HEALDSBURG >> After leading from 8-11 points most of the second half, the Middletown Mustangs suddenly found themselves in a real dogfight with the Bulldogs of San Rafael High School in the final 33 seconds of their consolation semifinal game Friday evening at the Redwood Empire Invitational in Healdsburg.
Middletown watched a four-point lead disappear in the blink of an eye but emerged with a 50-48 win when Zach Dubois’ nearly uncontested layup went through the net with no time left on the clock.
“The ball was in the air when the buzzer went off,” Middletown coach Jake Diehl said. “It was pretty exciting.”
The Mustangs (5-1) went the distance of the court in nine seconds against a full-court San Rafael press to score the winning basket. Luke Hoogendoorn inbounded the ball to Brody Breeden, who passed it to Cole Ketchum as the senior quickly worked his way up the sideline. Ketchum passed it back to Breeden who found Dubois as time was about to expire, according to Diehl.
Middletown had a 48-44 lead with 33 seconds remaining, but the Bulldogs made two technical free throws to cut it to 48-46. Awarded possession af the ball after the technical, San Rafael drew a two-shot shooting foul and made both shots to tie it.
Diehl said both the technical foul and the shooting foul were a bit suspect, but there was nothing he or the Mustangs could do about. Instead of losing their cool, they quickly regrouped and answered with a thrilling win.
Middletown had a 27-18 halftime lead and led 34-28 going to the fourth quarter.
Dubois’ 12 points led a balanced Middletown attack. Ketchum and Breeden finished with 10 points apiece, Lucas DaCosta had nine and Hoogendoorn seven.
“He played pretty well,” Diehl said of Dubois, who was pulled out of the game early on because he was struggling. “I think he was mad, but mad in a positive way.”
Middletown plays West County on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the consolation championship.
In other boys tournament action Friday:
Upper Lake 55, Round Valley 47
At Potter Valley, despite going 13-for-30 from the free-throw line, the Upper Lake Cougars did everything else right while turning back the Round Valley Warriors in the semifinals of the Potter Valley Tournament. The win moves Upper Lake (3-4) into Saturday’s championship game against an opponent to be determined. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
“First time we’ve played three good quarters,” Upper Lake head coach Miles Hayes said. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll play a full game here soon.”
Other than a 22-10 second quarter that lifted Round Valley into a 29-26 halftime lead, the Cougars did all the things Hayes was looking for, beginning with playing team offense and team defense.
Kyle Grandi’s double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds sparked the Cougars while Kai Young also had 18 points.
“Kyle had a good game and Darian (Loans Arrow) played great defense with three steals and two blocks,” Hayes said.
Loans Arrow also led the team with six assists.
“We shared the ball in the first quarter and the third quarters,” Hayes said of an Upper Lake offense that turned the ball over only eight times.
Upper Lake outscored Round Valley 20-12 in the third period to open up a 46-41 lead.
“We slowed things down and played great defense in the fourth quarter,” Hayes said. “If we would have hit our free throws, we would have won by 20.”
Sammy Avalos scored nine points in the win and Johnny Gonzales had eight. Starter Blaine Rhodes was limited in minutes because he wasn’t feeling well.
West County 50, Clear Lake 37
At Healdsburg, West County used a 17-8 fourth quarter to pull away from the Clear Lake Cardinals in the consolation semifinals of the Redwood Empire Invitational. The Cardinals (3-3) draw San Rafael Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in the seventh-place game.
“We struggled to put the ball in the basket,” Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said. “We don’t take a lot of bad shots, but we just aren’t getting the ball to fall right now. That’s something that can change, so we’ll just keep fighting until then.”
Clear Lake had a productive first quarter, outscoring West County 16-14, but the Cardinals scored just 21 points the rest of the way.
Clear Lake alternated between a 2-3 trapping zone and a 1-3-1 zone defense against West County (formerly Analy High School) and held its own on the defensive end, according to Damiata.
“I wanted to switch it up (after a 72-33 loss to Windsor in the opening round Wednesday) and I thought we played a lot better on defense,” Damiata said.
The game was tied 23-all at halftime and West County took a 33-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
Joey Soderquist led the Cardinals with 11 points, including two 3-pointers, Zane Robinson added nine points and Jack Daskam had seven points, seven rebounds and three steals. Robinson also had four steals and three rebounds.
Clear Lake received solid play off the bench from Miles Mattina, according to Damiata.
“He’s one of those guys who doesn’t know how much he’s going to play from game to game, a few minutes or a quarter, but he’s always ready,” Damiata said. “He gives us a lot of energy off the bench. He had three steals tonight and he scored on a driving layup. He plays well in his role of coming off the bench.”
JV basketball
Ukiah 63, Kelseyville 48
At Ukiah, the Kelseyville junior varsity boys basketball team dropped a non-league game to the Ukiah Wildcats.
Kyle Watkins led the Knights with 18 points and Ryder Leary had 12.
