FORT BRAGG — Fort Bragg hit two free throws with no time remaining in regulation to force overtime and the Timberwolves went on to beat the Middletown Mustangs 71-68 in a double-overtime thriller Friday night in Fort Bragg.
The North Central League I North varsity boys” basketball game also was the Mustangs” league debut.
“The kids played their hearts out,” Middletown coach G.J. Rockwell said. “And I can”t take anything away from Fort Bragg. They played their butts off.”
John-Wesley Davis hit a reverse layup with 3.5 seconds left in regulation to give Middletown a 58-56 lead. Fort Bragg missed a last-second shot but a foul was called on the play and the Timberwolves nailed both free throws to send the game into the first overtime.
In the first extra period, Bo Sheffer, Middletown”s leading scorer with 19 points, sank a clutch jumper with time running out to tie the game at 65-65 and force a second overtime.
“This is a tough one,” Rockwell said. “We just came off a brutal loss at Justin-Siena.”
Middletown has now lost two straight after winning five in a row.
Davis finished with 12 points and Jereomy Hoefer had nine for the Mustangs.
In other boys” action Friday:
St. Vincent 60, Clear Lake 49
At Petaluma, a 16-5 second quarter that favored St. Vincent proved to be the difference as the Mustangs knocked off the Clear Lake Cardinals in NCL I South play.
Michael Meiswinkel scored 12 of his team-leading 31 points in the second quarter as St. Vincent opened up a 38-21 halftime lead.
“That was pretty much the story,” Clear Lake coach Glenn Wienke said of Meiswinkel”s big night. “He was the difference.”
Switching to a 1-2-2 trap defense, Clear Lake rallied to within five points of the Mustangs in the fourth quarter before St. Vincent again pulled away.
Tanner Mansell”s 18 points paced Clear Lake (0-2, 6-12) and Steven Edwards had 11.
Willits 66, Upper Lake 48
At Upper Lake, in NCL I interlock action, the Willits Wolverines knocked off the Upper Lake Cougars behind 20 points from Odeh Karkar and 14 from Wyatt Sanderson.
Upper Lake (1-15) hung tough for a half before losing ground to the Wolverines over the final two quarters.
“We could have used Billy Armstrong, our 3-point shooter,” Upper Lake coach Chris Cisneros said of his senior guard, who was unable to play.
Mike Sutton scored 16 points, Jared Wade added 14 and Tyler Warren 13 to pace the Cougars.
“My posts are starting to play pretty well,” Cisneros said with an eye toward Sutton. “And Tyler had a good game, too.
“Of course I want to get a win, but as long as we keep improving, I”m happy,” Cisneros said.
Girls” basketball
Middletown 44, Fort Bragg 28
At Middletown, the Middletown Mustangs pulled away with a 17-9 third quarter and went on to beat Fort Bragg in NCL I North girls” action.
It was Middletown”s league opener and the Mustangs answered with a balanced scoring attack led by Marie Crim and Jodi Mitchell with 10 points each. Amber Hart added eight more and Amber Ramponi and Kayla Farr had six points apiece.
“The first half was really sluggish and it wasn”t pretty at all for either team,” Middletown coach Marnin Pyzer said of his team”s 13-10 lead at halftime.
Crim, a junior center, also had 11 rebounds and Mitchell added 10 boards.
“Crim is slowly getting a lot more confidence with the ball in her hand down low,” Pyzer said.
Farr scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter as the Mustangs (1-0, 5-12) put the game away.
“She hit some big shots for us,” Pyzer said.
St. Vincent 54, Clear Lake 41
At Lakeport, the Clear Lake Cardinals led 16-12 after one quarter but couldn”t stick with the St. Vincent Mustangs in NCL I South action.
St. Vincent, now 2-0 in the South, moved ahead to stay with a 14-3 second period that was a nightmare of turnovers for Clear Lake (0-2, 5-9).
“We had 22 turnovers in the first half and 33 for the game,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said.
After building an early 16-6 lead, Clear Lake watched its advantage slip to four points in seconds as St. Vincent”s Nicole Hupke buried back-to-back 3-pointers. She led the Mustangs with 12 points.
“They have nine players and they don”t drop off very much when they go to their bench,” Reynolds said. “They”re a good team.”
Jessica Asbury”s eight points and 13 rebounds led the Cardinals and Heather White added 10 points. Rebecca Baker came off the bench to score eight.
“And those were eight hard-earned points,” Reynolds said. “She played a really good game.”
