MIDDLETOWN — Bo Sheffer took the opening tip straightaway to the basket to give Middletown a 2-0 lead on Wednesday night against Arcata in the first round of the North Coast Section Division IV boys” basketball playoffs.
Significant, because that was the only lead the Mustangs held in their 50-44 loss to the visiting Tigers. Such was final game for Middletown during an impressive 18-10 season.
That”s not to say the Mustangs didn”t make it interesting before bowing out. Their defense gave Arcata something to think about after Middletown closed to three points, 36-33, with 5:30 remaining. In the end, the Tigers won it with a big edge on the boards and at the charity stripe. They had to. In their gritty stinginess, the Mustangs held them to a single field goal for the period. A boistrous crowd of classmates that accompanied the Mustangs through their final games had the Middletown gym, more popularly known as “The Barn,” rocking during the late surge.
A team that has everything — a 6-foot-10 pivot, Max Schmidt, and two 6-6 players, Tom Witzel and Brandon Pomeran; four guys who rotate as head coach, a 23-7 ledger and a second-place finish in the strong Humboldt-Del Norte Big 5 League — Arcata had a big edge on the locals.
“The problem was we weren”t making shots. If we had made some of our shots it might be a different story,” said Mustang coach G.J. Rockwell.
The worst of it was in the first quarter when Middletown went 2-for-12 from the floor to fall behind 13-4. Throughout the game Arcata maintained a comfortable seven- to nine-point lead. The Tigers, led by Witzel”s 25 points and Will Taylor”s 11, held their biggest lead, 36-25, at the end of the third quarter. But obviously there was a lot of fight left in these Middletown underdogs, who outscored Arcata 19-14 in the last quarter and, with their defense, and discounting a first quarter when they turned it over six times, won the turnover battle, 12-5.
Chris Oatman and John-Wesley Davis led the Mustangs with 11 points apiece and Bo Sheffer had nine.
“I can”t be more proud of those guys; they played their hearts out and set a precedent for what we do — and that”s defense,” said Rockwell. “I hate for it to be over. This was probably the classiest and tightest group of kids that I”ve ever been involved with. I”m going to miss the hell out of these guys.”
The first-year coach”s goodbye was a quiet moment at the end of a season in which the Mustangs tied Fort Bragg for the North Central League I North championship, winning their last five league games in the process.
“They did everything we asked,” he said. “One of the things they did was to bring enthusiasm back to the town for basketball and they brought a commitment in the way they played. It was a good example for everyone coming up. They set a precedent for what we wanted to be.”
Arcata coach Eric Williams, not given to extra verbage, praised the Mustangs. “They did a great job. they worked real hard,” he said.
Playoff notes: In other first-round games on Wednesday, the only upset was No. 10 Berean Christian (14-12) beating No. 7 Justin-Siena 64-49. In other games, No. 1 Salesian routed Cloverdale 91-39, No. 8 McKinleyville beat John Swett 67-65, No. 4. St. Patrick/St. Vincent topped St. Helena 80-58, No. 2 St. Mary”s defeated Fort Bragg 62-44, No. 3 Cardinal Newman beat Lick Wilmerding 68-53, and No. 6 Marin Catholic knocked off Healdsburg 70-55 … Saturday”s quarterfinals pair Salesian and McKinleyville, St. Patrick/St. Vincent and Arcata, St. Mary”s and Berean Christian, and Cardinal Newman and Marin Catholic.
