LOWER LAKE — Team-work wins ballgames ? even when the coach isn”t around.
Three Middletown starters scored four points apiece in the first quarter and Alexis Rockwell added another four off the bench as the Mustangs parlayed a 16-4 lead after the opening period into a 54-42 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans on Friday night in Lower Lake.
It was the seventh straight victory and the ninth in 10 games for Middletown High School”s varsity girls” basketball team, which is 14-5 overall and 4-0 at the midway point of the North Central League I North race.
Middletown was without head coach Marnin Pyzer, who was serving a one-game suspension after being ejected in the Mustangs” previous contest — a 42-39 win over Kelseyville on Tuesday night in Kelseyville.
Middletown didn”t waste any time jumping ahead of Lower Lake in the opening quarter although it wasn”t a rush of points that gave the Mustangs their 16-4 first-quarter advantage.
“They were patient, worked for good shots and made them,” Lower Lake coach Andrew Carpenter said. “They played a solid and determined game from start to finish. It wasn”t one girl, it was a definite team effort.”
The Mustangs led 29-16 at halftime and 41-31 after three quarters.
Jenny McGee scored a season-high 17 points to pace Middletown, which plays three of its final four North games at home, including a critical contest Tuesday against Willits (3-1). Kelsey Guzman added 11 points and Rockwell finished with seven.
Darlena White”s 10 points paced the Trojans, now 1-3 in the North and 6-15 overall. Veronica Wilder added eight.
“We”re looking for a great second-half run,” Carpenter said of the Trojans” four remaining league games.
In other girls” action Friday:
Cloverdale 56, Upper Lake 34
At Cloverdale, the Upper Lake Cougars got as close as five points in the second quarter before the Cloverdale Eagles pulled away for an easy NCL I South victory, a win that keeps Cloverdale (3-1, 16-5) one game behind undefeated St. Helena in the league standings.
“They”re a good ballclub,” Upper Lake coach Donnie Meri said. “They”re not tall, but they do a lot of things well. And they shot the ball extremely well tonight.”
Whitney Edens” 16 points paced Cloverdale. Rebecca Swaney led Upper Lake (2-2, 7-14) with 12 points and Katy DeVries had 10.
Boys” basketball
Clear Lake 66, St. Helena 54
At St. Helena, the St. Helena Saints rallied from a big deficit to tie the game at 44 early in the fourth quarter, but the Clear Lake Cardinals regrouped and beat the Saints in NCL I South boys” action.
Clear Lake switched to a man-to-man press defense in the fourth quarter and the turnovers it produced fueled a Cardinal run, according to coach Glenn Wienke.
“We got a lot of turnovers and some easy baskets,” Wienke said.
St. Helena outscored Clear Lake 22-14 in the third quarter to make a game of it. The Saints (0-4) recently lost their head coach ? Ray Particelli was dismissed last week because of a team hazing incident — and several players, including many of the team”s starters, quit the squad in the fallout.
“I didn”t know what we were going to be facing,” Wienke said. “They only suited up eight, but I give those kids credit.”
Ryan Richardson”s 25 points paced the Cardinals, now 2-2 in the South and 13-8 overall. Corey Dillon added 14 points and Robert Anderson had 10 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
“Dillon and (Noel) McCormack did a great job on defense,” Wienke said. “And Richardson was all over the place on offense.”
Cloverdale 89, Upper Lake 66
At Cloverdale, not even 31 points and eight 3-pointers by Upper Lake”s Dillon Gonzales could slow down the Cloverdale Eagles, who improved to 4-0 in the NCL I South.
Robby Rowland”s 32 points powered Cloverdale, which had a 31-10 lead after the first quarter.
“We ran a junk offense,” Upper Lake coach Forrest Stogner said. “I told them to give Dillon the ball and they did.”
Kyle Coleman, the team”s leading scorer on the season, finished with only nine points but did have nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals.
“Kyle was a great team leader,” Stogner said. “He played the role he needed to play ? a leader.”
Brandon Bills added 11 points as Upper Lake fell to 1-3 in the South and 8-11 overall.
“Bills started for us tonight and was excellent defensively,” Stogner said.
Gonazles also pulled down 10 rebounds for a double-double.
