ARBUCKLE >> Thomas Cook’s 16 points and another 12 from Ricardo Chaires powered the Middletown High School varsity boys basketball team to a 53-37 win over Live Oak in the opening round of the Pierce Tournament on Wednesday night in Arbuckle.
“We’re a real small squad but we’re fast and play great defense,” Middletown coach G.J. Rockwell said.
Middletown plays tournament host Pierce tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the winner’s semifinals.
Cook and Chaires led a balanced Middletown attack that also featured nine points from Beckett Hoage and six from Isaiah Moore. Cook sank four of the team’s five 3-point field goals.
Middletown (1-0) gradually pulled away from Live Oak. It was 13-9 after one quarter, 26-18 at the half and 43-29 through three quarters.
As usual, Middletown got off to late start because of the school’s involvement in the football playoffs. One of their key players from a year ago, Gabe Guzman, is also still recovering from an injury although he did play a few minutes on Wednesday night.
“We’re not at full strength yet,” Rockwell said.
In the tournament’s junior varsity boys bracket, Middletown beat Biggs 62-16 behined 18 points from Andres Cervantes and 13 from twin brother Samuel Cervantes. Jimmy Rockwell added 10 more. All three players are freshmen.
“We have a lot of pieces between the six sophomore we have back and the new guys,” Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn said. “Those twins are probably the best incoming kids I’ve ever seen.”
While he can’t predict the future in terms of injuries or players who may be promoted to the varsity squad, Hoogendoorn said his 2016-17 team is pretty solid.
“If everything stays in place it’s gonna be a very, very strong season,” Hoogendoorn added.
The Middletown JVs face East Nicolaus today at 1:30 p.m. in the winner’s semifinal round.
