LOWER LAKE — It was a night of firsts for the Middletown Mustangs as they knocked off the Lower Lake Trojans 61-51 in a North Central League I North varsity boys” basketball game at Lower Lake High School.
In the process of picking up their first league win, the Mustangs (1-2, 6-14) also beat Lower Lake for the first time in three meetings this season.
Oh, and then there was that other first of some consequence. Middletown senior Tyler Hunt scored 29 points to move up to first on the list of the school”s all-time scoring leaders with 1,069 points ? and counting. Hunt entered play needing 27 points to break the old mark of 1,066 by David Wetherbee and he did it by scoring 18 points in the third period as the Mustangs, trailing 27-26 at halftime, surged ahead to stay.
“Tyler played a great game,” Lower Lake coach Marty Udy said. “He”s so versatile. He did get some big baskets inside early to get them going, but he hit some big ones outside, too.”
Hunt found the range on four 3-pointers and he nearly had two others, according to Udy. “He”s just a good player. He”s hard to stop.”
The turning point in the game, according to Udy, came early in the third quarter when Angel Macias sank a 3-pointer to cut Middletown”s lead to one point. The Mustangs answered with back-to-back 3-pointers and Hunt made them both.
“That was the big point in the game,” Udy said. “We never got close again.”
While Hunt was having another big night for the Mustangs, including 10 rebounds and four steals, his teammates helped out.
“Their other guys hit some big shots, too,” Udy say. “Their complimentary players stepped up.”
Dustin Peterson finished with 12 points, Johnny Harmyk addeded eight and Dylan Galusha had six.
Lower Lake (2-2, 11-8) led 19-11 after one quarter but couldn”t sustain that first-quarter momentum.
“We haven”t had a good home game this year for whatever reason,” Udy said.
A.J. Harris” 11 points paced the Trojans, Kevin Freeman added nine and Mike Deakins and David Clark each had eight.
Middletown connected on 11 of 13 free throws compared to Lower Lake”s two of four.
“We wanted more intensity, we wanted to be more physical and we wanted to put four good quarters of basketball together,” Middletown coach Mike Mulin said. “The kids are showing improvement.”
Harmyk had six rebounds and Peterson five for the Mustangs.
In other action Friday:
Cloverdale 64, Upper Lake 47
At Upper Lake, after playing a spirited first quarter, the Upper Lake Cougars opened the second period with an 8-0 run to take a 27-26 lead against the NCL I South-leading Cloverdale Eagles.
Cloverdale responded with a 22-0 run to close out the first half and went on to beat Upper Lake.
“We played well with the exception of those six minutes in the second quarter,” Upper Lake coach Forrest Stogner said. “We played a great first two minutes and then fell flat on our faces.”
Upper Lake (0-4, 3-17) played better in the second half but couldn”t catch the Eagles, who improved to 4-0 in the South standings.
“We came back with some pride in that second half and finished strong,” Stogner said of the Cougars” 15th straight loss.
Brandon Mendoza”s 18 points paced Upper Lake, Kyle Coleman added 17 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, and Dalton Steptoe had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
St. Helena 47, Clear Lake 42
At Lakeport, the Clear Lake Cardinals turned ice-cold from the field and free-throw line in the first half, scoring just 10 points, and fell to the St. Helena Saints in NCL I South action.
“We had the shooting blues in the first half,” Clear Lake coach Ken Hook said.
Clear Lake (1-3, 9-9) closed the gap to just a couple of points in the second half but couldn”t overtake the Saints (2-2).
“We were right there, but we couldn”t get some shots to fall at the end,” Hook said. “That”s just the way it”s gone for us this season.”
Jameson Holder”s 16 points paced the Cardinals. Corey Dillon added seven points and a team-high eight rebounds and Ryan Richardson had seven points and seven rebounds.
Girls” basketball
Middletown 49, Lower Lake 46
At Middletown, Kayla Welton sank two pressure-packed 3-pointers down the stretch and Elizabeth Wildt and Jenny McGee hit key free throws in the final seconds to lift the Middletown Mustangs to a win over the Lower Lake Trojans in NCL I North play.
It was the first league win for Middletown (1-2, 6-13). Lower Lake fell to 0-4 in the North and 8-12 overall.
“Both teams needed a win and both teams played like they wanted it,” Middletown coach Marnin Pyzer said.
Welton, who finished with a team-high 17 points, tied the game late in the fourth quarter with her second 3-pointer of the quarter and third of the night.
“Kayla hitting those two 3s in the fourth quarter was huge,” Pyzer said.
Wildt then hit one of two free throws to put Middletown in front to stay. After Lower Lake missed a shot, Middletown point guard Jenny McGee drew a foul and responded by sinking both free throws with nine seconds left.
McGee scored a season-high 10 points and Kelsey Welton added eight points.
Danielle Bettencourt”s 19 points paced the Trojans, Amber Shoffeitt added 10 points and Amanda Bettencourt chipped in with nine.
St. Helena 62, Clear Lake 33
At St. Helena, the St. Helena Saints scored nearly as many points in the first quarter as the Clear Lake Cardinals ended up with during their NCL I South game in the Napa Valley.
St. Helena (2-2) outscored Clear Lake 30-12 in the opening period and never looked back.
“We made an enormous amount of turnovers,” Clear Lake coach Jennifer Goff said as the Cardinals fell to 0-4 in the South and 4-14 overall. “And defensively we were just a little slow figuring out who the shooters were and getting out there to cover them.”
Kaila Sterbank”s 15 points paced Clear Lake.
“She did a good job out there,” Goff said.
Adrianna Particelli and Madelyn Densberger each had 16 points for the Saints.
led the Saints with 16 points apiece.
