KELSEYVILLE >>For a team looking for a little scoring punch, the Middletown Mustangs found it and then some on Thursday against Foresthill in the opening round of the Stokes Tournament at Kelseyville High School.
Luke Holt, who recently joined the team after Middletown’s extended run in the North Coast Section football playoffs, erupted for a season-best 24 points, including three 3-pointers, as the Mustangs (6-2) defeated Forest Hill 67-48 to easily advance into Friday’s winner’s semifinal round. They’ll play Piedmont at 6 p.m.
Holt wasted absolutely no time getting started against Forest Hill, scoring 10 points in the first quarter as Middletown took a commanding 21-3 lead. He added another eight points in the third quarter as the Mustangs pushed their advantage to 54-28.
“He just got himself going,” Middletown coach G.J. Rockwell said. “His hustling was paramount. He was all over the place tonight. I kind of saw it coming in warmups … he had his stroke going, but six to eight of his points were on pure hustle.”
Thomas Cook added 17 points and Jimmy Rockwell had nine, all on 3-pointers.
“We played good defense, we were disciplined on our rotations, and our offense was feeding off our defense,” Rockwell said.
Middletown has won three straight.
Skyler Tuttle led the Wildfires with 18 points and Jaycie Zapata added 14. Foresthill plays Lower Lake Friday at 2 p.m. in the consolation semifinals, with the game taking place at Lower Lake High School instead of Kelseyville.
In other Stokes Tournament first-round boys games:
Elsie Allen 71, Upper Lake 46
Upper Lake put up a good fight for a half, but the Elsie Allen Lobos of Santa Rosa ran away from the Cougars in the second half to win their first-round game at the Stokes Tournament.
It was the first loss of the season for Upper Lake (7-1) and the first win for Elsie Allen (1-5). Upper Lake draws Calistoga in a consolation semifinal game Friday at 3:30 p.m.
“I remember thinking at halftime that we may be able to get one from these guys, but we opened the second half with three straight turnovers and they scored after each one, including two 3-pointers,” Upper Lake coach Justin Dutcher said. “After that the snowball was rolling and we couldn’t stop it.”
Elsie Allen increased a 33-27 halftime lead to 54-35 after three quarters.
Kenny Hodges was the only Upper Lake player to reach double digits in scoring with 19 points. Colton Goetjen added seven points.
Elsie Allen had three players score in double figures, led by 20 points from Nik Burns, 17 from Isiah Garza and 10 from Vincent Martinez.
The Lobos draw Kelseyville Friday at 12:30 p.m. in the winner’s semifinals.
Piedmont 54, Lower Lake 34
Limited to three points in the second quarter – those coming on a Hokulani Wickard 3-pointer – the Lower Lake Trojans fell to the Piedmont Highlanders in the opening round of the Stokes Tournament, dropping their season record to 1-7.
“We played good basketball for three of the four quarters,” Lower Lake coach Tim Biasotti said. “We always have a quarter like that for some reason.”
The Trojans played the Highlanders on equal terms in the first quarter, which ended in a 11-11 tie, but their offense disappeared in the second period. Piedmont took advantage by building a 26-14 halftime lead.
“We’ve gotta score,” Biasotti said of the struggles of the Lower Lake offense so far this preaseason. “We’ve played far better than our record indicates, but seven losses is still seven losses.”
Wickard’s 17 points paced the Trojans and Elijah Hernandez had six. For the Highlanders, Josh Eidam led a balanced attack with 13 points, Luke Barrett added 12 and Ben Barrett had 11.
Lower Lake was scheduled to play Foresthill in a consolation semifinal game Friday at 9:30 a.m. in Kelseyville, but to accommodate the Trojans’ finals schedule, the game has been moved to Lower Lake’s new gym at 2 p.m.
“We couldn’t schedule the game for any other time (at Kelseyville), so we moved it down here,” Biasotti said. “We didn’t want to forfeit and they (Foresthill) didn’t want a forfeit win. They wanted to play the game just like we did.”
Piedmont plays Middletown in the winner’s semifinals Friday at 6 p.m.
Kelseyville 80, Calistoga 23
A refocused Kelseyville squad outscored Calistoga 30-2 in the third quarter to break open this first-round game at the Stokes Tournament.
While the Knights (4-1) had a comfortable 33-19 halftime lead, Kelseyville coach Scott Conrad said he wasn’t happy with the intensity of his team’s play, especially on defense.
“We left them open for some outside shots and Calistoga has some shooters and they made them,” Conrad said. “I wasn’t really thrilled with that. We came around in that third quarter.”
Randy Pfann’s 18 points, including four 3-pointers, led the Knights. Scott Sanchez also had a productive night with 11 points and 14 rebounds, Trey Conrad added 12 points and eight assists, and Jon Vanderwall finished with 11 rebounds and six points.
Ten of Kelseyville’s 11 players reached the scoring column.
The Knights face Elsie Allen in the winner’s semifinal round Friday at 12:30 p.m.
