MIDDLETOWN — They”re rolling now.
D.J. Brookshire led a balanced Middletown attack with 14 points and Jake Anderson added 10 points and eight rebounds Friday night as the Mustangs chewed up and spit out the Clear Lake Cardinals 70-24 in North Central League I interlock varsity boys” basketball action at Middletown High School.
It was the fifth straight victory for the Mustangs (10-5), who haven”t loss since a 58-47 setback to the Kelseyville Knights on Dec. 18 in the final round of the Record-Bee Hoop Classic at Lakeport. It also was their second win in three tries against Clear Lake (6-9) this season. The two teams won”t meet again unless it”s in the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs.
“We played incredible defense,” Middletown coach G.J. Rockwell said of a 23-4 first quarter that all but put the game away.
Other than a 14-point second quarter, Clear Lake”s offense was practically invisible against a Middletown team that owned the offensive and defensive boards.
“Rebounding was a big part of it,” Rockwell said. “We challenged our big guys before the game. We wanted to establish a post presence.”
And players such as Anderson, Nick Dellia (six points) and Chris Oatman (eight points, seven rebounds) responded.
“Anderson played a very good game,” Rockwell said. “And Brookshire was all over the court on defense. He got a lot of his points off steals in the open court.”
John-Wesley Davis added 12 points and Jereomy Hoefer had nine for the Mustangs, who took a 61-22 lead into the fourth quarter.
Rockwell said the Mustangs are playing team basketball and unselfish basketball.
“Bo (Sheffer) had a real good game even though he didn”t have a lot of touches,” Rockwell said of his senior guard-forward, the team”s leading scorer entering play at 12 points per game. Sheffer finished with only four points but led the Mustangs with eight assists.
“That was real unselfish of him,” Rockwell said. “Bo had a real good game.”
In other interlock boys” action Friday:
Kelseyville 77, Upper Lake 60
At Upper Lake, Dustin Thaxton poured in 28 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead the Kelseyville Knights to a win over the Upper Lake Cougars, who were led by Tyler Warren”s 17 points.
Upper Lake (1-13) stayed within calling distance of Kelseyville (11-5) until early in the fourth quarter, when the Knights finally pulled away.
“We”ve played them well this season,” Upper Lake coach Chris Cisneros said of the third meeting between the teams this season ? all Kelseyville wins. “We actually played some good basketball in the paint. Today we played good team basketball and it showed.”
“They had a lot of putbacks,” Kelseyville assistant coach Rich Facey said of the Cougars. “They actually shot real well against us.”
Facey said the difference in the game was a fast start by the Knights, who led 24-17 after one quarter.
“The kids jumped on top right away,” Facey said. “We were sharp from the beginning and it really helped us.”
Kelseyville led 35-25 at halftime and 57-49 entering the fourth quarter.
Thaxton hit three of his 3-pointers in the first quarter and two more in the fourth quarter.
“He literally put points up with our hands in his face,” Cisneros said.
Max Huff had 23 points for the Knights, including what Facey described as a “rim-rattling dunk” in the first quarter.
The Knights also had solid play on defense from Oscar Lopez, according to Facey. “
“He had his hands on a lot of balls and he started a few breaks,” Facey said.
Billy Armstrong had 16 points for the Cougars and Mike Sutton added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Cloverdale 76, Lower Lake 70
At Cloverdale, the Cloverdale Eagles won a shootout with the Lower Lake Trojans, who were led by Joe Taylor”s 19 points and four 3-pointers.
“We gave up too many paint shots in the second half,” Lower Lake coach Marty Udy said. “Our interior defense wasn”t very solid.”
The game was knotted 29-all at the half and Cloverdale, buoyed by the return of guard Beau Gastineau to the lineup, took a 53-48 lead into the fourth quarter.
Taylor also led the Trojans (4-13) with seven assists. Kyle Buckingham added 15 points, Nick Steward had 14, and Jeff Davis added seven points and seven rebounds.
Seth Lampert”s 31 points paced Cloverdale.
Girls” basketball
Clear Lake 62, Middletown 47
At Lakeport, in a game the Clear Lake players dedicated to Terrace Middle School teacher”s aide Hilary Haas, who died on Jan. 6, the Cardinals came up big behind a season-high 33 points from Jessica Asbury.
Several Clear Lake players addressed the crowd in a pre-game ceremony dedicated to Haas” memory, according to Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds, who said many of his players were taught by the popular Haas at the middle school.
Asbury also had 13 rebounds to go along with her 33 points.
“It was a quiet 33, too,” Reynolds said. “She was just very consistent, scoring at least eight in every quarter. She was awesome.”
Clear Lake (5-7) outscored Middletown 23-12 in the second quarter to open up a 32-18 lead.
Rachel Sutton”s 10 points paced the Mustangs (4-12). Ashley Lescher and Kayla Farr added seven apiece.
“The kids played real well, a total team effort,” Reynolds said. “Everybody got into the game.”
Kelseyville 40, Upper Lake 24
At Kelseyville, Liz Berry scored 12 of Kelseyville”s 16 points in the second quarter as the Knights pulled away to beat the Upper Lake Cougars.
Berry hit three of her four 3-pointers in the second quarter and finished with 19 points overall as Kelseyville improved to 8-7 on the season.
“Liz really lit it up, we kind of lost track of her,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said.
The Knights led 22-7 at halftime after limiting Upper Lake”s top player, Katherine Edmonds, to just four points in the first half.
“We played a 1-3 zone and had a guard (Myra Rodriguez) follow her,” Kelseyville assistant coach John Berry said of Edmonds. “I thought we did a real nice job holding her down.”
Edmonds led the Cougars (3-11) with 14 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.
“We”re just missing that senior scorer to go to to help take some of that pressure off Edmonds,” Smith said.
The Cougars did play their best third quarter of the season, according to Smith, as they outscored the Knights 15-12.
“It just wasn”t quite enough,” Smith said.
Berry and Morgan Shannon each pulled down nine rebounds for the Knights and Mary Brown added eight points and four assists.
Leading 34-22 entering the fourth quarter, the Knights milked the shot clock on nearly every possession, according to Berry.
“We took our time,” Berry said. “I thought our girls played very intelligently.”
Kelseyville opens its NCL I North schedule Tuesday at home against the Willits Wolverines, defending North champions. Upper Lake opens NCL I South play at St. Vincent.
