MIDDLETOWN — Tyler Hunt wiped out a two-point Kelseyville lead by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Middletown Mustangs, trailing 29-16 at halftime, parlayed a big second half into a 57-49 win over the Knights in a North Central League I North varsity boys” basketball game at Middletown.
Kelseyville was scheduled to play at Fort Bragg on Tuesday and Middletown was supposed to host Willits but bad weather prevented those games from taking place. As a result, Middletown and Kelseyville decided to make up the game they lost to bad weather a week ago.
It was the second straight North win for the Mustangs, now 2-2 in league and 7-14 overall. The two-game winning streak also matches the team”s longest of the season.
“We were very flat,” Middletown coach Mike Mullin said of a lackluster effort by the Mustangs in the first half. “I gave them a pretty good butt chewing at halftime and they responded,” Mullin said.
Middletown outscored Kelseyville 41-20 in the second half, including a 23-7 fourth quarter that featured 12 of Hunt”s team-leading 24 points.
“Hitting those two threes was a huge momentum swing,” Mullin said of Hunt”s marksmanship from beyond the 3-point arc.
Hunt had plenty of help from his teammates as Dustin Peterson added 14 points and seven rebounds and Johnny Harmyk had eight points and six rebounds.
“And they were a solid eight points,” Mullin said of Harmyk. “All eight were in the second half.”
Mike Duman”s 15 points paced the Knights, who fell to 0-4 in the North standings and 10-9 overall. Isaac McQueen added 12 points and Nick Schaefer had 10.
Middletown went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line compared to Kelseyville”s 4-for-5.
In other action Tuesday:
Girls” basketball
Kelseyville 45, Middletown 31
At Kelseyville, the host Knights received a season-high 20 points from Allyson Brown and beat the Middletown Mustangs in NCL I North action. The two teams were scheduled to play someone else on Tuesday but Middletown was unable to make the trip north to Willits and Fort Bragg was unable to travel south to Kelseyville. As a result, Middletown and Kelseyville decided to make up a game that was snowed out a week ago.
Middletown (1-3 North, 6-14 overall) led 21-16 at halftime. Kelseyville (2-2, 14-6) rallied with a 29-10 second half.
Jodi Snider had nine points, seven rebounds and four steals for Kelseyville.
The Welton sisters — Kayla and Kelsey — led Middletown with 10 and nine points, respectively. Amber Preusser added eight.
Lower Lake 76, Clear Lake 64
At Lakeport, both teams set single-game highs for scoring this season but it was the Lower Lake Trojans knocking off the Clear Lake Cardinals in NCL I interlock action.
Lower Lake”s balanced attack of 19 points by Danielle Bettencourt, 18 from Darlena White and 17 from by Amanda Bettencourt offset a season-best 32 by Clear Lake”s Kaila Sterbank and another 21 from Julie Jackson.
Lower Lake welcomed point guard Rissy Prude back to the starting lineup and her presence fueled an offense that has struggled of late.
“Prude made a huge difference,” Lower Lake coach Andrew Carpenter said.
Sterbank converted 12 of 18 free throws as Clear Lake slipped to 4-15 overall. She also had 10 rebounds as did Jackson.
“This game was definitely our best of the season,” Clear Lake coach Jen Goff said. “We were playing together, as a team.”
Lower Lake snapped a four-game skid to improve to 9-12.
Upper Lake, St. Helena games postponed
Varsity boys” and girls” games between Upper Lake and St. Helena were postponed because of inclement weather. They have been rescheduled for Thursday.
The boys host St. Helena and the girls travel to St. Helena.
In other Thursday action, Kelseyville”s boys will travel to Fort Bragg and Kelseyville”s girls will host Fort Bragg, weather permitting.
