MIDDLETOWN — Beginning a four-game homestand to close out the North Central League I season, the Middletown Mustangs certainly were worth the price of admission on Wednesday night as they edged the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in a 79-74 overtime thriller at The Barn in Middletown.
The Mustangs (10-1 league, 17-5 overall) rallied from a 10-point deficit with 2:48 left in the fourth quarter to force overtime. In the extra period, Middletown scored the first 10 points to open up a 70-60 lead and then held off the Timberwolves (4-7) down the stretch as they crept back within four points.
Will Chastain scored all five of his points in the overtime, hitting three late free throws to seal the victory.
“Our guys fought through a ton of adversity,” Middletown head coach G.J. Rockwell said of the dramatic win, one that keeps the Mustangs within a game of league-leading Clear Lake (11-0). “It was a great team effort.”
While there were heroes everywhere for the Mustangs on the floor, there were even more in the stands, which were packed with screaming Middletown fans.
“It’s the loudest I’ve ever heard that place,” Rockwell said. “I know it really gave us a shot of adrenaline late in the game when we were making our comeback.”
Two 3-pointers by Jimmy Rockwell, who scored 15 of his team-leading 17 points between the fourth quarter and overtime, helped rally the Mustangs late in regulation. Middletown actually took a 60-59 lead on a Noah Brown layup with five seconds remaining. Fort Bragg quickly pushed the ball up the floor for a final shot and drew a shooting foul with three-tenths of a second left on the clock. The first free throw was good to tie the score but the second one rimmed out as time expired.
In the overtime, Rockwell opened the scoring with a 3-pointer to put Middletown ahead to stay. Chastain then came up with a steal and scored on a layup to make it 65-60. Another Rockwell basket and a three-point play by Will Aden, which was set up by another Chastain steal, made it 70-60.
Fort Bragg took a 50-42 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the first half, the Timberwolves built a 38-33 advantage. Guy Boyd scored 14 of his 16 points in the first two quarter to keep Middletown close.
“He kept us in the game,” Rockwell said.
Aden (16 points) and Andres Cervantes (15 points) joined Rockwell and Boyd in double figures.
In the junior varsity game, Middletown beat Fort Bragg 64-25 behind another big night from Jorge Fonseca, who followed up on a 20-point outing against Kelseyville on Monday with 15 against the Timberwolves.
In other boys basketball action Wednesday:
Clear Lake 64, Willits 40
At Willits, in a battle of league leader vs. cellar dweller, the Clear Lake Cardinals (11-0, 21-2) turned back a solid challenge from the Willits Wolverines (0-11) in the first half to register their 12th straight victory.
An 18-3 third quarter put the game out of reach as Clear Lake moved out to a 55-25 lead. The Wolverines did stick around for a half, according to Clear Lake head coach Scott De Leon.
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Willits. They came out and played hard, they had nothing to lose. They were competing with us.”
Returning from a two-game suspension, Darius Ford scored all of his team-leading 18 points in the first half, including five 3-pointers, as Clear Lake built a 37-22 halftime lead.
“Fourteen of those points came in the first quarter,” De Leon said. “He wanted to show people he was ready to go.”
In the third quarter, it was Josh Damiata and Rodrigo Lupercio combining to score 13 of Clear Lake’s 18 points. Damiata had seven and Lupercio six.
“Josh and Rodrigo went after it in that quarter,” De Leon said.
Willits played a 1-2-2 zone in an attempt to deny the Cardinals down low, but it left the perimter wide open for Ford early on.
“He totally took advantage,” De Leon said.
Lupercio (12 points) and Damiata (10 points) joined Ford in double figures. Tj Marcks added six points.
Clear Lake’s JVs also remained undefeated in league play while notching their 20th victory of the season with a 61-51-win over Willits. Treppa Marcks and Donovan Valadez led the way with 22 and 20 points, respectively.
St. Helena 58, Kelseyville 43
At St. Helena, St. Helena senior forward Nick Jeworowski scored 16 of his 27 points in the decisive second quarter as the Saints beat the Kelseyville Knights in NCL I action.
St. Helena (7-4) outscored Kelseyville 20-8 in the second quarter to open up a 31-19 halftime lead.
“They play a three-quarter court press and it worked to their advantage,” Kelseyville head coach Gus Schillinger said. “I thought we did a much better job in the third quarter.”
Kelseyville (1-10, 4-19) closed to six points by the end of the third quarter and crept to within four points of the Saints early in the fourth quarter before St. Helena pulled away with a 3-point barrage.
“St. Helena hit three straight 3s,” Schillinger said. “We weren’t able to hit our shots down the stretch.”
Bodhi Baird’s 14 points, including four 3-pointers, powered the Knights.
Kelseyville did win the JV game 61-44 behind a 33-point night from Cory Holt, who made seven 3-pointers.
