TOMALES — The Upper Lake Cougars scored 31 points in the first quarter while rolling past the Tomales Braves 54-14 in North Central League II varsity girls basketball action Tuesday night in Tomales.
“We came out hot offensively and our press was locked on,” Upper Lake co-head coach Annie Pivniska-Petrie said. “We were moving the ball real well.”
Madison Noble (13 points and Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow (15 points) took charge early for the Cougars.
“Noble had a really strong start,” Pivniska-Petrie said. “On the press she was reading the lanes really well and providing on-ball pressure. Heaven also had a strong start.”
With senior guard Maddy Young not in the lineup, Jaydyn Poe and Jayme Zimmerschied split point guard duties, according to Pivniska-Petrie.
“They traded off and did a good job,” Pivniska-Petrie said.
Upper Lake’s coach also praised the defense of Maddy Hayenga and the play down low of Karla Martin.
“She gets in there and creates havoc,” Pivniska-Petrie said of Hayenga. “Karla came off the bench and worked hard down low.”
Upper Lake (4-0 league, 14-1 overall) led 31-11 after one quarter and 42-12 at halftime.
The Cougars return to action Friday against Technology in Rohnert Park.
In other girls action Tuesday:
Clear Lake 48, Lower Lake 32
At Lower Lake, Clear Lake led 14-0 after one quarter and cruised to its fifth NCL I win in as many games, beating the Lower Lake Trojans behind 11 points from Abby Mertle and 10 more from Sierra Bruch, who also shut out Lower Lake’s top scorer, Tiahna Tubbs, in the first half.
The Cardinals (5-0, 8-4) took a 26-5 lead into halftime while concentrating their defensive energy on stopping Tubbs (18 points), Lower Lake’s junior guard.
“We pressed them in the first quarter and after that we played straight man-to-man,” Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said of the Cardinals’ strong play on defense in the first half.
Bruch guarded Tubbs in the first half and did her job, according to Psalmonds.
“She shut her down,” Psalmonds said.
“They played her tough the whole game,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “Clear Lake plays a physical brand of ball and if you’re not ready to play, you’re going to wither under that press.”
The Trojans (2-4, 3-10) didn’t help themselves with 19 first-half turnovers.
“You’re not going to beat anyone like that,” Tubbs said. “We didn’t match their (Cardinals’) intensity and effort in the first half and it showed. In the second half we played a lot better and turned it over only five times.”
Stella Hill scored seven points for the Cardinals and turned in a strong all-around performance, according to Psalmonds.
“We used her at both post and wing,” Psalmonds said. “She took quality shots and was very effective.”
Hill went 3-for-5 from the field and 1-for-1 from the line while finishing with seven points.
“She played great on defense, too,” Psalmonds said.
Clear Lake also won the junior varsity game, beating Lower Lake 45-37 behind 25 points from center Kiley Voris. Kaylah Billig added eight points and Carson Greer had seven as the Cardinals improved to 5-0 in league.
Brooke Benson’s 11 points led the Trojans and Alyxa Milano had nine.
Middletown 57, Kelseyville 12
At Middletown, Middletown bounced back from a one-point loss to Clear Lake on Saturday with an easy victory over the Kelseyville Knights in NCL I action.
The Mustangs, who are still awaiting word on the severity of starting point guard Jaidyn Brown’s knee injury, promoted guard Jaylee Doris from the JV team to give themselves a seventh player.
“She played a quite a bit,” Middletown head coach Roxi Hoogendoorn said of Doris, who scored her first two varsity points.
Middletown (4-1, 10-4) led 15-2 after one quarter and 31-7 at halftime despite struggling from the field.
“Our shooting percentage was awful,” Hoogendoorn said. “But it’s hard to complain too much when you’re up 31-7 at halftime.”
Two starters who picked up their play on offense were Amanda Hart with a team-best 16 points as well as eight rebounds, and Kamryn Atkins with 10 points and nine rebounds.
“That was good for their confidence,” Hoogendoorn said.
Mia Hoogendoorn added 12 points, seven steals and four blocks.
Faith McIntire, a freshman, scored 11 points for the Knights (0-5, 1-14).
“We struggled to shoot the ball … we don’t shoot the ball,” Kelseyville head coach Terry McIntire said. “We didn’t rebound either. We had only two offensive rebounds.”
McIntire said things will begin to improve once his young takes an important first step.
“They’ve got to learn to believe in themselves,” McIntire said.
Middletown also won the JV game 35-27, using a 14-5 fourth quarter to rally past the Knights.
Haley Holley’s 16 points powered the Mustangs while Brooklyn Wood added 12, including two 3-pointers.
“We’ve been struggling with turnovers, but we were fortunate enough to recover tonight,” Middletown head coach Jamie Burns said.
Brianna Davis had a team-best 13 points for Kelseyville (3-2) and Matisyn Mateer had 10.
