It was a mixed bag on the high school preseason hoops circuit for Cloverdale teams, with the Lady Eagles advancing to their second straight tournament final in Orland while the boys fell to Healdsburg in abbreviated action.
At press time the Lady Eagles (6-3) were taking a holiday break before participation in the upcoming West Coast Jamboree tourney in the East Bay on Dec. 28-30, while the boys (5-2) will remain idle until the NCL-1 opener at Clear Lake on Jan. 3.
Girls on a roll
The Lady Eagles continued to make their presence felt at the Orland Invitational Tournament on Dec. 15-17, opening up with a first-round meeting with Pierce. Cloverdale jumped on the Bears early, racing to a 29-12 halftime advantage in cruising to an eventual 54-35 win.
Top contributors for the Eagles were Tehya Bird (16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist), Camryn Figueroa (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals), Shaye Stewart (9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assists, 2 steals), Kayli Persons, 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Jaedyn Jenkins (5 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 2 steals), Paloma Santos (5 points, 3 rebounds, 11 steals), Ruby Stone (4 rebounds,1 steal) and Katie Edwards (4 rebounds, 1 assist).
The Eagles squared off with Durham in a hotly contested battle in game two on Dec. 16, battling back from a 35-31 halftime deficit to pull it out down the stretch. Figueroa was sensational in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of her game-high 23 points in the final period to help seal a 62-59 victory.
Other leading scorers included Bird (16 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals), Jenkins (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists), Persons (5 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals), Santos (4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals), Stewart (4 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals), Stone (4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) and Edwards (2 assists).
“This game showed that the team has a desire to win,” CHS coach Rick Berry said. “It also showed in the fourth quarter that we could have lost it as easily as we won, and it came down to who wanted the win more. It was a great team win.”
The win set up a tourney title tilt with Kelseyville on Saturday, a team that had defeated the Eagles 69-38 in the Stokes Tournament on Dec. 5. The game would follow a different script, as Cloverdale stayed within striking distance until late in the fourth quarter before the Knights pulled away to win 52-37.
Bird paced the attack with 15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals in her best all round game of the season, while other leading scorers were Figueroa (9 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals), Jenkins (5 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 steal), Stewart (3 points, 5 rebounds), Santos (4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals), Stone (1 point, 1 rebound) and Persons (3 rebounds, 2 assists).
Figueroa was named to the All-Tournament team.
Boys fall to Greyhounds
The Eagles played host to unbeaten Healdsburg in a Dec. 16 non-league clash, getting off to a difficult start in the opening period as the Greyhounds raced to a 26-8 lead. The Eagles mounted a strong second-quarter surge but still trailed 42-29 at the break. The Hounds increased their lead to 17 at the end of three and held off a furious Cloverdale rally in the final period to post a 76-64 win.
Top scorers for the Eagles were Jordan Persons and Jayson McMillan, with 20 and 19 points respectively.
