FORT BRAGG — Cody Hayes scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half as the Clear Lake Cardinals gradually pulled away to beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 55-37 in the consolation championship game of the Vern Piver Holiday Tournament on Friday afternoon in Fort Bragg.
Clear Lake (7-4) went 2-1 in the tournament, winning its final two games against Upper Lake on Thursday and tournament host Fort Bragg. Hayes joined teammate Jake Soderquist (13 points) on the All-Tourney team.
Graden Greer led the Cardinals with 14 points.
“Graden finally found his shot,” Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said. “He’s a good shooter, but he’s been struggling, so it was nice to see.”
Clear Lake led 19-14 after one quarter and 28-19 at halftime.
“Fort Bragg is a little down this year but they played hard,” Damiata said.
Liam Orr gave Clear Lake some quality minutes off the bench, especially in the rebounding department, according to Damiata. He also scored four points.
Clear Lake’s final game of the preseason capped a solid tournament for the Cardinals, according to Damiata.
“We’ll take it,” he said of his team’s 2-1 tourney showing. “I’m pretty happy with where we are.”
Clear Lake’s final 15 games of the regular season are all North Central League I contests, beginning with Tuesday’s road trip to St. Helena. The Cardinals won their league opener Dec. 13 against Willits.
“I think it could be an interesting league race,” Damiata said.
Kelseyville, Middletown and Cloverdale are 2-0 to Clear Lake’s and St. Helena’s 1-0 headed into next week.
In other tournament action Friday:
Upper Lake 53, Making Waves 39
In the seventh-place game of the Vern Piver Holiday Tournament on Friday morning, Upper Lake (5-7) beat Making Waves Academy of San Francisco.
Scoring and other game details were not reported.
Upper Lake hits the road Wednesday to play Sonoma Academy in NCL II action.
