UPPER LAKE — Two Division 5 varsity girls basketball teams that figure to meet again sometime down the line, perhaps in the North Coast Section playoffs early next year, faced off Tuesday night in their season opener at Upper Lake.
Behind 20 points and four 3-pointers from junior Heaven'Lee Loans Arrow and 18 points and three 3-pointers from senior Zoey Petrie, the Upper Lake Cougars (1-0) used a big fourth quarter to beat the Clear Lake Cardinals 57-47. Sierra Bruch led the Cardinals (0-1) with 18 points.
"It was a battle," Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith said. "They're tough and they had some different defensive looks early on. They made us work. Hats off to Phil Psalmonds for a doing a great job with them," Smith added of the Cardinals and their head coach.
Both Loans Arrow and Taylar Minnis finished with double-doubles for Upper Lake. Loans Arrow pulled down 15 rebounds while Minnis had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
"They received very good post play," Psalmonds said of Minnis. "They have a good inside, outside game."
Smith said Loans Arrow, who missed her sophomore year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, made an impact all over the court.
"She's really matured," Smith said of the North Central League II co-most valuable as a freshman in 2020 when she helped lead the Cougars to a league title as well as section and NorCal playoff appearances. "What a difference between a freshman and a junior. "She moves so well without the ball now. She was patient and finding her spots."
Loans Arrow made two clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as Upper Lake pulled away. Petrie also came up big in the final period, going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
"She's such a dynamo energy-wise," Smith said of the senior guard.
Clear Lake held a 17-12 lead after one quarter, with Sydney Howe scoring nine of her 17 points in the period. The Cardinals struggled with their shooting after the opening period, according to Psalmonds.
"We couldn't hit water if we fell out of a boat," Psalmonds said. "We missed a lot of open shots."
Upper Lake closed to 27-25 at the half, pushed ahead 33-32 by the end of the third quarter, and used a 24-point fourth quarter to secure the victory. Loans Arrow scored eight points in the final period, including two treys.
"At halftime we talked about boxing out because we weren't doing a very good job and they (Cardinals) were getting too many chances in the first half," Smith said. "Our defense tightened up in the second half."
Upper Lake junior guard Maddy Young sat out most of the first quarter with a sore ankle but entered the game near the end of the period.
"She definitely helped us," Smith said. "She's so tough."
After Bruch and Howe, Clear Lake's scoring fell off to four points from Montana Wells and three apiece from Rubi Ford and Abby Mertle.
The Cougars were scheduled to play Kelseyville on Thursday in the opening round of the Cougars Small School Tournament at Upper Lake, but the Lady Knights dropped out of the tournament Tuesday.
"I'll be working on that (finding a replacement team) tomorrow," Smith said.
Clear Lake returns to action Thursday against Pierce at 4:30 p.m. in the Colusa Tournament.
Upper Lake won the junior varsity game 55-31, outscoring Clear Lake 37-18 in the second half to break open a close game at halftime.
In other girls action Tuesday:
Middletown 51, Credo 19
At Rohnert Park, the Middletown Mustangs logged their first win of the season, rolling past Credo in non-league action to even their record at 1-1.
"After a couple of tough matchups, we were ready for anything," Middletown head coach Andy Brown said of earlier losses to West County and Ukiah (although the loss to Ukiah came in the section Foundation Game and doesn't count in the standings). "We were able to move the ball pretty well."
Credo scored the game's first two points on free throws, but the Mustangs went on an 11-0 run to close out the first quarter. Skylar Williams scored five of those points and went on to lead the Mustangs with 12 points.
The Mustangs had a 26-7 lead at halftime as Ella Rockwell sank a 3-pointer in the final seconds, one of four Middletown treys in the game. If there was any doubt about the game's outcome at that point, the Mustangs put Credo away with a 10-0 run to open the third quarter. They took a 40-9 lead into the final period.
Besides Williams' team-leading point total, Middletown benefited from a balanced scoring attack that featured 10 points each from Mia Hoogendoorn, a freshman, and Ella Rockwell, who sank two 3-pointers. Kamryn Atkins added eight points.
Hoogendoorn, a wing, also had seven steals, a good chunk of Middletown's 18 team steals against the Gryphon (2-2). And most of those turned into Mustangs baskets.
"We did a good job taking advantage of all those steals," Brown said.
Atkins led the team with 11 rebounds.
Williams played well on both ends of the floor as did Atkins, according to Brown.
"She (Williams) had good looks on offense and played well on defense, too," Brown said. "Atkins was able to get in there and take care of the boards."
Middletown won the junior varsity game 61-12. The Mustangs scored the game's first 14 points, led 24-2 after one quarter and 37-4 at halftime. Amanda Hart and Brooklyn Wood scored 16 points apiece for Middletown.
The Mustangs' varsity squad plays Casa Grande of Petaluma on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the opening round of the Piner Tournament.
Photo by Donna
