LAKE COUNTY >> The Middletown Mustangs can clinch no worse than a tie for the North Central League I varsity girls’ basketball championship with a victory tonight in Lakeport against the Clear Lake Cardinals.
Middletown (10-1, 17-6) is riding an eight-game winning streak and playing some of its best basketball of the season heading into tonight’s game against a Clear Lake squad that is 6-5 in league and 10-12 overall.
Now in his second season with the varsity squad after a successful stint as the school’s junior varsity coach, Middletown’s Anthony Bazzano is making the most out of a tall and physical front line that features arguably the county’s top player in Ashlyn Welton, who is averaging 15.8 points a game. The junior is good for a double-double nearly every time out and is also the Mustangs’ top rebounder and shot blocker.
The Mustangs are also working on developing a reliable perimeter game and Bazzano is impressed with the development so far or sophomore Makenzi Smith, a 5-foot-10 guard who scored 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers in a 49-34 victory over Cloverdale on Tuesday night in Middletown.
“She’s gaining confidence on the perimeter,” Bazzano said of Smith, who led Middletown’s JVs to an undefeated season (25-0) in 2013-14. “She’s going to be a real good one.”
If the Mustangs get past the Cardinals and clinch a tie for the league championship, their first opportunity to claim the outright title will be Tuesday in Lower Lake against a young Trojans squad (5-6) that is playing well of late — four wins in its last five games. Middletown closes out the regular season on Feb. 19 in Willits. The North Coast Section Division IV playoffs follow and the Mustangs stand a very good chance of securing a first-round home game.
Middletown is also rapidly closing in on its win total of last season. The Mustangs went 10-4 in league (tied for second) and 19-8 overall in Bazzano’s rookie campaign in 2013-14.
While the Lady ‘Stangs are taking aim on a league championship, Cloverdale (10-1) pretty much has things wrapped up in the NCL I boys’ race. The Eagles need win only two of their remaining three games to clinch the outright title, or only once if Willits (8-3) drops one of its final three.
Kelseyville (7-4) is on the brink of elimination after dropping a 62-54 decision to Clear Lake (5-6) on Tuesday night in Kelseyville.
The Cardinals, pretty much given up for dead after opening league with five straight losses, have been the story of the second half of the NCL I race. They’ve posted four straight victories and five wins in their last six. In fact, their only loss in that span was to Cloverdale.
Clear Lake closes its league schedule with games against Middletown (5-6) today in Middletown, Fort Bragg (Tuesday at Fort Bragg) and Cloverdale (Feb. 19 in Cloverdale). The North Coast Section playoffs follow and the Cardinals, 10-13 overall, move down into Division V this season and figure to be a force after bumping heads with nothing but Division IV schools in league play.
“These kids could have packed it in and quit after we started 0-5,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said. “They didn’t. They kept working hard and they never gave up. I couldn’t be any prouder of them.”
Once mired in the league cellar, the Cardinals are now tied with Middletown for fourth place.
