Rob Grant & Brian Sumpter — Record-Bee staff
LOWER LAKE — The wide-open tournament that the 16th annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic was supposed to be narrowed Tuesday night as Middletown emerged from the first two rounds as the only varsity team with a spotless record.
How the Mustangs got into their advantaged 2-0 position is the most important factor. They did it by systematically destroying host Lower Lake 80-52 and in the process outhustling, outquicking and outsmarting the Trojans.
Lower Lake”s Forrest Davis, who was the big man on campus after scoring 23 points against Kelseyville on Monday night, was neutralized and held to seven points. Worst yet, Davis fouled out with six minutes left.
The thoroughness of the Middletown victory was surprising considering the Mustangs entered play at 3-4 overall compared to Lower Lake”s 6-2 record going into Tuesday”s game. Three years ago, Middletown entered the Classic as a so-so team and swept all four games to win it. On Tuesday night, the Mustangs went ahead 7-5 on a putback by Bo Sheffer with 4:32 left in the first quarter and never looked back. By the end of the quarter, they led 20-9 and at the half it was 35-18.
The Trojans, who had difficulties with their transition game, were only 6-for-29 from the field in the first half.
The Mustangs really opened it up in the early moments of the second half — Jesse James would have admired how they stole and stole and stole, forcing four turnovers and converting each into a coast-to-coast layup in a matter of seconds to grow their lead to 46-17. Consequently, Middletown”s lead going into the fourth quarter was 62-37 — their biggest of the night.
Sheffer and playmaker John Hays led Middletown with 21 and 18 points, respectively. Guard Gage Carlson, who, as noticed by Davis, played exceptionally under the circumstances and was the only Trojan who did, had 22 for Lower Lake.
Middletown coach Mike Mullin said there was no strategy in containing Davis, he just ran into foul trouble. But just before the game Mullin was alleged to have told the Mustangs, “Be kamikazes and sink the aircraft carrier.”
Kelseyville 71, Clear Lake 70 (OT)
In the early varsity game on Tuesday, Peter Wotherspoon”s driving layup with one second left in regulation sent the game into overtime and Mike Allen”s basket with 8.9 seconds remaining in the extra period lifted the Kelseyville Knights to a dramatic 71-70 victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals, the defending Hoop Classic champions.
After Allen scored late in the overtime to wipe out a 70-69 Clear Lake lead, the Cardinals called a timeout. A shot with two seconds remaining missed its mark and the Knights pulled down the rebound and ran out the clock.
Wotherspoon”s only 3-pointer of the game, the final three of his team-leading 32 points, gave Kelseyville a 67-66 lead in the overtime and marked the first of five lead changes.
The two teams were never separated by more than four points in the fourth quarter although the Knights held as much a nine-point lead on three different occasions in the third quarter.
Clear Lake took a 62-60 lead on driving layup by Ryan Richardson, who also drew a foul on the play with 8.3 seconds left in regulation. Richardson missed the free throw and Kelseyville hustled the ball across the midcourt stripe before calling a timeout. When play resumed, the Knights worked the ball to Wotherspoon as he slashed inside to knot the score.
Wotherspoon, Allen and Steven Grossner combined to score 65 of the Knights” points. Allen finished with 18 and Grossner 15.
Richardson scored six of Clear Lake”s eight points in the overtime period and finished with a team-best 25, leaving him 25 points shy of 1,000 for his career (see graphic, Page A10). Jason Edwards also had a big night for the Cardinals, scoring 12 of his 20 in the second half to help get Clear Lake back into the game, and Jarod Ashworth had seven of his 16 in the fourth quarter.
