KELSEYVILLE — It was all over but the wait-till-next-year shouting for Middletown”s Mustangs Thursday afternoon as they ended their season with a 52-36 loss to Willits in the first round of the North Central League I North boys” basketball tournament at the Kelseyville High gym.
Down by 20 points — 41-21 — after three quarters, the game but overmatched Mustangs actually outscored the Wolverines 15-11 in the final period.
Showing the scrappiness that has been there trademark through a losing 9-18 overall season, Middletown employed a “full-court, deny-man” defense to trim the Willits lead to 11 at 45-34 with 5:15 left. But, as Middletown coach Mike Mullin, asserted, “It was too little too late.”
Despite the fire that went into a 10-0 last-quarter surge, there was nothing left to do at the conclusion but to sift through the ashes of a season in which Middletown was forced to rely far too much on the considerable talents of graduating super-scorer Tyler Hunt.
“It gave us a little bit of excitement but we just struggled against them with a 3-2 zone,” Mulllin said of the fourth-quarter bid.
“They played aggressive today,” Mullin added. “I told them that”s going to have to be our style next year. We thought we”d try something because we were a little stagnant, but it didn”t work.”
The Mustangs were in a zone defense most of the game, but the Wolverines had little difficulty with it.
Middletown led 9-8 at the end of the first period, but the lead evaporated on a perimeter shot by James Mitchell that put Willits up 13-11 midway through the quarter, and by halftime the Wolverines enjoyed a 20-14 advantage.
Mitchell buried two more treys en route to an 11-point game.
The Wolverine lead was increased to 20 on Willits” last shot of the third quarter. And what a shot it was — a stunning 3-pointer from midcourt at the buzzer by Brett Snyder. The shot hit nothing but cords and contributed to a 13-point game for Snyder. It was clear by then that Willits was on its way to its 16th victory in 27 games and its third win in as many games against Middletown this year.
Hunt scored 14 in his final game to close out his record-setting scoring career at Middletown with 1,227 total points, 615 of them coming this season.
Mullin struggled for words to characterize Hunt”s brilliance in the face of a lackluster season.
“I”ve said this a million times about the kid,” the Middletown coach said. “I just don”t know what else to say. He”s the best player I”ve ever coached. He did a lot of years of hard work and it shows. If everybody could take a page out of his book, they”d become strong basketball players, but it takes hard work to do it. He”s worked his butt off since he was — I think — a fourth-grader.”
Hunt”s single-season point total is the second best in Lake County history.
But Mullin was no apologist regarding this year”s never-give-up unit.
“I would file (this season) obviously not by the win-and-loss record but by hard work, commitment, and the attitude of the kids has been great,” he said.
