LAKEPORT — Amber Hart scored five of Middletown”s eight points in the second overtime and the Mustangs, after nearly winning the game in regulation, knocked off the Clear Lake Cardinals 55-51 in a North Central League I girls” basketball marathon on Tuesday night in Lakeport.
Hart sank a 3-pointer and two free throws in the second extra period, part of a 14-point effort that tied her with teammate Rachel Sutton for scoring honors. Jenny Hoefer also hit a 3-pointer in the second overtime.
Middletown (2-5 league, 5-13 overall) led 32-22 at halftime and 39-29 after three quarters before Clear Lake (2-5, 5-8) rallied in the final period. Morgan Psalmonds” long 3-pointer with four seconds left tied the score at 43.
“Not again,” Middle-town coach Tony Hart said of his reaction to Psalmonds” trey.
Middletown lost 41-40 to Cloverdale on Friday night in Middletown on a long 3-pointer by Taylor Spaulding in the final seconds and Psalmonods” shot was of similar length.
“She was a couple of feet behind the line (3-point arc),” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds. “The funny thing is we practiced that exact play yesterday (Monday) in practice,” Reynolds said. “I told her she was going to make it. It had a nice big arc to it and touched the bottom of the net.”
Both teams scored four points in the first overtime before Middletown outscored Clear Lake 8-4 in the second overtime.
“I was very happy for them,” Hart said of his players. “We needed that.”
“We had a nice comeback,” Reynolds said of the fourth quarter, “but our turnovers kind of killed us (in the overtimes).”
Vanessa Tullos” 15 points powered the Cardinals. Psalmonds finished with 11, Jessica Asbury had eight and Kelcie Reynolds seven.
