LOWER LAKE — While the Middletown High School junior varsity boys” basketball team won”t repeat last season”s 20-0 feat, the Mustangs are loaded with talent again this season under first-year coach G.J. Rockwell.
Through the first two rounds of the 16th annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic, the Mustangs are 2-0 and have outscored opponents Upper Lake and Lower Lake by a combined 158-61.
On Monday, Middletown set a Hoop Classic single-game scoring record in the JV division with 83 points against Upper Lake.
The Mustangs are 7-1 in their first two games and have already avenged their only loss of the season, that coming to St. Helena in the finals of the Clear Lake Tournament. Middletown beat St. Helena en route to winning the Willits Tournament last weekend.
If the Middletown JVs go on to win the Hoop Classic title this season, it will mark the second straight year they”ve done it, a first for the school.
Middletown”s varsity is also in the running for the tournament title. If both of the school”s teams finish first, it will be another Hoop Classic first.
Nice game
Kelseyville senior guard Peter Wotherspoon scored 32 points in the Knights” 71-70 overtime victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals on Tuesday night. Thirteen of those points came in the third quarter but none were bigger than the two he scored with a little more than a second remaining in regulation to knot the score at 62 and force the overtime period.
The varsity tournament record for most points in a game is 37 by former Lower Lake star Vince Alderman (2002).
Wotherspoon has 49 points in his first two games.
25 points to go
Clear Lake”s Ryan Richardson needs 25 points to reach 1,000 for his career. The Cardinals play Lower Lake in tonight”s late varsity game. On Friday, Clear Lake and Upper Lake meet in the early varsity game.
Special contests
The free-throw and 3-point contests in the JV and varsity divisions take place Friday. The JV contests begin following the first JV game between Upper Lake and Clear Lake (approximately 4:30 p.m.). The varsity contests begin following the first varsity game between Upper Lake and Clear Lake (approximately 8 p.m.). Fans should arrive early just in case the tournament is running ahead of schedule.
Each team picks one shooter for each contest in both the JV and varsity divisions. Returning champions automatically qualify. Winners receive awards that night. All other awards (All-Tourney, team trophies) are presented following the final game on Saturday.
