Photos by Taunya Caldwell Brunton – Luke Brunton and the St. Bernard’s Crusaders won the Kelseyville tournament on Saturday.

The St. Bernard’s boys basketball team rose to the challenge on the way to winning the championship game at the Kelseyville tournament on Saturday night with a sixth straight victory.

The Crusaders faced off against the host school in the final and prevailed 59-36, winning a second straight tournament title, having also clinched the Mt. Shasta tourney last weekend.

SB head coach Pat Shanahan described it as a “tough environment” for his team, with a large home crowd fired up for the occasion.

“Felt like the entire town was in the gym,” Shanahan said.

The SB players, however, were up for the challenge, even after the home team started fast and made some big baskets early on.

“Our guys didn’t back down,” Shanahan said. “We took the body blows and by the second quarter we settled in.”

Liam Dyer had yet another big night for the visitors and finished with a double-double, scoring 25 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, while Prince Latimer also continued to impress and added seven points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

“Liam anchored our scoring once again and Prince for the second game in a row had eight assists,” Shanahan added. “He was finding people and that sharing energy is contagious. We shared the ball exceptionally well this weekend.”

Carson Costa added 10 points in the win, while Garrett Shanahan finished with eight points and 16 rebounds.

“Garrett was so tough on the glass,” the head coach said. “He set the tone down low.”

Trenten Hagler also had a good game as he continues to play a key role for the team and finished with nine points.

“Trenten found his spots for some effective offensive production,” Pat Shanahan said. “Our offense was equal opportunity and it showed in the stats after the game.”

Costa and Luke Brunton had good all-around games.

“Really proud of the entire team for turning towards each other and not away from each other when it feels like the world is against us,” the head coach said. “They are a mature and smart group and responded with poise and perseverance.”

Pat Shanahan also paid tribute to Kelseyville High and the tournament organizers.

“It was a pleasure to be able to participate in the Kelseyville 53rd annual tournament,” he said. “A well run tournament on all accounts.”

Union Mine 74, Fortuna 57

Fortuna 65, Weed 53

Liberty Ranch 54, Fortuna 38

The Huskies dropped two of three games at the Motherlode Madness tournament, including a 54-38 loss to Liberty Ranch on Saturday.

Tanner Franklin and Gavin Mayberry each scored six points in Saturday’s game, with Mayberry named to the all-tournament team.

“We really struggled to score against a bigger, stronger Liberty Ranch,” Fortuna head coach Norm Sotomayor said. “Overall, we are making strides and look forward to the next two weeks to practice and prepare for the second half of the season.”

On Thursday night against Union Mine, the Huskies dug themselves a hole and trailed by 20 at halftime, but continued to battle.

“(We) battled the entire second half toe to toe,” Sotomayor said. “I loved our resiliency and ability to come back and battle. It showed a lot of heart for my boys.”

Franklin scored a team-high 17 points in that game, while Mayberry finished with 11 points and Jack Stacy chipped in eight points.

On Friday night, they matched up against Weed and played one of their best games of the season so far on the way to a 12-point win.

Stacy paced the offense with 16 points, while Mayberry had 15 points and Franklin finished with 11 points.

“(We played) our most complete game of the season,” Sotomayor said. “I feel now that we have our football guys integrated, we are more connected and starting to play the way I hoped we would.”

McKinleyville 73, San Lorenzo 65

The McKinleyville Panthers bounced back from a Friday night semifinal loss at the Frank Wells Classic at Albany High with a victory on Saturday.

One day after losing to Terra Linda, the Panthers faced off against San Lorenzo in the third-place game and won a high-scoring showdown by eight points.

And it was good day for two of their players in particular.

Henry Turner scored a team-high 26 points in the win, including 20 in the opening half, and was named to the all-tournament team, while teammate Jeremiah Smith added 18 points.

Both were varsity career highs for the two seniors.

“We came out today with a big challenge ahead of us being outsized and against a very athletic team,” McKinleyville assistant coach Harlan LeRoux said. “In a game full of adversity our guys showed a ton of growth and handled those moments much better tonight.”

With Saturday’s win, which was the team’s second in tournament play, the Panthers improved to 9-3.

“We are extremely proud of the way our team came together down the stretch,” LeRoux added.

Smith and Neil Moon each hit some “gutsy shots” late in the game to help see the Panthers over the finish line, according to LeRoux.

Arcata 65, Eagle Point 53

The Arcata boys put a disappointing opening half behind them with a much better second half on the way to closing out the Red Bluff tournament with a 12-point win over the Eagles on Saturday.

After dropping back-to-back games against Crater and Pleasant Valley on Thursday and Friday, the Tigers got back to winning ways with a much-improved performance on the defensive side of the ball over the final two quarters on Saturday.

“It’s good to get a win,” Arcata head coach Kellen Maynard said. “It’s tough to play early in the morning like that after a long weekend, and we definitely didn’t play very well in the first half.”

The Tigers trailed by four at the interval.

“Our defense was not going at all,” Maynard said. “It was very disappointing, but we talked about it (at halftime) and worked it out as a group. We decided what we wanted to do and made a few adjustments.”

The changes worked and the players came out with a much stronger effort on that side of the ball in the third quarter, as the Tigers gradually took control of the game.

“We clamped down on defense in the third quarter,” Maynard said. “We did much better.”

Luke Lemke led the Tigers in scoring and finished with 26 points, while Elias Gomez added 11 points and Jack Luh had 10 points.

Heron Cromwell, who led the Arcata boys with 15 points in Friday’s loss to Pleasant Valley, was named to the all-tournament team despite battling sickness all weekend.

“He gutted it and gave us literally everything he had,” Maynard said of the impressive senior. 

Junior Sebastian Baker also impressed for the team over the three days at the tournament and is quickly establishing himself as a key player on the team this year.

With Saturday’s win, the Tigers are now 6-7.

Next up, they will travel for the Marin Catholic tournament, which tips off on Friday.

South Fork 59, Willits 48

The South Fork boys made it four wins in four days at their own Gene Cotter Memorial tournament, with an 11-point victory over Willits on Saturday.

Senior Shawn Schmidt capped a big few days in tournament play with another strong showing against the Wolverines and was named tournament MVP.

Trailing by four points in the opening minutes, the Cubs made back-to-back 3-pointers to take a lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the day.

Senior Gavin Gellman led the home team in scoring and finished with 19 points, while Schmidt added 17 points and sophomore Sheyne Casey put up 11 points.

Senior Travis Way was also named to the all-tournament team and helped set the tone on the defensive side of the ball.

According to South Fork head coach Jacob Trotter, Way played “some of the best D from all teams in the tourney,” while Schmidt was impressive “on both ends of the floor all weekend long.”

Casey also played some stellar defense all game long in the championship game.

Casey and Way, according to the coach, “threw off Willits’ normal leading scorers and led to lots of points in transition for us.”

The Cubs led by 10 points (31-21) at halftime and continued to keep the Wolverines at bay after the interval.

With Saturday’s win, the Cubs improved to 8-7.