Eagles lose McMillan in 58-54 loss

Talented center leaves game with broken nose
Jayson McMillan’s stay on the floor was a short one for the Cloverdale Eagles on Tuesday night as they traveled to Lakeport to take on the Clear Lake Cardinals in the North Central League I opener for both of these varsity boys basketball teams.
Clear Lake beat the two-time defending league champion Eagles 58-54.
McMillan, a senior center for the Cardinals and the league’s reigning most valuable player, was out of the game after only three possessions, according to Cloverdale head coach Steve Bernardi.
“He had four points in those three possessions and then he was gone,” Bernardi said.
“I feel terrible for Jayson,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said about the play during which Bernardi was hurt.
“There was a scramble for a rebound and he came out of a pile of players holding his nose,” De Leon said. “He took an elbow to the nose.”
“There was nothing dirty about it,” Bernardi said. “It’s part of the game and Clear Lake isn’t that type of team.”
McMillan’s status for the Eagles’ home game on Friday against Kelseyville remains up in the air, according to Bernardi, who is hoping that McMillan can return as soon as possible.
“I hope so,” Bernardi said. “He’s going to see the doctor.”
The hit McMillan absorbed was considerable, according to Bernardi. “I’m not sure he didn’t have a concussion. He was dizzy. We don’t fool around with stuff like that.”
Cloverdale also had to deal with foul trouble as junior forward Jordan Persons picked up three early fouls. Even so, the Eagles kept the homestanding Cardinals close all game, which impressed De Leon.
“They scrapped and they battled the whole way,” De Leon said.
The Cardinals and Eagles were never separated by much on the scoreboard. Clear Lake held a 16-13 lead after the first quarter, it was tied at 30 by halftime, and Clear Lake took the slimmest of leads (44-43) into the final period.
“There were a couple of times I thought we had a chance to pull away, but they wouldn’t let us,” De Leon said. “That says a lot when you’re missing your MVP.”
“Both teams played well,” Bernardi said. “It was a heck of a ballgame,” De Leon added.
Luke Pope led the Eagles with 16 points, Gage Hoover added 14 and Persons finished with 11.
For Clear Lake, Tanner Hutton’s 22 points and 10 rebounds and Lucas Stahr’s 10 points and 12 rebounds paved the way to victory. Max De Leon also had 15 points.