Girls qualify for Nor Cals; host Upper Lake on Feb. 26
The Lady Eagles are alive and well in the North Coast Section basketball playoffs this week with no signs of slowing down.
Cloverdale, the No. 1 seed in the NCS Division 5 tourney, followed up a first-round bye with a dominant, 64-31 rout over visiting Clear Lake in a quarterfinal clash on Feb. 22, avenging its only league loss suffered against the Cardinals nine days earlier.
“We came out with a lot of intensity and played well,” Eagles coach Rick Berry said. “We had a week to rest and prepare, and I think it showed in how we played.”
The win propelled the Eagles (21-3) into the NCS semifinals, where they’ll host No. 4 seeded Upper Lake (21-4) on Wednesday, Feb. 26 in a 7 p.m. tip-off. Should the Eagles win, they’ll move on to the NCS title game against the survivor of No. 2 Branson versus No. 3 Head Royce on Feb. 28 or 29 (location and time TBD).
Cloverdale has qualified for the CIF Nor Cal State playoff tournament by virtue of a top four finish in NCS. The Nor Cal tourney will begin next week.
Eagles in a rout
Cloverdale had revenge on its mind when they took the court against No. 8 visiting Clear Lake on Saturday, setting the tone with a 20-6 first-quarter run. The Eagles took a 40-17 cushion into the halftime locker room and never looked back en route to a 64-31 romp.
“We gave up 19 offensive rebounds to Clear Lake so there is still room for improvement, but overall we did a much better job of rebounding,” Berry noted. “We also did a good job of taking care of the ball in this game, with only 12 turnovers.”
Ahnna Randolph turned in one of her best games of the season, pouring in a team-high 17 points while adding two rebounds, three assists and one steal. Other top contributors were Tehya Bird (15 points, 18 rebounds, 1 assist, 7 steals), Maci Hernandez (9 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal), Alyssa Moffett (8 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals), Catherine Driver (7 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal), Summer Lands (4 points, 3 rebounds), Faith Holloman (2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals), Janaye Hammond (2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) and Morgan Sceales (2 rebounds).
