LAKEPORT >> Clear Lake’s defense shut down junior center Ashlyn Welton, but on a Thursday night when Middletown simply was not going to be denied, three of Welton’s teammes picked up the slack and then some while powering the Mustangs to a 58-50 win over the Cardinals and a piece of the North Central League I varsity girls’ basketball championship at Lakeport.
Middletown (11-1 league, 18-6 overall) guaranteed itself no worse than a share of the league title with the win but head coach Anthony Bazzano said the celebration can wait until after the Mustangs’ final two league games — Tuesday at Lower Lake, where they can clinch the outright championship with a victory, and next Thursday in Willits.
“We’ve got to stay focused on the task in front of us,” Bazzano said. “We’ve still got two games left and they’re more important than the 24 that are behind us.”
Clear Lake (6-6, 10-13) used a box-and-one defense to slow down Welton, who didn’t score the first two of her six points until late in the third quarter. Middletown wasn’t exactly surprised by the strategy, according to Bazzano.
“We’ve seen that all season long but they did do it a little bit better than others,” Bazzano said of the Cardinals.
“I’ve got ballplayers out there who can take care of things and they did,” Bazzano added.
Senior guard Nicole Corsetti was at the top of that list as she finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Sophomore post Abby Aden led the Mustangs with 15 points while senior guard Katie Depp added 14.
Even Welton contributed. Although held to six points, she still finished with 14 rebounds, two steals and a block.
“We tried to take her (Welton) out of the picture but we didn’t cover the other shooters as well as we wanted to,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said. “Corsetti had a pretty good game and surprised us a little bit. She did a lot of nice things for them.”
Trailing 38-33 after three quarters, the Cardinals fell behind by as many as 16 points in the final period before putting on a late run to close the gap.
“They played really, really well and right to the end,” Reynolds said of his players. “I was happy with them.”
Taylor Helms led the Cardinals with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and Jasmine Rice added 12 points with a pair of treys.
Even with Welton unable to break the scoring column in the first half, Middletown scored 19 points in the second quarter to open up a 28-19 halftime lead.
The only thing Bazzano said he didn’t like about his team’s performance was the number of points the Mustangs surrendered.
“We haven’t given up 50 points in a long time,” he said.
Middletown has allowed its opponents 50 or more points only four times this season, including Thursday’s game. The last time the Mustangs gave up 50 or more came in a 65-61 non-league loss to Oceana on Dec. 27 at Middletown. And you have to go all the way back to a Dec. 5 game against Whitney in the Maria Carrillo Tournament in Santa Rosa to find the last time the Mustangs gave up 50 or more points on the road.
