By any measure it was a great weekend of hoops for Cloverdale High School teams, with both Eagles varsity teams participating in successful tournament action.
The Lady Eagles (4-0) stayed unbeaten on the pre-league circuit with a great showing at the annual Potter Valley Tournament, scoring wins over Anderson Valley (56-9), Potter Valley (71-22) and Laytonville (54-42) to bring home the first-place trophy.
Meanwhile the varsity boys (4-2) were nearly as good at the 52nd edition of their own John McMillan Holiday Invitational Tournament, posting wins over Willows (74-45) and Berean Christian (93-87, 2 OT) before falling to Pinewood in the title game, 54-37.
Both teams will be back on the pre-league hard-court this week, with the girls set to compete in the Orland Invitational Tournament in Corning on Dec. 14-16, while the boys play road and home games against Healdsburg (Dec. 12, after press time) and Elsie Allen (Dec. 13, 7 p.m.).
Ladies take first at Potter Valley
The Lady Eagles were focused and ready when they took the court at the Potter Valley Tournament on Dec. 6-9, determined to better their second-place finish of 2016.
It was all Cloverdale in the Dec. 6 opener against Anderson Valley, jumping all over an overmatched Panthers squad in a 56-9 rout.
Top scorers for the Eagles included Tehya Bird (15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals), Camryn Figueroa (10 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals), Catherine Driver (8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals), Maci Hernandez (6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal), Shaye Stewart (5 points, 5 boards, 1 assist), Cassandra Bassett (4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals),Heather Sterling (3 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal), Jaedyn Jenkins (3 points, 1 rebound, 5 steals, 1 assist), Marina Lopez (3 rebounds, 3 steals) and Kayli Persons (1 rebound, 4 assists, 6 steals).
The girls made short work of host Potter Valley in the tourney semifinals, taking a big early lead en route to a 71-22 romp. Figueroa (22 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals) led the way while other top scorers were Driver (9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists), Bird (9 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals), Jenkins (9 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals) and Stewart (7 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals).
Cloverdale squared off with Laytonville in Saturday’s title game, setting the tone with a 17-6 run out of the gate before taking a 31-17 halftime lead. There was no let-up after intermission as the Eagles cruised to an eventual 54-42 win.
Bird led all scorers (21 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals), while Figueroa (15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals) earned all-tourney honors. Persons and Jenkins each scored five points for the Eagles.
Eagles win two of three at McMillan tourney
The Eagles played host to six other participating teams at the 52 annual John McMillan tourney on Dec. 7-9 opening up with a 74-45 romp over Willows.
Senior Jordan Persons (25 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal) led the attack, while other top scorers included Christian Chavez (13 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals), Eli Arreola (10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), Josh Lemley (8 points, 10 boards), Alex Segobiano (8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist), Mario Lopez (7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal) and Ross Sceales (3 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal).
Cloverdale took on Berean Christian in easily the game of the tournament in Friday’s semifinal, battling back from a 41-33 halftime deficit to send it to overtime knotted at 72-all. The teams traded buckets in the first extra frame, forcing a double overtime period tied at 79-apiece. The Eagles would finally take control, outscoring their opponent 14-8 to escape with a 93-87 victory.
Freshman phenom Josh Lemley led all scorers with 28 points and 16 rebounds and 3 blocks. Other scoring leaders were Persons (25 points, 11 boards, 10 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks) and Chavez (16 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal), Sceales (10 points, 3 rebounds).
The win set up a title clash with defending champion Pinewood for the second straight year on Saturday, but this game would follow a similar script. The Eagles started well in taking a 14-8 lead after one, but the Panthers closed out the half on an 18-8 run to grab a 26-23 lead. Pinewood increased its advantage to 10 after three quarters en route to a 54-37 win.
Earning all-tournament honors for Cloverdale were Persons (13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal), Lemley (12 points, 13 boards, 1 assist, 3 blocks) and Chavez (4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal).
