FORT BRAGG >>Stuck in traffic for more than an hour while traveling to Fort Bragg made it an extra long night for Middletown High School varsity girls’ basketball head coach Anthony Bazzano and his Mustangs on Tuesday.
Not that they seemed to mind.
Ashlyn Welton scored 23 points to go along with 12 rebounds and four steals as Middletown rolled to a 52-30 North Central League I victory that sets the stage for a first-place showdown Friday night against Kelseyville in Middletown.
The Mustangs improved to 11-1 in league play and 19-5 overall with their victory. They’ll face a 12-0 and 21-3 Kelseyville squad that handed them their lone league loss to date, 55-42, back on Jan. 22 in Kelseyville. If the Knights win, they’re the undisputed league champions. If the Mustangs win, the two teams will be tied atop the standings going into their league finales next Tuesday – Kelseyville hosts winless St. Helena while Middletown visits Willits. In the event of a co-championship, the league’s postseason tournament next week in Ukiah will determine which team gets the automatic playoff berth into the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs. The other can apply for an at-large berth.
Bazzano acknowledged the importance of Friday’s contest but said the Mustangs, who have played in their fair share of big games the last couple of seasons, won’t approach it any differently.
“It’s a big basketball game but it’s still a basketball game and we’re not going to take a different approach getting ready for it,” Bazzano said. “Kelseyville is going to come in here ready to go but at least we’ll be playing at home.”
And that means not being stuck in traffic near Willits as the Mustangs were on Tuesday. Once in Fort Bragg, they had to wait for officials before the game could tip off.
“It was just a very long night,” Bazzano said.
Middletown blanked Fort Bragg 13-0 in the first quarter to take early control.
“The girls were pretty focused,” Bazzano said. “We had some (defensive) breakdowns in the second quarter that I wasn’t very happy about but we came back out in the third quarter and played well.”
Still holding a 13-point edge at halftime at 28-15, the Mustangs had a safer 43-24 advantage heading into the final period.
“Offensively we only scored 52 points but that doesn’t tell the tale of how well we played,” Bazzano said. “We were efficient with our ball movement. Other than the second quarter on defense we played a good game.”
Makenzi Smith had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Mustangs as well as two of the team’s five 3-pointers. Abby Aden had five points to go along with a team-best 13 rebounds.
