LOWER LAKE — Switching to a box-and-one defense against Lower Lake playmaker Margarita Cordova in the second half, the Clear Lake Cardinals held off the Lower Lake Trojans 58-56 in a North Central League I varsity girls basketball thriller on Wednesday evening in Lower Lake.

"It was not so much to take away her scoring," Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said of the senior Cordova, who finished with 13 points, including a long 3-pointer to end the game. "She got those girls going in the first half with her passing and ball movement, she got them a lot of good looks. We were were able to take that away in the second half."

Clear Lake's Sierra Bruch prepares to make a pass inside as Lower Lake's Tiahna Tubbs defends. (Photos by Bob Minenna)

"We had great ball movement in the first half, but not so much in the second half," said Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs when asked about the Cardinals' strategy. "I didn't realize they were in a box-and-one, he (Psalmonds) disguised it pretty well."

Clear Lake's increased defensive pressure on Lower Lake's senior guard didn't affect her scoring. She had five points in the first half and eight in the second, including the buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Lower Lake (3-7 league, 5-13 overall) had a 33-29 halftime lead thanks in large part to the play of Cordova and Tiahna Tubbs, who scored all 12 of her points on 3-pointers.

The Trojans were minus one of their top offensive threats, guard Kyleigh Mock, who missed the game because of COVID-19 protocol.

"She averages about 10 points a game, so that's a huge loss for us," Tubbs said. "We had to turn to some of the other girls to pick up the slack."

Izabella Salazar helped out with seven points and Nayeli Santana had six.

Clear Lake (9-3, 12-9) has won five in a row and six of seven. The Cardinals close out league and regular-season play Thursday at home against Cloverdale, then will wait for Sunday's North Coast Section at-large and seeding meeting to find out who and where they'll be playing Tuesday in the opening round of the Division 5 playoffs.

"I expect to be on the road," Psalmonds said.

One night after scoring just 27 points in a 27-25 win at Fort Bragg, Clear Lake surpassed its previous night's total in the first half against Lower Lake. The Cardinals landed three players in double figures, led by Sydney Howe's 22 points and five 3-pointers. Abby Mertle added 14 points and Sierra Bruch had 13.

Lower Lake's Terilyn Jo Jermany takes the ball to the hoop against Clear Lake. She scored 10 points in a 58-56 loss to the Cardinals.

"Abby was big tonight," Psalmonds said of Mertle's performance at both ends of the court. "She was a monster on the boards and the 14 points were way above her season average."

"Sydney was the one that killed us," Tubbs said. "She hit three 3s in like the first two minutes of the game. Sydney and Bruch put some damage on us. Our defense would lose them and the next thing you know they were shooting the ball."

At one point late in the game Psalmonds said he called out a play only to watch Tubbs immediately adjust his defense for what was coming.

"We coached against each other (junior varsity boys) for like seven years," Psalmonds said. "He knows everything I do."

"Playing against him is always fun," Tubbs said. "He has such a great group of girls. I don't want to root against them."

The Trojans host St. Helena on Thursday and Fort Bragg on Friday before finishing their season with a Saturday game against Roseland University Prep at Santa Rosa.

Clear Lake also won the junior varsity game, 49-33. Jenna Johnston led Lower Lake with 11 points, Brooke Benson added eight and Atasha Oppus and Ayla Ales each had five.

Lower Lake is 3-5 in league and 7-9 overall.

In other girls action Wednesday:

Fort Bragg 44, Kelseyville 36

At Kelseyville, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves beat the Kelseyville Knights in NCL I play.

The Timberwolves improved to 12-3 in league play with one game remaining, that on Friday in Lower Lake. Kelseyville is 1-10 in league and 1-17 overall with three games remaining — Thursday against Willits, Friday against St. Helena and Saturday against Middletown.

Scoring wasn't available.

Fort Bragg won the JV games 48-19.