ST. HELENA — Jake Soderquist’s 22 points and 17 more from Cody Hayes powered the Clear Lake Cardinals to a big road win over the St. Helena Saints, 59-49, in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action Tuesday night in St. Helena.
Jesse Hayes hit a 3-pointer to open the game and set the tone for the Cardinals (2-0 league, 8-4 overall), who owned a 14-5 lead after one quarter. Clear Lake had a 31-10 lead late in the second quarter before the Saints (0-1, 5-5) closed the first half with a 7-0 run.
St. Helena continued to cut into Clear Lake’s lead in the third quarter and trailed only 41-35 going to the final period.
“”We came out flat in the third quarter,” Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said. “St. Helena switched to a zone defense, which frustrated us a little bit.”
But the Cardinals never panicked, according to Damiata.
“We withstood their run in the third quarter and that was the game,” Damiata said.
Clear Lake answered with a strong fourth quarter led by big man Cody Hayes, who scored six of the team’s 18 points.
“We just ran them (Saints) in the fourth quarter,” Damiata said. “We were able to get the ball inside to Cody and they really couldn’t stop him.”
Soderquist also went 3-for-4 from the line down the stretch as Clear Lake pushed its lead back into double digits.
“We got back up by 13 or 14,” Damiata said.
St. Helena’s attempt to press Clear Lake in the first half backfired as the Cardinals were able to easily break it and pick up some easy baskets in the process, according to Damiata.
“We got a lot of layups,” he said. “Our speed frustrated them a little bit.”
Soderquist’s consistent play was a major plus for the Cardinals, according to Damiata.
“Jake was an animal all game,” Damiata said.
Jesse Hayes finished with eight points. The Cardinals also received a strong game on defense from Liam Orr, who helped shut down St. Helena’s big man.
“Orr played really good defense the whole game. He defended their big guy really well,” Damiata said.
Kelseyville (3-0), Cloverdale (3-0), Clear Lake (2-0) and Middletown (2-0) all remain undefeated early on in the race for the 2023 league title.
“Like I told you before, I think the league is wide open,” Damiata said. “On any given night there are four or five teams that can win.”
Clear Lake also won the junior varsity game, using a 26-9 fourth quarter to beat St. Helena 57-50.
“We fought hard until the end,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said of his players. “I kept telling them we were going to make a run.”
Clear Lake trailed 41-31 going to the fourth quarter.
“We put a little pressure on them and Zane (McAuley) got hot,” Cerezo said.
McAuley scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, hitting three straight 3-pointers, one of which put Clear Lake ahead to stay.
Peyton Portlock led the Cardinals with 17 points while center Kaden Graham added 10 points, six rebounds and four blocks. McAuley pulled down six rebounds and Portlock had five.
Clear Lake is 2-0 in league play.
“It was a good win for us,” Cerezo said.
In other boys action Tuesday:
Kelseyville 67, Fort Bragg 38
At Kelseyville, Manny Acosta scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half while the Watkins brothers — Luke and Kyle — took over in the second half as the Kelseyville Knights beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves to improve to 3-0 in the NCL I standings.
“I felt like we were a little sluggish after a two-week layoff,” Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said of the Knights’ play early. “But we started to pick it up on defense in the second quarter and the offense started to pick it up in the third quarter.”
The Kelseyville defense limited Fort Bragg (0-3) to four points in the second quarter while building a 32-15 halftime lead. A 21-point third quarter put the game away.
“We were able to get some steals and get out and run,” Lopez said of the third quarter.
Luke Watkins, a senior, led the Knights with 17 points and seven steals. He also had five rebounds. Kyle Watkins, a sophomore, added 14 points.
“Luke and Kyle took over in the second half,” Lopez said.
Diego Lopez added eight points as the Knights improved to 7-5 overall. Joey Gentle added four points and five rebounds.
Kelseyville won the JV game 47-28 as Ryder Leary led the Knights with 15 points and Max Hommer contributed 12.
The Knights had a 21-14 halftime lead.
Brock Barrick and Gene Holdenried finished with six points apiece as the Knights improved to 3-0 in league play. The Knights have the league bye Thursday before hitting the road Saturday to play St. Helena.
Cloverdale 70, Lower Lake 48
At Lower Lake, the Cloverdale Eagles broke open a close game in the third quarter and pulled away to beat the Lower Lake Trojans.
Cloverdale (3-0) outscored Lower Lake 22-11 in the third quarter after taking a 31-27 lead into halftime.
“They caught fire and we were ice cold,” Lower Lake head coach Blaine Amos said of third quarter. “We couldn’t make anything. Everything was short, like our legs gave out.”
The Trojans (0-3) briefly lost Micah Gurule (11 points) in the third quarter when he took an elbow to the head while driving to the basket. He returned to the game after clearing concussion protocol, according to Amos.
“But we’re sending him to the doctor to make sure,” Amos said of Gurule, who joined teammates Jett Guralas (12 points) and Charles Jones (10 points) in double digits.
Lower Lake is scheduled to play at Willits on Thursday.
