LAKEPORT — When last seen, Clear Lake was leading Middletown 30-26 at the half of the final regular-season game for both schools.
Shortly after that the Cardinals disappeared under an avalanche of 49 second-half Mustang points on Thursday night at the Clear Lake High School gym as Middletown prevailed 75-45, wrapping up the undisputed North Central League I championship in the process.
It was to the Cardinals” misfortune to be positioned as a team in the way of the Mustangs” determined run to a second straight league title. St. Helena and Kelseyville, both of whom once had title aspirations of their own, learned the consequences of getting in the Mustangs” way last week while Middletown was en route to nine straight wins to close out the season. As it turned out, every one of the wins was critical. A loss to Clear Lake would have meant sharing the title with Kelseyville (11-3) and most likely the Saints (10-3) as well (they have one game left).
“We lost early and the team made a decision that they would win nine in a row,” said Middletown coach G.J. Rockwell. “They knew that every game was the most important one they would play.”
Moreover, Rockwell said he was delighted by the way all 10 of his players figured into the winning equation.
On Thursday night, three Mustangs were in double figures. Coming off a game in which he scored seven three-pointers, shooting guard Luke Humphrey had four more treys on Thursday night, including a four-point play, and led Middletown with 19 points. Dellia had 14 and point guard Ben Pike had 11.
Cardinal forward Adrian Perez was tops for the game with 21.
“I think the post guys (the 6-foot-5 Dellia and 6-foot-7 Blaine Amos) played great for us tonight,” said Rockwell.
Dellia and Amos batted around the basketball like a volleyball, each sinking one shot after another, during a 27-point fourth quarter.
The Mustangs opened the fourth quarter with a 48-40 lead they established with a 10-3 run to end the third period.
At that point, things fell apart for the Cardinals as Middletown opened the final period with 11 unanswered points. The Cards also crumbled in what appeared to be a promising season. They were in the title hunt early in the league race and were only one game behind Middletown, Kelseyville and St. Helena, the three teams tied for the league lead, when they collapsed, losing their last six league games in a row to finish 5-9 and 12-13 overall.
How had the Mustangs managed to bust up a close game so uproariously?
“They put us in a position where we had to do something,” Rockwell said. Was he kidding? Who knows?
Rockwell, who has two championships to show for two years of varsity coaching experience, said he couldn”t compare this year”s league champion with the 2010-11 squad, which tied the Fort Bragg Timberwolves for first place in the former NCL I North.
“Every year is different,” he said. “But this was a great group of guys. Fragmented at the beginning and then coming together. This is a soulful team.”
