MIDDLETOWN — As his team huddled around him at the end of the third quarter, Marnin Pyzer spoke his mind & loudly.
“I didn”t use any cuss words, but there wasn”t anything nice in what I had to say,” the Middletown High School varsity girls” basketball coach said following the Mustangs” come-from-behind 40-38 win over the Upper Lake Cougars on Thursday night at Middletown.
Upper Lake held a 30-21 lead going into the fourth quarter and Pyzer said he simply “challenged” his team.
“I told them, I think you”re just giving up,”” Pyzer said. “I told them to prove me wrong and they did. I liked to be proved wrong that way.”
Middletown (3-11) outscored Upper Lake 19-8 in the fourth quarter and Julia Leathers led the way, scoring seven of her team-leading 15 points in the period, including one of her two 3-pointers.
Danielle Earl, a junior reserve guard, hit two critical free throws late in the quarter to give the Mustangs a huge boost, according to Pyzer.
“She played real well off the bench,” Pyzer said. “It was her best effort of the season by far.”
Caity Falge”s 10 points led the Cougars (2-12) and Rebecca Breton added nine points, all on 3-pointers.
Middletown”s win came despite a 6-for-20 night at the free-throw line. But the Mustangs did hit four of their six foul shots down the stretch.
