MIDDLETOWN >> Two teams that have combined to win the last 10 junior varsity championships in the Record-Bee Hoop Classic boys’ basketball tournament squared off on Thursday night in the opening round and it was the Clear Lake Cardinals, thanks to some big-time fourth-quarter heroics from Brady McGuire, who emerged with a 57-43 win over the Middletown Mustangs at Middletown High School.
The final score wasn’t at all indicative of how this one played out. Clear Lake led early in the game by as many as 14 points but the grind-it-out Mustangs, who play tough man-to-man defense, reeled the Cardinals back in during the second half and trailed only 39-35 after Trey O’Neill buried a 3-pointer with a little more than three minutes remaining in the game.
McGuire, who scored all 19 of his points in the second half and 12 of those in the fourth quarter, answered the challenge by knocking down a 3-pointer of his own with 2:43 left. Moments later he scored on a driving layup, drew the foul and made the free-throw to complete the three-point play and give the Cardinals a 45-36 lead.
Middletown closed to six points three times down the stretch but the Cardinals maintained their cool and made 11 of 14 free throws in the final 83 seconds to nail down the victory, the team’s eighth in as many games this season, and with almost every one featuring a different leading scorer. This time it was McGuire.
The Mustangs opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to cut Clear Lake’s lead to 31-27.
Colton Hall’s 12 points paced Middletown while teammates Nash Field and O’Neill finished with 11 and 10, respectively.
Austin Davis joined McGuire in double digits for Clear Lake with 13 points and T.J. Marcks had eight.
In the early JV game:
K’ville 44, Lower Lake 41
In a game where the Kelseyville Knights and Lower Lake Trojans spent the first three-plus quarters separated by three or fewer points, the Knights emerged with the win in Hoop Classic first-round action.
It was a 31-all game entering the final period when the Knights finally pulled away with an 8-0 run. Held scoreless until the 4:10 mark of the final period, Lower Lake rallied to 39-37 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Guido Boyd. It was still a two-point game — 43-41 — with 26 seconds remaining when Kelseyville’s Johnny Mendonca was fouled and sent to the free-throw line with the Knights in the double bonus. He missed his first shot but hit the second to push Lower Lake’s lead to 44-41.
The Trojans missed two shots in the final seconds. After Kelseyville turned the ball over with only .3 seconds remaining, Lower Lake had one last chance but a desperation 3-pointer from beyond half court was well off the mark as the buzzer sounded.
Randy Pfann led the Knights with 12 points and Mendonca finished with 10. Jermaine Watson’s 14 points led the Trojans and Taylor Scott had seven.
