LAKE COUNTY — A slow start for the Middletown High School varsity girls basketball team didn’t dampen the Mustangs’ enthusiasm during what would be a great season for first-year coach Andy Brown’s squad.
Until the COVID-19-delayed 2020-21 sports season starts, the Lake County Record-Bee will take a look back at the local sports happenings of a year ago and the teams and athletes who were making the headlines.
Girls basketball
With a significant portion of his squad still playing soccer at the start of the 2019-20 basketball season, Brown said a 43-26 loss to East Nicolaus in the team’s season opener at Middletown was no cause for concern.
Several top Mustangs were key players on the school’s section-championship soccer squad in 2019, so they hadn’t had much court time before the East Nicolaus game. The team’s rustiness was quite apparent on offense as Middletown appeared out of sync. The Mustangs also shot poorly from the field in the first three quarters, falling behind 34-10.
“Literally half my team played on the championship team and it was worth it,” Brown said.
Sophie Kucer, Middletown’s MVP during its championship soccer run, led the Mustangs with eight points while another soccer star, Paige Astley, added six.
Better days were in store for the Mustangs once they got their basketball legs beneath them. They went on to post a 16-10 overall record, including a second-place finish (11-3) in the North Central League I standings behind Cloverdale (13-1). They reached the ultra-competitive North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs, losing to Marin Catholic in a first-round game.
Clear Lake
Hosting a playoff-hardened Willows squad (defending Division 4 champ in the Northern Section), the young Clear Lake varsity girls pushed the Honkers to the limit in a 40-34 loss.
Clear Lake double-teamed Willows star Megan Weinrich everywhere she went on the court, but the 5-foot-9 senior guard still finished with 15 points, nearly 20 below her career scoring average.
“She’s an absolute stud,” Clear Lake coach Phil Psalmonds said of Weinrich, who hit a pair of 3-pointers a good 4 feet behind the arc.
Clear Lake was as close as 27-24 after three quarters.
Joy Ingalls led Clear Lake with 12 points, seven rebound and three steals, Sydney Howe added seven points, and Rylee Mix contributed six points, five steals and four rebounds.
