FORT BRAGG — Middletown High School’s defense limited the Fort Bragg Timberwolves to 16 points over the final three quarters as the Mustangs prevailed 46-28 in North Central League I varsity boys basketball action at Fort Bragg.
“They had a great crowd and it’s hard to play over there after that long trip,” Middletown head coach G.J. Rockwell said of a competitive first half.
Middletown (2-0 league, 6-2 overall) led only 26-21 at halftime, that after a 12-12 first quarter, but the Mustangs made some key adjustments before the second half got under way, according to Rockwell.
“The first half was a grinder, it was a very physical game,” Rockwell said.
Middletown opened up its lead with a 14-4 third quarter.
“We stuck to our gameplan and slowly built our lead,” Rockwell added.
The two teams combined for only nine points in the fourth quarter.
“I think both sides were just so tired by then,” Rockwell said.
Cole Ketchum led the Mustangs with 16 points, but Zach Dubois’ 13 points and 12 rebounds also provided Middletown with a huge lift.
“Cole played really well, but I’ve got to give credit to Zach. Those were hard-fought rebounds and he made some huge shots and huge plays when we needed it,” Rockwell said.
The play off the bench of Roberto Chaires and Wyatt Moore also figured prominently in the win, according to Rockwell.
“They did a lot of stuff that doesn’t show up in the box score,” Rockwell said. “Roberto gave me some good help and Wyatt played some great defensive minutes.”
Lucas DaCosta had seven points for Middletown and Brody Breeden added six more.
Middletown plays Forest Lake on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Stokes Tournament at Kelseyville.
In junior varsity action Tuesday, Middletown beat Fort Bragg 53-46 behind 11 points from Brandon Costlow and 10 each from Jackson Conley and Oscar Cruz.
Middletown had a 29-point lead after three quarters and head coach Jake Diehl emptied his bench to start the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves responded by keeping their starters in the game and pressing the Mustangs’ reserves. Fort Bragg closed to 10 points with a minute to play.
“I put my starters back in,” Diehl said.
Fort Bragg outscored Middletown 26-4 in the final period.
Middletown is 2-0 in league action. The Mustangs open play against Clear Lake in the Cloverdale JV Tournament on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
In other boys action Tuesday:
Kelseyville 60, Lower Lake 44
At Kelseyville, Luke Watkins went off for 30 points, 21 of them coming in the first half, as the Kelseyville Knights beat the Lower Lake Trojans in NCL I action.
Kelseyville (2-0, 3-3) has now won three in a row since starting the season 0-3.
“We’re getting better as we go and that’s where we want to be,” Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said.
Kelseyville led 18-10 after one quarter and 35-20 at halftime. Jake Keithly scored six of his eight points in the first quarter for the Knights.
“I thought Jake was going to be our guy tonight the way he started out,” Lopez said of Keithly’s two 3-pointers in the opening period. “But Luke got hot in the second quarter.”
Watkins went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line and hit a pair of 3-pointers. He also had nine rebounds.
“He had a great night,” Lopez said of the senior.
Manny Acosta added nine points in the win, including a 3-pointer.
“We’re 2-0 in league, but there’s still a long way to go,” Lopez said of his team’s NCL I schedule, which is 16 games long this season with the addition of Roseland University Prep of Santa Rosa to the league.
Lower Lake (0-2, 0-6) was led by Micah Gurule’s 10 points. Jett Guralas added nine and Marquis Jones had eight.
Lower Lake plays Ukiah on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Stokes Tournament at Kelseyville. The Knights have a first-round bye and will play the winner of Thursday’s first-round game between Upper Lake and Elsie Allen in the semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m.
In JV action Tuesday, Kelseyville’s Tyler Bryant scored 16 points and teammate Ryder Leary added 10 in a 52-32 win over Lower Lake.
Clear Lake 58, Willits 22
At Lakeport, Clear Lake outscored Willits 23-0 in the third quarter and 30-2 in the second half to win the league opener for both teams, one in which the visiting Wolverines suited up only six players.
Clear Lake (1-0, 4-4) also snapped a three-game losing streak with its 29th straight NCL I victory. The two-time defending league champions went 14-0 in both 2019 and 2020.
The Cardinals took a 28-20 lead into halftime before blowing the game wide open in the second half.
“It started on the defensive end,” Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said of the Cardinals’ big third quarter. “Our half-court trap caused a ton of turnovers and easy baskets. We need to get out in transition and run and our defense let us do that.”
Even Clear Lake’s half-court offense had a solid night.
“We’re not a good half-court team, but when we were in our half-court offense we were patient tonight,” said Damiata, who singled out the play of starters Zane Robinson and Ethan Maize as well as reserve Miles Mattina.
“Ethan and Zane both did really well,” he said of the two seniors. “Miles was solid off the bench and his defense frustrated them.”
Maize led the Cardinals with 13 points, Joey Soderquist added 12 and both Robinson and Jack Daskam finished with eight. Maddox Albaum scored his first four points of the season in his third game back from a football injury.
Clear Lake is off until the Fort Bragg Tournament on Dec. 28-30. The Cardinals don’t have another league game until Jan. 3 against St. Helena.
The Cardinals also won in JV action 48-40 behind 15 points from Raul Reyes and 14 from Dayne Wilson.
Clear Lake rallied from a 21-17 halftime deficit.
“We really picked it up in the second half,” Clear Lake coach Shady Cerezo said. “We had more energy on defense and turned it around.”
Clear Lake plays Middletown in the opening round of the Cloverdale JV Tournament on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
Calistoga 56, Upper Lake 48
At Calistoga, the Upper Lake Cougars went into the fourth quarter with a 38-37 lead but the Calistoga Wildcats played well down the stretch to win this NCL II game.
“We just ran out of gas,” Upper Lake head coach Miles Hayes said. “We made some bad decisions and it cost us.”
Calistoga outscored Upper Lake 19-10 in the fourth quarter, dropping the Cougars to 0-2 in league play and 4-5 overall.
“The kids played hard and never gave up,” said Hayes, who said a lot of close calls went against Upper Lake in the final minutes.
Calistoga led 18-10 after one quarter but Upper Lake pushed ahead 29-28 by halftime.
Kai Young and Kyle Grandi led the Cougars with 11 points apiece, Johnny Gozony had eight and Blaine Rhodes six.
Upper Lake returns to action Thursday at 1:30 p.m. against Elsie Allen in the opening round of the Stokes Tournament in Kelseyville.
In JV action, Upper Lake beat Calistoga 28-21 behind eight points from Connor Vogel. Adrian Avalos’ 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter sealed the victory, according to head coach Thomas Santana.
“It was the dagger,” Santana said of Avalos’ trey.
Upper Lake is 1-0 in league play and 1-1 overall.
