LAKEPORT — In a head-to-head series that has seen all kinds of excitement, tension and dramatic finishes in recent years, this North Central League I game wasn’t one of them. Playing some of their best basketball of the season, the Clear Lake Cardinals overwhelmed the Middletown Mustangs 71-46 in varsity boys basketball action nearly a year ago today in Lakeport.
With the start of the 2020-21 high school sports season delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lake County Record-Bee is taking a look back at the players and the teams who were making headlines during the 2019-20 seaso
Varsity boys basketball
Clear Lake improved to 10-0 in league action while mathematically eliminating Middletown (5-5) from the league race.
“It was the most complete basketball game we’ve played this season,” Clear Lake High School head coach Scott 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.”
While the offense scored at least 21 points in each of the first three quarters, 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 Lake 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.
“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. Sammy Cervantes and Jimmy Rockwell each finished with 10 points and Andres Cervantes ended up with nine.
JV game
In the all-important junior varsity game earlier in the evening, a battle for sole possession of first place atop the league’s junior varsity 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).
Roberto Chaires’ 18 points led the Mustangs, Lucas DaCosta added 10, Cole Ketchum had 10 and Brody Breeden eight.
Varsity girls basketball
Middletown 39, Clear Lake
At Lakeport, round two in league play between the Middletown and Clear Lake varsity girls basketball teams went to the Mustangs 39-32.
Middletown also won the first meeting, 44-32, at Middletown.
Paige Astley gave the Mustangs (9-1 league) a huge boost as she led the team with 16 points and 10 rebounds, including two clutch free throws down the stretch to keep the Cardinals (6-4) at bay.
“She’s been really solid the past few games,” Middletown head coach Andy Brown said. “Hopefully she can keep it up.”
Middletown’s defense clamped down hard on Clear Lake, allowing only 10 points in the first half.
“Middletown plays good defense,” Clear Lake head coach Phil Psalmonds said. “The story of the game was we had 20 turnovers and missed nine free throws.”
“We did force a lot of turnovers,” Brown added.
Clear Lake got as close as five points in the fourth quarter.
Abbey Brown had eight points for the Mustangs and Olivia Kucer added six.
For Clear Lake, Rylee Mix led the way with nine points and Sierra Bruch and Joy Ingalls each had seven.
In other varsity girls basketball action nearly a year ago today:
Cloverdale 50, Kelseyville 33
At Cloverdale, Tehya Bird didn’t reach 2,000 career points — she needed 34 entering play to hit the milestone — but the four-year varsity veteran is knocking on the door after finishing with 29 points in the Eagles’ win over the Kelseyville Knights.
The victory put Cloverdale at 10-0 in the league standings while Kelseyville fell to 5-5.
Allison Bryant drew the assignment to guard Bird and did all she could do, according to Kelseyville head coach Skyler Olsen, especially in the first half when the Knights went to the locker room leading 17-14.
The third quarter was a different story as the Eagles, fueled by three 3-pointers from Catherine Driver, outscored the Knights 23-8 to open up a 37-25 lead.
“We were doing great in the first half,” Olsen said. “But then No. 11 (Driver) hit those three 3s in the third quarter and that kind of killed it (momentum) for our girls.”
Bryant and Ryann Taylor finished with eight points apiece to lead Kelseyville and Sam Carter had seven. Bryant had two of the Knights’ three 3-pointers.
Lower Lake 72, Willits 69 (2 OT)
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans climbed back to .500 in league play with a marathon double-overtime victory over the Willits Wolverines.
Lower Lake (5-5) scored late in the fourth quarter to force overtime and late in the first extra period to force a second overtime. Aleisha Jones made a basket and two free throws in the second overtime to carry the Trojans to the victory.
Sam Hughes led the Trojans with 20 points and Sonja Desano added another 18, including four 3-pointers. Jones (11 points) and Shelby Sapeta (10 points) also finished in double digits and Margo Cordova just missed with eight points.
“Hughes just does everything we ask her to do,” Lower Lake head coach Shannon Tubbs said. “She’s been our most consistent player all year.”
Desano also came up big, according to Tubbs.
“And on both sides of the ball,” Tubbs said. “She brought a huge amount of energy to the game.”
Upper Lake 59, St. Vincent 46
At Upper Lake, taking a giant step toward a NCL II championship, the Upper Lake Cougars flexed their considerable basketball muscle with a solid home win over the St. Vincent Mustangs.
Upper Lake improved to 5-0 in league and 17-3 overall with a starting lineup that included two freshmen and two sophomores.
“We still have a lot of things to work on,” Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith said. “We want to continue improving.”
Alana Sanchez, a senior, scored nine of her team-high 22 points in the first quarter as the Cougars set the tone for the game by opening up a 22-12 first-quarter lead.
“She established herself in the paint early,” Smith said of Sanchez, the Cougars’ center who finished the night with a double-double as she also pulled down 10 rebounds.
Sanchez didn’t have the only double-double on the team. Freshman Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow added 13 points and 24 rebounds.
“We’ve had some slow starts, so it was nice to be able to go out and get some scoring early,” Smith said.
Upper Lake upped its lead to 34-19 by halftime.
In a game that turned even more physical in the second half as the frustrated Mustangs tried to work their way back into it, Smith said the Cougars did a good job keeping their cool.
“Our girls stayed very focused,” Smith said of some hard fouls directed Upper Lake’s way. “We did a good job of not reacting to it. We got to the free-throw line and took care of business.”
Loans Arrow made four free throws down the stretch and Zoey Petrie added three more to keep Upper Lake’s lead in double digits coming down the stretch. Petrie finished with 11 points.
Upper Lake point guard Maddy Young led the team with seven assists and seven steals and Madison Noble came off the bench to score four points and grab 12 rebounds.
“Her floor-general mentality keeps on impressing me,” Smith said of the freshman Young.
