Lady Eagles bring home second place trophy at Potter Valley
It was a great weekend of tournament hoops for Cloverdale High School basketball teams, with both the boys and girls taking home second place hardware.
The Eagles hosted the 51st edition of the John McMillan Holiday Invitational Tournament on Dec. 8-10, with a list of participating teams that included Cloverdale (varsity and JV), Anderson Valley, Pinewood, Clear Lake, St. Vincent and St. Helena.
Due to a team dropping out, the Eagles’ JV squad was added to fill out the bracket. The Cloverdale teams scrimmaged in the tourney opener on Thursday.
The varsity squad went on to beat Clear Lake (58-37) in Friday’s semifinal to set up a title clash with Pinewood on Saturday, falling in a seesaw battle, 57-52.
Meanwhile, the Lady Eagles also had an outstanding showing at the Fred Austin Tournament in Potter Valley on Dec. 7-10, soundly defeating Mendocino (57-20) and Anderson Valley (69-16) before falling to St. Bernard’s (74-43) in the championship game.
Boys take second
The varsity Eagles made short work of Clear Lake in Friday’s McMillan tourney semifinal, extending their lead to 29-20 at the half. Cloverdale iced the game with an 18-4 run in the third quarter en route to a 58-37 win. Jordan Persons led the way with a team-high 15 points, while Gage Hoover (13 points) and Jayson McMillan (11 points) also played well for the Eagles.
The win set up a championship clash with Pinewood on Saturday, a team that is no stranger to postseason success. The Eagles struggled from the perimeter in the opening half, as Pinewood led for most of the first two quarters to grab a seven point halftime lead. Behind leading scorer Jayson McMillan, Cloverdale mounted a furious comeback in the third quarter that would eventually give them the lead. The game hung in the balance in the final period before the Panthers pulled away down the stretch to post a 57-52 win.
“Not our best effort for a championship game in the first half and our shot selection was awful,” CHS coach Steve Bernardi said. “In the second half our effort and execution was better and we made a run, but some missed free throws and bad bounces on loose balls cost us our chance at victory.”
McMillan finished up an outstanding tournament with 26 points, while Hoover chipped in 18 for the Eagles. Both were named to the All-Tournament team.
The Eagles JV squad did an admirable job filling in, falling to Anderson Valley (58-35) and St. Vincent (34-24). Quincy Hayes led the team with 11 points against Anderson Valley.
The Eagles (5-1) will host Healdsburg this Thursday, Dec. 15 in a 7 p.m. tip-off.
Girls play for tourney title
The Lady Eagles were equally impressive in the Fred Austin Tournament last weekend, opening up with a 56-20 romp over Mendocino. Freshman phenom Tehya Bird led the attack with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Other big contributors were Camryn Figueroa (12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals), Kayli Persons (9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals), Jaedyn Jenkins (8 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 steals), Paloma Santos (6 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal), Katie Edwards (4 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 6 steals), Shaye Stewart (3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist) and Ruby Stone (1 rebound, 1 assist).
It was all Cloverdale in Friday’s semifinal clash with Anderson Valley, leading from start to finish in a 69-16 drubbing. Top scorers were Figueroa (16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals), Persons (6 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal), Jenkins (6 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal), Stone (5 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals), Santos (4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals), Stewart (6 points, 2 rebounds), and Edwards (2 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal).
The Eagles faced defending state champion St. Bernard’s in Saturday’s tourney title game, spotting the Crusaders a 40-13 halftime lead. Cloverdale played on even terms after intermission but the damage was done in an eventual 74-43 Crusader victory.
“We played much better as the game played on and it was good to see the girls play through a bad start and continue to compete,” Eagles coach Rick Berry said. “It sounds bad getting beat by 30 but we probably got more out of this game than any.”
Top scorers for the Eagles included Bird (10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist), Figueroa (10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals), Persons (6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals), Stewart (6 points), Stone (5 points, 1 rebound) and Jenkins (2 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals).
Bird and Jenkins were named to the All-Tournament team.
Next up for the Lady Eagles is the Orland Tournament in Arbuckle on Dec. 15-17, opening up on Thursday with a 5 p.m. tip against Pierce.
