LAKEPORT >> Thomas Cook and Andres Cervantes combined for 46 points as the red-hot Middletown Mustangs secured sole possession of second place in the final North Central League I varsity boys basketball standings with a 55-50 victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals on Thursday night in Lakeport.
Cook had yet another big scoring night for the Mustangs (11-3 league, 18-7 overall), who will apply for an at-large berth in next week’s North Coast Section Division IV playoffs. The field will be announced Sunday and first-round games are scheduled for Wednesday.
“I’m never really sure what to expect,” Middletown coach G.J. Rockwell said when asked where he thought the Mustangs would be seeded in the 16-team field. “I think we’re around 13 according to a poll I read online. We’ll see what happens.”
Clear Lake (10-4, 16-10) is also applying for an at-large berth, only in the Division V playoffs.
“Hopefully we’re seeded ahead of Cloverdale,” Clear Lake coach Scott De Leon said. “We beat them twice in league. After that, we’ll just see what happens.”
Middletown opened league play 1-2 but went 10-1 the rest of the way, including a victory over league champion Kelseyville (13-1), another Division IV team. Defense carried the Mustangs even on nights when the senior Cook (27 points) and the sophomore Cervantes (19 points) weren’t lighting up the scoreboard like a pinball machine.
“We held him to nine points in the first half (all in the first quarter), but he just erupted in the second half,” De Leon said of Cook, who went off for 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Clear Lake trailed 39-32 entering the final period but pulled even at one point. It wasn’t until Cook made the fourth and final of his 3-pointers with 1:16 left and Luke Holt sank two free throws with 16 seconds remaining that the Mustangs put the game away.
“That just broke our backs,” De Leon said of Cook’s 3-pointer. “You’ve got to give it to him, he’s a solid competitor.”
However, it was defense that set the tone for both teams much of the night.
“It was a defensive battle and that’s what you expect when you play Middletown,” De Leon said. “They sit in that 1-2-2 zone and they’re very physical. They also rebound the heck out of the ball. We put pressure on them the whole game and tried to get into their bench. (Jeffrey) Morris, their big guy, fouled out in the fourth quarter but we couldn’t take advantage.”
“Defense, rebounding and physicality are three things we can control and it’s kind of what we’re known for,” Rockwell said. “But Clear Lake can rebound too. They’re big and physical and they played great defense.
“It was a great game to be a part of,” Rockwell added. “It was exciting.”
Jake Elsa led the Cardinals with 14 points, Tanner Hutton added 12 and Rodrigo Lupercio had nine. Lucas Stahr also turned in a solid effort, according to De Leon, with eight points, 13 rebounds and five blocks.
“Early in the game he was controlling the key,” De Leon said.
In junior varsity action, Clear Lake defeated Middletown 59-48 to clinch no worse than a share of the league championship. Clear Lake (12-2, 22-3) was led by Evan Coakley’s 17 points while Treppa Marcks added a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Jason Johnson contributed nine points.
Middletown (11-3) could have clinched a share of the league title with a victory. Cloverdale also entered play Thursday at 11-2. The Eagles were home to face St. Helena.
“We kind of pulled away there at the end,” Clear Lake coach Phil Psalmonds said. “It was a six-point game most of the way. They (Mustangs) are tough. They have a good team.”
Will Aden’s 26 points led the Mustangs even though he missed a significant amount of the game in foul trouble. Jorge Fonseca added 10 points.
“We had a great year,” Hoogendoorn said. “I was starting four freshmen most of the year. We played well and gave ourselves a chance.”
In other boys action Thursday:
Kelseyville 81, Willits 24
At Kelseyville, the Kelseyville Knights wrapped up a 13-1 league campaign and a 22-4 regular season with an easy victory over the Willits Wolverines (0-14).
It was a stress-free finale for the Knights, who are the two-time NCL I champions. They also went 13-1 a year ago.
“That’s a special group of kids,” Kelseyville coach Scott Conrad said. “We had a great crowd and I appreciate the students and community that showed up on a Thursday night to recognize the boys and the girls. It was awesome.”
Despite missing a handful of shots early in the first quarter, the Knights went on to score 30 points in the period. They led 46-12 by halftime.
“With the emotion of senior night, you never know how things are going to go (early on),” Conrad said.
Trey Conrad carried the scoring load in the opening minutes when he collected 11 of his team-leading 19 points.
“Obviously we were able to play everybody,” Conrad said.
Eleven different Knights scored. Randy Pfann finished with 17 points while Cooper Goff, Kyle Ashworth and Vermontay Luia added nine points apiece. Robert Chavez had seven.
Up next for the Knights is a return trip to the Division IV playoffs, which haven’t been kind to Conrad in his previous four visits, all first-round losses.
“I’ve got my fingers crossed that we get a home game, but there’s a good chance we’ll be on the road,” Conrad said. “This is the toughest schedule I’ve ever played. We went 3-1 against the NBL (North Bay League). We competed in every single game. I don’t know what more we can do.”
In the JV game, Kelseyville beat Willits 46-26 behind 15 points from Cory Holt.
Lower Lake 49, Fort Bragg 47
At Fort Bragg, an up-and-down season for the Lower Lake Trojans ended on an up note as they edged the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
“Considering how we started the season, 1-7, to get double-digit wins isn’t too bad,” Lower Lake coach Tim Biasotti said. “We certainly grew as a team as the season went on.”
It was the final high school game for four-year starter Hokulani Wickard, who led the Trojans with 19 points. He finishes his Lower Lake career with 1,477 points, eighth on the all-time Lake County list and second among Trojan boys – only Vince Alderman (1,672) had more.
“He’s a great player and a great kid,” Biasotti said. “He’s super polite, he does everything you ask, he’s just a good kid. He’s always doing the right thing.”
In a 47-47 game with 30 seconds remaining, Lower Lake worked the ball down the floor before calling a timeout to set up a final play, which the Trojans (6-8, 10-16) ran to perfection as Wickard worked himself free under the basket and scored. Fort Bragg got the ball across halfcourt before calling a timeout of its own, but Lower Lake’s Charles Powell stole the inbounds pass to seal the victory.
Michael Taliaferro finished with 10 points in the win and Taylor Scott had six.
“It was a good note to go out on for our seniors,” Biasotti said.
Upper Lake 68, Tomales 32
At Upper Lake, setting their sights on an at-large berth in next week’s Division V playoffs, the Upper Lake Cougars manhandled the Tomales Braves to finish league play at 10-6 and the regular season at 18-8.
“I don’t know how 18 wins doesn’t get you in, but stranger things have happened,” Upper Lake coach Justin Dutcher said of the Division V tournament, which begins with first-round games Wednesday. The field will be released Sunday.
“These kids deserve to go to the playoffs,” Dutcher said of the Cougars, who close out the regular season at 10-6 in the NCL II standings and 18-8 overall.
Kenny Hodges led Upper Lake with 17 points, pushing him over 500 for the season.
Since it was the Cougars’ final regular-season home game, Upper Lake started its seniors.
“They got to play most of the way,” Dutcher said. “It was to nice to relax and have a good time.”
Upper Lake led 24-5 after one quarter and 38-12 at halftime. Colton Goetjen finished with 14 points and Hank Nevarez added 13. Among the Cougars’ seven 3-pointers was one by big man Andrew Brackett.
