UPPER LAKE — Two second-year varsity boys basketball coaches finally made their high school debut Tuesday night as the Clear Lake Cardinals pulled away early in the fourth quarter to beat the Upper Lake Cougars 59-51 in the season opener for both teams at Upper Lake High School.
Both Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata and Upper Lake head coach Miles Hayes officially took over their respective programs prior to the start of a 2020-21 season that never happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They had to wait a long time to finally see their teams in action.
"I was just happy to be back out there playing," Hayes said. "They (Cardinals) played a great game, both teams battled."
Prior to Tuesday, Clear Lake's last appearance on the hardwood was March 5, 2020, the career finale for former head coach Scott De Leon, who stepped down following the Cardinals' 79-42 loss to Lincoln High School (San Francisco) in the quarterfinals of the NorCal playoffs, which ended a brilliant two-season run by Clear Lake (54-9 combined record). Upper Lake's last game was Feb. 19, 2020, a 65-48 loss to Clear Lake in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 5 playoffs, which ended a 14-9 campaign by the Cougars under former head coach Tony Arroyo.
Leading only 30-29 at the half and 46-41 through three quarters Tuesday, Clear Lake (1-0) switched to a 1-3-1 half-court trap defense to open the final period.
"We got some turnovers and went on a pretty good run," Damiata said.
Both schools haven't had all that many practices with their full squads because a number of their players came out late because of football. The Cards and Cougars both reached the semifinal round of the sectional playoffs.
"We're both in the same boat," Hayes said.
Clear Lake's football-turned-basketball players had the better night, with senior Ethan Maize leading the Cardinals with 19 points, 16 coming in the second half, and Jack Daskam adding 10 points and 15 rebounds, eight of those on the offensive boards.
"He was super, super active," Damiata said of Daskam, who is coming off a great 2021 football season during which he passed for a school-record 2,243 yards. "He missed some easy shots, but he kept at it."
"He did a great job," Hayes said of Maize's night.
Joey Soderquist and Zane Robinson added 12 points apiece to the Cardinals' cause.
Guards Sammy Avalos and Kai Young provided most of the scoring punch for the Cougars (0-1) with 21 and 12 points, respectively. Both players had two 3-pointers. Blaine Rhodes and Kyle Grandi each had seven points.
"Avalos and Young were really aggressive on offense and defense," Damiata said. "They did a great job," Hayes said. "And they kept their composure."
Both coaches said Clear Lake's rebounding was a huge factor in the outcome.
"We did a good job of crashing the boards," Damiata said. "We gave up too many second shots," Hayes added.
"We hung with them as long as we could," Hayes said. "I can't wait to play them again."
"They worked their butts off," Damiata said of the Cougars.
Clear Lake held off Upper Lake to win the junior varsity game 45-43. Raul Reyes led the Cardinals (1-0) with 14 points and Dayne Wilson had 12.
Clear Lake took a 36-25 lead into the fourth quarter.
"It was a little sloppy but we hung in there and kept playing hard, and that's what matters to me," Clear Lake coach Shady Cerezo said. "If you play hard and everything will come together."
In other boys action Tuesday:
Ukiah 41, Kelseyville 35
At Ukiah, trailing by 13 points at halftime, the Kelseyville Knights closed to within four of the Ukiah Wildcats late in the fourth quarter before dropping their season opener.
"It was a good test for us early on," Kelseyville's Oscar Lopez said of his first game as the Knights' head coach. "We showed a lot of fighting spirit, which is something to build on."
Kelseyville (0-1) trailed 23-10 at halftime.
"We came out flat and sluggish," Lopez said. "We picked it up on defense (in the second half) and started moving the ball better."
The Knights trailed 33-23 entering the fourth quarter before whittling the Wildcats' lead down in the final minutes.
Asked if he was happy with his team's first effort of the 2021-22 season, Lopez said he had mixed feelings.
"I want to say yes, but I also want to say no because you always want to win," Lopez said.
Luke Watkins led the Knights with 16 points and also had four steals. Adolpho Arias added nine points and pulled down six rebounds. Watkins had four of Kelseyville's five 3-pointers.
Kelseyville returns to action Thursday against Upper Lake at 8 p.m. in the opening round of the Cougars Small School Tournament in Upper Lake. The tourney runs through Saturday.
Ukiah also won the JV game on Tuesday, edging Kelseyville 45-43 despite 13 points from the Knights' Tyler Bryant and 12 more from Kyle Watkins.
Healdsburg 68, Lower Lake 16
At Lower Lake, with a starting lineup that averages 6-feet, 4 inches, the Healdsburg Greyhounds towered over Lower Lake, which averages 5-8, in the season opener for the Trojans (0-1).
"It's a little tough," Lower Lake head coach Marcus Humphrey said of Healdsburg's size advantage, which the Greyhounds made the most of all game long.
Healdsburg had a 23-6 lead after one quarter and a 37-11 halftime cushion.
"Their big guy (Graham Macdonald), he's 6-7 (actually 6-8), put the hurt on us early on," Humphrey said.
There were a couple of bright spots in the loss, according to Humphrey.
"They hustled a lot and we had great ball movement," he said of the Trojans (0-1). "And we forced three player-control fouls on Healdsburg."
Marquis Jones led Lower Lake with seven points.
Healdsburg is 1-1 on the season.
Lower Lake's JV squad won 49-15 behind Ethan Ballerini's 21 points. Ballerini also had double-digit rebounds (total not available) for a double-double to start his 2021-22 campaign.
Lower Lake is scheduled to play Fort Bragg on Friday at 6 p.m. in the opening round of the Paul Larrea Memorial Tournament at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport. The Trojans play two more games on Saturday in the round-robin competition.
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