LOWER LAKE — The Middletown Mustangs will open the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs with a homecourt advantage Wednesday night because they played defense against Fort Bragg on Saturday with a capital D. In fact, they played it so dominantly you could capitalize all seven letters … DEFENSE!
What was projected to be a classic game pitting the North Central League North I co-champions, the Mustangs ruled from the git-go. What was classic about Middletown”s 58-30 triumph was the manner in which it shut down the Timberwolves” running and perimeter-shooting offense. Played on the Lower Lake hardwood, it was a neutral-court clash and indeed the T”wolves were neutralized in a game in which the Mustangs controlled the tempo. The hard-charging Mustangs executed the game plan coach G.J. Rockwell laid out perfectly, leading to a fifth straight victory and, unofficially, an undisputed league championship.
“We did two big things that we talked about, which was to play aggressive defense to keep their 3-point shooters up top and rebounding,” said Rockwell.
The numbers tell the story of how stifling the Mustangs were in carrying out their game plan.
Item: The Timberwolves scored only eight field goals, which worked out to exactly two per quarter. They had no 3-point field goals.
Item: Between them, Middletown”s Bo Sheffer, John-Wesley Davis, Jake Anderson and Nick Dellia combined to take down 34 defensive boards.
Fort Bragg coach Tim Anderson was stunned by the one-sidedness. Anderson acknowledged that he was among those who expected the game to be more on the order of the hard-fought regular-season matches between the two rivals, which they split. Who wouldn”t? In their most recent game, Feb. 8 at Middletown, Fort Bragg led 37-32 at half and was in contention through the third quarter.
” … But we didn”t come ready to play,” Anderson said. “I don”t want to take anything away from Middletown. They”re big and strong and they outplayed us. We didn”t have an answer for their 2-3 (zone defense).”
Pick your word for it, the T”wolves were befuddled, stymied, frustrated, nonplussed, disoriented or all of the foregoing as is obvious in their scoring. It was 8-4 at the end of one, 20-10 at half and 37-21 at the end of the third quarter. Clearly, as the impatient T”wolves threw up one misguided and pressured shot after another, the Mustangs hard-nosed attack was unsettling to them.
“That had everything to do with the way the kids were playing defense,” said Rockwell. “They”re a well-coached team — Tim is a great coach, he really is, and they moved the ball well. But they”re used to getting the defense out of position and getting their 3-pointers. They”re used to fast play and that was on our list — to force tempo and control the flow of the game. We didn”t want to get into a pissing match where we we”re going up and down the floor like crazy people.
“That was our biggest thing … set the tone, and the guys did a fantastic job. I feel like if you”re setting the tone with defense everything else kind of follows.”
Normally conservative about a win, Rockwell admitted this was a high for him in his first year at the Mustang helm. This win, he acknowledged, “was better than Christmas.”
“I”m so proud of them,” he said of his charges. “I”m so happy for the boys (for their 18-9 season), because, if you think about it, it was one loss (in league) and go home. We could not lose another game.”
The one negative for Middletown was a sprained ankle for playmaker Luke Humphrey suffered in a horrendous fall on a layup. Rockwell was sympathetic. Humphrey played his way into a starting role as the season progressed and has been a factor in the Mustangs” five-game win streak.
“We got kids who will step up,” Rockwell said when asked what the Mustangs would do if Humphrey can”t play Wednesday when the Mustangs host Arcata (21-7) in a section playoff game at 7 p.m.
Against the Timberwoves, the Mustangs got double-digit scoring and even play from Sheffer, 12 points with six assists; Davis with 10 points; and Dellia, 10 points with seven defensive rebounds. And they closed with a 13-2 run to put the issue well beyond Fort Bragg”s reach.
“We wanted to be where we are now at the end of the season,” said Rockwell. “We”re playing better and better and it”s not at our best yet. I think we got more to give. We”re where we want to be at the time we want to be there.”
