LAKEPORT — Head coach Scott De Leon’s strategy of looking no farther ahead than the next game on the schedule has certainly paid off as the Clear Lake Cardinals inched closer to a second straight North Central League I championship with a no-doubt-about-it 74-46 victory over the Middletown Mustangs on Friday night in varsity boys basketball action at Lakeport.
Clear Lake, now 10-0 in league play and 19-3 overall, went undefeated in league play last season while posting a school-record 27 victories, and there’s nothing preventing from the Cardinals from matching or surpassing that total this season, just don’t expect De Leon to be looking ahead on the schedule. He’s not interested in who the opponent is two weeks from now, only the next game, and the Mustangs (5-5. 12-9) certainly had 100 percent of Clear Lake’s attention Friday night.
“It was the most complete basketball game we’ve played this season,” De Leon said. “We just knew we had to bring pressure at both ends of the floor. We did not do that when we played them the first time. They had us back on our heels a lot.”
Clear Lake met that goal and then some, according to De Leon.
While the offense scored at least 21 points in each of the first three quarter, the Clear Lake defense shut down Middletown in pretty much every way possible. The Cardinals led 46-24 at halftime and 67-35 through three quarters.
“We ran into a freaking buzz saw tonight,” Middletown head coach G.J. Rockwell said. “They had their transition game going, they were shooting from the outside, they killed us inside, they had their half-court game going … everything.”
While Clear Lake senior guard Darius Ford (17 points) was hitting five 3-pointers, the Cardinals’ inside game of Jaron Mertle and Tyler Cerini dominated the paint. Mertle’s line featured 23 points, 13 rebounds (nine offensive) and six blocks. Cerini added 10 points and 11 rebounds (five offensive).
“I felt like him (Mertle) and Cerini were the difference,” Rockwell said. “They got a lot of second shots.”
“One of our points of emphasis before the game was to control the paint at both ends of the floor and we did,” De Leon added.
On defense, Clear did a good job of neutralizing one of Middletown’s chief weapons, senior guard Andres Cervantes, who was held to one basket and one free throw through three quarters.
“(Travis) Howe and (Evan) Coakley were on him,” De Leon said. “They did a great job.”
Even with a 22-point lead at halftime, De Leon said he wanted the Cardinals to come out strong in the second half and assert themselves every bit as much as in the first half. They did.
The signature moment came on Cerini’s slam dunk in the third quarter that brought a packed house to its feet, according to De Leon.
“He just hammered it,” De Leon said.
Donovan Valadez (10 points) also scored in double figures for the Cardinals, who are on the road Tuesday against Lower Lake.
“We just needed one where we put it all together and tonight we did that,” De Leon said. “This will give us a little kick start for our final four (league) games.”
Will Chastain’s 15 points led the Mustangs, who were officially eliminated from the NCL I race. Sammy Cervantes and Jimmy Rockwell each finished with 10 points and Andres Cervantes ended up with nine.
Middletown is back on the road Tuesday at Fort Bragg.
De Leon said both teams were well represented by their fans.
“It was standing room only,” De Leon said. “We had fantastic support from our community.”
JV game
In Friday’s all-important junior varsity game, a battle for sole possession of first place atop the league’s JV standings, the Clear Lake Cardinals rallied in the second half to beat the Middletown Mustangs 61-54 and sweep the season series between the two clubs.
Ethan Maize powered Clear Lake with 24 points as the Cardinals improved to a league-best 9-1. The loss drops Middletown (8-2) into a tie for second with Cloverdale (8-2), a 46-44 winner at Kelseyville on Friday night.
“Ethan did an amazing job of getting to the basket,” Clear Lake coach Scott Persons said. “Our bigs dominated inside with their rebounding.”
Drake Smart added 13 points in the victory while Jack Daskam had 10.
“Clear Lake is a good squad, fundamentally sound and well coached,” Middletown coach Jon Hoogendoorn said. “Ethan Maize is a phenomenal player. Everything he wanted to do, he did.”
Clear Lake trailed 25-21 at halftime but had a 41-35 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Roberto Chaires’ 18 points led the Mustangs, Lucas DaCosta added 10, Cole Ketchum had 10 and Brody Breeden eight.
“They’re a real well-coached team and gave us all we could handle,” Persons said of the Mustangs, now 18-4 on the season.
Clear Lake improved to 18-3 overall.
