MIDDLETOWN — Just a pedestrian day on the basketball court for Middletown High School sophomore center Blaine Amos on Tuesday during a 53-33 victory over the Cloverdale Eagles in a North Central League I junior varsity boys” basketball game at Middletown.
Amos scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in limited playing time as the Mustangs improved to 11-5 overall.
“He”s averaging 22 points and 14 rebounds a game at the JV level,” Middletown coach Anthony Bazzono said.
Amos won the MVP award last month during the Record-Bee Hoop Classic in Lakeport while leading Middletown to a 4-0 record in the tournament. He scored a Classic-record 95 points (23.8 a game) without playing extensively in the second half in three of those four wins.
Amos wasn”t a one-man show against the Eagles on Tuesday as teammates Nate Snodgrass and Ben Pike also turned in solid performances. Snodgrass finished with eight points and Pike, the team”s point guard, contributed five points, five assists and four steals.
“He”s a heck of a ballplayer,” Bazzano said of Pike.
“Things are starting to come together,” Bazzano said of his team”s season, which got off to a slow start because of the Mustangs” extended run in the football playoffs (several JV players were called up to the varsity for the playoffs and missed nearly the first month of the season). “We”ve got the ball rolling now,” Bazzano added.
Middletown hosts Clear Lake on Friday, the third and final time the teams will meet this season. The series is tied 1-1. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
In other JV boys” action Tuesday:
Lower Lake 53, Upper Lake 23
At Lower Lake, Jesse Meldrum”s 18 points spearheaded Lower Lake”s 53-23 victory over the same Upper Lake team that beat them 53-50 in overtime last month at the Record-Bee Hoop Classic in Lakeport.
The outcome wasn”t the only thing different this time around. Upper Lake”s starting lineup was missing its top player, KJ Anderson, who is no longer with the team.
“The kids were looking forward to playing them again after we lost to them in the tournament, but it wasn”t the same team without him (Anderson),” Lower Lake coach David Graham said.
Lower Lake fashioned a 29-9 lead by halftime and continued to pull away in the second half.
Richard Tucker had nine points and Chad Mattos eight for the Trojans (7-8), who crept closer to the .500 mark for the season. Stephan Greathouse also did a good job on the offensive and defensive boards in limited playing time, according to Graham.
“He was a rebounding machine,” Graham said. “He”s coming off an ankle injury, so he only played about a quarter and a half. We”re kind of working him in there.”
Grading his team”s performance, Graham said, “We played about as good as have all season.”
Wes Thaxton”s 10 points paced Upper Lake.
Clear Lake 56, Willits 45
At Lakeport, Omar Vazquez powered the Clear Lake Cardinals past the Willits Wolverines in a game that wasn”t decided until the final 90 seconds.
“It was a lot closer than the score shows,” Clear Lake coach Jeremy Hopkins said.
Vazquez scored 13 points to go along with 12 rebounds and four steals, and Andrew Jackson finished with 10 points. Both players hit clutch shots down the stretch, according to Hopkins, who said another standout was point guard Ootie Lane.
“Ootie had his best game of the season,” Hopkins said.
Danny Partida had nine points for the Cardinals while Lane and Brandon Helms added eight apiece.
Clear Lake led 24-22 at halftime but trailed by as many as seven points in the third quarter. A 21-8 fourth quarter proved to be the difference.
JV girls
St. Helena 35, Kelseyville 33
At St. Helena, even without of their top players in the lineup ? Jeannie Johnson (flu) ? the Kelseyville Knights made a game of it against the St. Helena Saints in NCL I interlock action.
Alex Pruett led the Knights with eight points and Dakota Rixen had seven.
Clear Lake 60, Willits 39
At Willits, Morgan Psalmonds” 17 points, including two 3-pointers, carried the Clear Lake Cardinals to an easy win over the Willits Wolverines.
Kelcie Reynolds added 16 points and Anna Westin had 10 for the Cardinals.
