MIDDLETOWN >> The Middletown Mustangs officially joined the party on Tuesday night by beating the visiting Clear Lake Cardinals 52-39 in a North Central League I varsity boys basketball game during which Middletown’s starters scored every single point.
Middletown’s win combined with Cloverdale’s 50-47 victory over St. Helena on Tuesday night creates a three-way logjam for second place in the league standings — Clear Lake, Middletown and Cloverdale are all tied at 5-2 as they chase undefeated Kelseyville (7-0).
And just to add a little more fuel to the fire, those four teams interlock on Friday night when the second half of the league schedule opens. Clear Lake hosts Kelseyville while Middletown hosts Cloverdale.
In other action Tuesday, Lower Lake routed Fort Bragg 73-46 to snap a four-game league losing streak while Upper Lake closed out the first half of its NCL II schedule with a 70-29 victory over Tomales, snapping a two-game league skid.
Clear Lake 52, Middletown 39
At Middletown, with a rotation of only eight players, Middletown’s five starters spent nearly the entire game on the floor and one of them — Trey O’Neill — was far below 100 percent as he is battling flu-like symptoms.
“They stayed strong and played real good defense,” Middletown coach G.J. Rockwell said of starters Andres Cervantes (14 points), Thomas Cook (13 points), Jeff Morris (13 points), Luke Holt (11 points) and O’Neill.
“Jeff Morris and Andres played well in the box battling their big guys,” Rockwell said.
Clear Lake (5-2, 11-8) also was at less than full strength with the absence of center Lucas Stahr (flu).
“And we sure could have used him, especially on the offensive boards,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said.
The Cardinals had a miserable night from the field and didn’t get many second chances thanks to Middletown’s defense. Clear Lake shot just 31 percent as a team overall and only 20 percent (6-for-30) from behind the 3-point line.
“It was a back-and-forth, punch-you-in-the-mouth kind of game,” Rockwell said. “It was a fun game to watch and a fun game to coach.”
Middletown (5-2, 12-6) didn’t gain any real separation until the fourth quarter, outscoring Clear Lake 16-7 in the final period.
“We played some real good defense into the fourth quarter and capitalized on some of our stops,” Rockwell said. “We had some pretty big stops on defense.”
“We had lots of opportunities,” De Leon added.
Darius Ford’s 14 points, including four 3-pointers, paced the Cardinals. Tanner Hutton added 12 points.
In JV action, Clear Lake (6-1) rallied from a 14-5 deficit after one quarter to beat Middletown 53-41.
Will Aden and Jorge Fonseca scored 12 points apiece to lead the Mustangs (5-2).
“We’re right where we want to be,” Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn said. “For as young as we are, to be 5-2 is pretty impressive.”
Kelseyville 63, Willits 24
At Willits, after struggling to beat the Willits Wolverines a year ago in Willits, the defending NCL I champions made sure that wouldn’t be a problem this year, according to Kelseyville coach Scott Conrad.
“I think we were tied 14-14 at the half last year,” Conrad said. “My kids did a great job of coming out strong.”
Kelseyville (7-0, 16-3) led 23-2 after one quarter and 52-7 by halftime. Only reserves played in the second half for the Knights.
Trey Conrad led Kelseyville with 17 points while Randy Pfann added 13 and Robert Chavez eight.
“The effort was there tonight,” Conrad said.
Kelseyville opens the second half of league play with a two-game lead over Clear Lake, Cloverdale and Middletown, but Conrad said the Knights are taking absolutely nothing for granted as they face, in order, Clear Lake, Cloverdale and Middletown – all on the road – in their next three games.
“We feel good about that (two-game) cushion, but we’re still taking them one at a time,” Conrad said. “We’ve got a lot of work left to do.” The Knights also won the JV game, beating Willits 47-40 behind 11 points from Bodhi Baird and seven apiece from Cory Holt, Diego Silva and Chase Larsen.
Lower Lake 73, Fort Bragg 46
At Lower Lake, snapping a four-game losing streak to end the first half of league play, the Lower Lake Trojans overwhelmed the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
“We talked about our roles and our expectations,” Lower Lake coach Tim Biasotti said of a players meeting on Monday. “That kind of effort was nice to see after a couple of rough games. Moving forward, this could be something to build off of.”
Lower Lake (3-4, 7-12) outscored Fort Bragg (1-6), a team that has pushed many of the league’s top clubs to the limit this season, in every quarter. The Trojans led 18-12 after the opening period and 34-22 by halftime. And that lead continued to increase as the second half unfolded.
Hokulani Wickard led a balanced attack with 19 points, Izzac Carver (12 points) and Elijah Hernandez (11 points) joined him in double digits, and Taylor Scott finished with nine.
The Trojans also overcame the loss of starting guard Darian James to a turned ankle in the first quarter.
“He rolled it,” Biasotti said. “Hopefully we get him back soon.”
Lower Lake won the JV game 50-39. Scoring wasn’t reported.
Upper Lake 70, Tomales 29
At Tomales, Kenny Hodges scored most of his team-leading 25 points in the first half as the Upper Lake Cougars rolled past the Tomales Braves in NCL II action. Colton Goetjen added 11 points and 14 rebounds and Dylan Armstrong had nine points for the Cougars, who improved to 5-3 in the league standings and 13-5 overall.
Upper Lake coach Justin Dutcher said he had a heart-to-heart talk with his players prior to the start of play.
“I kind of challenged them before the game,” he said. “I asked them if they were going to fight (the rest of the way in league play) or not.”
Upper Lake responded with a 20-3 first quarter and 37-12 first half.
“We played pretty darn well,” Dutcher said. “We were swinging the ball around and knocking down shots.”
Andrew Brackett had six points and 10 rebounds for Upper Lake. Hank Nevarez added seven points and five assists while Ray Moran led the Cougars with seven assists.
Upper Lake is home Thursday to play Roseland Collegiate Prep of Santa Rosa.
The Cougars also won the JV game. The score wasn’t reported.
