Cloverdale High School varsity girls basketball head coach Rick Berry didn’t like the way his team ended the regular season or the Eagles’ seeding for the North Coast Section Division V playoffs, which tipped off Wednesday night with Cloverdale taking on Marin Academy in a first-round game at San Rafael.
Results weren’t available as the Reveille went to press, but the No. 10-seeded Eagles (18-10) will move on the quarterfinals on Saturday night should they upset No. 7 Marin Academy (15-8). The Cloverdale-Marin Academy draws the winner of another first-round game between No. 2 seed St. Bernard and No. 15 Fremont Christian in the quarterfinals.
“I’m kind of disappointed in the seeding,” Berry said prior to the Eagles’ first-round game. “All season long we had the number 2 or 3 spot in the MaxPreps rankings (for Division V). Our strength of schedule was the third best. To drop all the way to 10, that’s a lot of drop.”
Cloverdale finished fourth in the North Central League I standings this season with a 8-6 record, however the Eagles didn’t help their seeding prospects on Feb. 14 when they dropped a 41-36 decision at Fort Bragg (3-11, 9-17) in the league finale for both teams. Despite 16 points from Camryn Figueroa and 10 from Kayli Persons, Cloverdale came up short.
“We didn’t play very well,” Berry said. “We got out of our offense and missed a lot of threes.”
Cloverdale was just 3-for-18 from behind the 3-point arc and the Eagles also struggled on their 2-pointers (9-for-34) as well as from the free-throw line (9-for-18).
The Eagles bounced back on Feb. 16 in the opening round of the NCL I postseason tournament at Mendocino College in Ukiah, upsetting No. 1 tournament seed Lower Lake 52-41, a team they lost to twice in league play.
The Eagles made adjustments to combat the box-and-one and triangle-and-two defenses employed by the Trojans in each of the two league meetings, which were an effort by Lower Lake to slow down Cloverdale’s top two players in Figueroa and Tehya Bird.
Berry said those defenses left Lower Lake vulnerable and the Eagles were able to exploit those weaknesses this time around. Jaedyn Jenkins and Figueroa led the way with 13 points apiece, Persons and Paloma Santos each had seven, and Bird had five.
The win over Lower Lake moved Cloverdale into the tournament championship game against Kelseyville on Saturday night. In the fifth meeting between the two teams this season, the Knights won for the fourth time, prevailing 64-49.
“We tried to get into a shootout with them and you don’t win a game shooting threes,” Berry said. “And we have to play better defense than that.”
Bird’s 16 points led the Eagles and Santos added seven.
JV Basketball Report: Cloverdale JV girls drop season finale
Cloverdale missed a shot in the final seconds, allowing Fort Bragg to escape with a 48-46 victory in the North Central League I finale for both of these junior varsity girls basketball teams on Feb. 14 in Fort Bragg.
The Eagles (8-6 league, 13-13 overall) had won eight of nine entering play and were looking to close out the season with a winning overall record.
Cloverdale coach Mac Butler said the Eagles couldn’t quite overcome a slow start, although they rallied to tie the game with 25 seconds remaining. Fort Bragg scored on a layup to break the tie.
Maci Hernandez scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to power the Eagles. Marina Lopez added 12 points and four steals.
Cloverdale lost its first four league games before bouncing back to win eight of its final 10.
“We really played well in league,” Butler said. “It was a little discouraging losing our last game but it will motivate us for next year.”
