Montgomery girls, other Empire teams fall in playoffs

It was a tough night on the hardwood for Redwood Empire girls basketball teams, as all four schools in the CIF Northern California playoff tournament went down in semifinals on Saturday.

No. 6 Montgomery (25-8) had the closest loss of the four teams. The Vikings lost 54-51 to host No. 3 Valley Christian (15-14) of San Jose in a Division II semifinal.

“The kids battled all game long. I'm so proud of them,” Montgomery coach Darryl LaBlue said. “Of course, it is disappointing; the finality of the playoffs when you lose stings a little bit.”

Unfortunately for Montgomery, post player Shayla Newman - who averages double figures in scoring - was not available due to illness. LaBlue would not say whether the outcome would have been different if she played.

“Shayla not playing is a not an excuse. The kids stepped up and played really hard tonight,” LaBlue said. “We certainly had opportunities in the fourth quarter to take the lead, but we would either turn the ball over or miss shots.”

Montgomery trailed 54-51 with the ball but missed a potential game-tying three-point shot with three seconds to play to seal its fate. The Vikings trailed 20-15 after the first quarter and 30-23 at halftime before narrowing the gap in the second half.

Ciarah Michalik (16 points) and Trinity Hawkins (15 points, 12 rebounds) led Montgomery.

Fallon Dexheimer (15 points) and Nyah Willis (13 points) led Valley Christian.

“It was definitely a good season,” LaBlue said. “This was a special team and a special season.”

Modoc 56, Clear Lake 43

The host No. 2 Cardinals (24-6) were upset by the No. 10 Braves (18-11) of Alturas in a Division V semifinal. Clear Lake played without post player Kiana Richardson, who was unavailable due a scheduling conflict with a volleyball club game related to her athletic scholarship at Sonoma State University.

“With her (Richardson), we definitely win that game,” said Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds, who added that it was not Richardson's fault she didn't play. “Not having Richardson hurt us quite a bit. It was a big void for us to fill.”

Clear Lake came out lackluster in the first quarter as Modoc took charge 25-6.

“We came out flat. Modoc came out real motivated. They outplayed us right from the start,” Reynolds said. “We didn't shoot very well. We were getting some shots but we weren't hitting anything. We couldn't get our rhythm going.”

Defensively, Clear Lake had trouble stopping Modoc in the lane.

“We didn't defend the post very well,” Reynolds said. “Modoc turned the ball over a lot, but we couldn't capitalize on those turnovers.”

Clear Lake was paced by Corin Alakszay and Lilli Hill, each with 11 points.

Modoc was led by Charly Simpson with 19 points.

“It was a great year,” Reynolds said. “I have a great group of kids from top to bottom. It was a great group to coach.”

Fall River 56, RVC 45

The No. 4 Eagles (22-9) suffered from a lack of depth and foul trouble in a loss to the host No. 1 Bulldogs (26-5) of McArthur in a Division VI semifinal.

Rincon Valley Christian only had seven players available while Fall River, the defending Division VI champions, had 14 players.

Fall River had a deeper bench than we did,” RVC coach Richard Higgenbottom said. “Our bench just wasn't deep enough to get into foul trouble. The big difference was the free throws in the second half.”

Fall River converted 16 of 20 free throws in the second half while RVC was 8 of 13. The Eagles trailed 43-42 at the end of the third quarter but were outscored by the Bulldogs 13-3 in the fourth quarter.

“The officiating was called closer than what we are used to in the North Coast. You have to make the adjustments to a closely called game and I think we had a lot of trouble adjusting,” Higgenbottom said. “We tried to pick up (the pace) of our defense in the fourth quarter and we ended up fouling more.

“Fall River is a very good team - they deserved the win. They put up 56 points on us and not many teams do that.”

RVC was already shortstaffed with the absences of point guard Alyssa Hammer and forward Kylie Olson, out with injuries, so the foul trouble put extra pressure on the Eagles with only a two-player bench.

Sisters Elizabeth and Caroline Chambers each had 17 points for RVC.

Madison Corder had 18 points for Fall River.

“The girls worked hard and got better during the season. They stepped up when players got hurt,” Higgenbottom said. “Next season, we are going to work harder to get even better.”

Redding Christian 50, Laytonville 37

In a Division VI semifinal, unfortunately for the No. 6 Warriors (25-5), they picked a bad game to come out with less-than-optimal energy - and the host No. 2 Lions (24-3) of Palo Cedro took advantage.

“I think we got outhustled. Redding Christian is a scrappy team. They are small and quick and they were attacking the rim very aggressively,” Laytonville coach Corey James said. “We weren't flowing offensively like we usually are. The girls were not running their offense.”

The Warriors trailed 11-6 after the first quarter, 25-18 at halftime and 34-24 after the third quarter. A fourth-quarter comeback wasn't in the offing for Laytonville, as it never reached its usual form against the determined Lions.

“Redding Christian killed us from the perimeter. They beat us on rebounding, they really crashed the boards,” James said. “(But) it was a successful year. We are young and ready to go for next year.”