FORESTVILLE >> Middletown High School’s inside game put the hurt on the El Molino Lions on Wednesday night as Hanna Morris and Emily Santiago led the Mustangs to a 61-30 victory in non-league varsity girls basketball action at Forestville.
Morris finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Santiago, a freshman, added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Middletown (1-0) in its season debut. Kassi Agapoff joined her teammates in double figures with 11 points and Coral Pratt just missed with nine.
While the game ended up a one-sided affair, Middletown coach Anthony Bazzano was anything but pleased with his team’s play on defense in the first half. The Mustangs led just 27-23 at halftime.
“Offensively we played clean all night but we just weren’t very good on defense in the first half,” Bazzano said.
Middletown tightened things up in the second half, limiting the Lions to just seven points over the final two quarters.
The Mustangs also received some solid guard play off the bench from Pratt, Alyssa Hart and Abbey Brown, who were pressed into service when Middletown’s starters got into early foul trouble.
“They did a good job,” Bazzano said.
Ellie Bazzano’s six steals anchored a Middletown defense that finished with 19 steals overall.
“It was a good first game, a good first win,” Bazzano said. “We’ve got a lot of new pieces in new places.”
Middletown finished just 8-18 last season after a solid string of winning campaigns.
The Mustangs are off until Dec. 7 when they open play in the Antioch Tournament.
Middletown also won the junior varsity game against El Molino, 47-24, behind 15 points from Sophie Kucer and another seven from Jessica Pollack. Olivia Kucer and Alle Vierra added five points apiece.
“We’re a little raw in pretty much every aspect but we’re putting things together,” Middletown coach Andy Brown said. “We had outstanding defense in the fourth quarter that gave us some easy layups.”
Middletown returns to action Dec. 12 at Fairfield.
