only consistent shooter.”
Considering the caliber of opposition the Cardinals have faced in each of their first two tournament games,
Psalmonds said he’s pleased with the progress his team is making.
“As a group they’re played hard and they have great attitudes,” he said.
Non-league
St. Vincent 43, Kelseyville 27
At Petaluma, the Kelseyville Knights closed out their preseason schedule with a non-league road loss to the St. Vincent Mustangs.
Kelseyville (1-11) begins a stretch of 14 straight league games on Tuesday in Fort Bragg. The Knights dropped their first two North Central League I contests earlier this month.
The Knights trailed only 8-7 after one quarter. St. Vincent pulled away with a 16-6 second quarter, which was largely the difference in the game.
“We’re still learning to play as a team,” Kelseyville head coach Terry McIntire said of his young squad. “We missed some fastbreak layups and got lazy on defense in a couple of spots or it could have been a closer game. On a positive note were putting points on the board.”
Faith McIntire, a freshman, led the Knights with 11 points and had the team’s only 3-pointer. Mikaylah Meyer added four points, five steals and two assists.
St Vincent shot 16-for-32 from two-point range and went 2-for-3 on 3-pointers.
