
KELSEYVILLE >> When the Kelseyville Knights crept to within striking range of the Middletown Mustangs on Friday night, Noah Brown took care of business.
Brown, a sophomore guard for Middletown, answered every Kelseyville challenge with a basket, many times with drives to the hoop including one that produced a foul and a three-point play, as the Mustangs defeated the Knights 56-36 on Friday during second-round junior varsity action at the 23rd annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic in Kelseyville.
Brown’s 20-point effort, which led all scorers, improved Middletown’s tournament record to 2-0 and puts the Mustangs on the brink of their seventh Hoop Classic championship. Brown leads all players in the JV division with 36 points through two games.
In the early JV game on Friday, the Clear Lake Cardinals evened their tournament record at 1-1 with a 45-38 victory over Lower Lake, a game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds. Preston Jones led Clear Lake with 17 points, including four 3-pointers, while teammate Seth Mix worked the paint for 15 points. Guido Boyd’s 14 points paced Lower Lake.
M’town vs. K’ville
Through the final margin of difference was 20 points, the Knights cut a 15-point deficit to start the second half to seven points late in the third quarter. Brown made sure the game didn’t get any more interesting than that. Eleven of his 20 points came within a span from midway through the third quarter to early in the fourth. Every time the Knights took a step forward, Brown stepped front and center to squash their momentum.
The Cervantes brothers – Andres and Samuel – combined for another 21 points in the win. Victor Guzman added six more.
Kelseyville fell behind early in this one and trailed 15-6 after a rough first quarter against Middletown’s backcourt pressure. The Mustangs extended their lead to 26-11 by halftime.
Robert Chavez finished with a team-best 11 points for Kelseyville while Joey Mendonca added eight and Rafael Perez had six.
Kelseyville plays Clear Lake in the late JV game today. The winner clinches second place.
Lower Lake vs. Clear Lake
Clear Lake trailed much of the way against Lower Lake although that deficit was never more than seven points. The lead changed hands twice in the third quarter and a final time late in the fourth period when Josh Damiata sank two free throws with 1:37 remaining to put Clear Lake in front 39-38.
Lower Lake missed three shots on its next possession, two of them from right underneath the basket, and then watched the game slip away.
Jones made one of two free throws for Clear Lake with 1:18 left before delivering the final blow by hitting his fourth 3-pointer of the game to make it 43-38 with 31.1 seconds to go. Whatever chance Lower Lake had to rally in those final seconds ended with a turnover. The Trojans were forced to foul and Jones struck again by knocking down two free throws with only seconds left.
The Trojans held a 15-10 lead after one quarter and a 28-26 advantage at halftime.
While Jones hurt the Trojans from the perimeter, it was Mix who did a lot of the dirty work down low between hitting shots and working the boards for rebounds.
Darian James and Keyshawn Bridges each had seven points for Lower Lake.