We’re running out of superlatives to describe the dominance of the Lady Eagles during the 2019-20 basketball campaign, but their recent stretch of league outings pretty much tells the story.
Cloverdale is coming off three outstanding games, claiming Willits (55-34), Lower Lake (58-40) and Kelseyville (50-33).
The wins kept the Eagles all alone atop the NCL1 standings at 10-0, with Middletown (9-1) nipping at their heels in second place.
Cloverdale (18-2 overall) will attempt to secure its third straight league crown with remaining games at St. Helena (Feb. 4, after press time), home versus Middletown (Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m.), at Fort Bragg (Feb. 11, 7 p.m.) and at Clear Lake (Feb. 13, 7 p.m.).
Eagles on cruise control
Cloverdale opened the action with a Jan. 27 home tilt with Willits, stunning the Wolverines with a 33-19 run out the gate en route to a 55-34 rout. Pacing the Eagle’s attack were Tehya Bird (19 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist), Catherine Driver (12 points, 3 assists, 1 steal), Alyssa Moffett (11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal), Faith Holloman (6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals), Maci Hernandez (5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), Ahnna Randolph (3 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal), Janaye Hammond (4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) and Morgan Sceales (3 rebounds).
It was more of the same two nights later at Lower Lake, busting open a physical contest with a 20-7 second-quarter explosion on their way to a 58-40 win. Leading the way were Bird (20 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal), Driver (17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals), Holloman (11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal), Hernandez (6 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals) and Lands2 points, 1 rebound).
Cloverdale closed out a successful stretch against visiting Kelseyville on Friday, gaining separation with a patented, 23-9 third-quarter surge in an eventual, 50-33 romp.
“It was a good hard-fought game with very good defense played by both teams,” CHS coach Rick Berry said. “Kelseyville has some very good athletes that can play defense.”
Leading contributors were Bird (29 points, 16 rebounds, 1 assist, 8 steals), Driver (10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Holloman (7 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal), Hernandez (4 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal).
Team notes
At the start of play this week, senior Tehya Bird was just four points shy of the magical 2,000 point mark for her high school career.
