CLOVERDALE — G.J. Rockwell said he hardly gave Cloverdale’s 20-game win streak to start the season a thought after his Middletown Mustangs ended that streak with a heart-pounding 55-53 victory over the Eagles before a nearly empty house Friday night in Cloverdale.
“Quite honestly my focus wasn’t on that,” Middletown’s head coach said. “I was feeling really good for my guys because of how much work they’ve put in to get to this point. I was thinking more about how my guys persevered through everything we’ve been though (injuries and COVID-19 postponements) to get here.”
Middletown (7-1 league, 15-3) now finds itself in a tie with Cloverdale (10-1, 20-1) in the North Central League I loss column although the Mustangs have played three fewer league games than the Eagles, games they’ll be trying to make up in the final eight days of the regular season, which ends Feb. 12. One of those takes place Saturday when Middletown hosts Willits in a four-game set beginning at 1 p.m. The Mustangs also play at Lower Lake on Monday and at Willits on Tuesday.
“We’ve got a lot of basketball left to play,” Rockwell said after watching his Mustangs avenge a 49-45 loss to Cloverdale on Jan. 13 in Middletown. “We’re going to be playing almost every day next week.”
Not many were able to witness Middletown’s down-to-the-wire win in person as each team had only 25 fans at the game because of Sonoma County’s COVID-19 regulations governing indoor sporting events.
“We had to submit a list of 25 fans and they submitted a list of 25,” Rockwell said. “It was still pretty loud.”
In a game that featured numerous lead changes and momentum swings, Middletown held a 55-53 lead with 2.1 seconds left when Cloverdale’s Dylan Muller went to the free-throw line for a one-and-one. He missed the first shot and a wild scrambled ensued for the rebound, with Middletown’s Luke Hoogendoorn finally coming away with the ball as time ran out.
“It was a big sigh of relief,” Rockwell said of his reaction to Muller’s miss. “We were already talking about what we were going to do if he made both shots. He’s a good player.”
Middletown went up 55-50 on Lucas DaCosta’s clutch basket with 18 seconds left, but Cloverdale answered with a 3-pointer. The Mustangs went to the line to shoot a one-and-one with 13 seconds remaining only to miss the front end. Cloverdale grabbed the rebound as the clock wound down and Muller was eventually fouled.
“It was a hell of a game, back and forth,” Rockwell said.
Middletown led by as many as 10 at one point before Cloverdale battled back to take the lead.
The Mustangs had a number of heroes in the win, according to Rockwell. Brody Breeden led the way with 19 points and DaCosta added 13.
“DaCosta played a great game,” Rockwell said. “We had some guys on the bench also play really well. Our two Wyatts (Grothe and Moore) did a great job.”
Rockwell said both teams battled hard the entire way.
“Our kids and their kids have a mutual respect for each other,” Rockwell said.
Cloverdale won the junior varsity game 71-63 to complete a two-game league sweep of Middletown.
“They shot the heck out of the ball,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said of the Eagles, who used a big 22-12 third quarter to pull away from the Mustangs. “They didn’t miss. I think they had eight 3s (in the game).”
“That third quarter murdered us, just murdered us,” Diehl said. “They starting pushing the ball at us and they were getting second shots, we were lazy on the boards. It was a tough loss.”
Cooper Johnson led a balanced Middletown attack with 17 points while Oscar Cruz added 15 points and Brandon Costlow and Dom Williams each had eight.
Middletown’s teams are home Saturday to play Willits and on the road Monday against Lower Lake and Tuesday against Willits.
In other boys action Friday:
Kelseyville 48, Clear Lake 42
At Kelseyville, Clear Lake’s 39-32 lead after three quarters didn’t hold up as the Kelseyville Knights rallied to upend the Cardinals in NCL I action.
“They outworked us the last four minutes,” Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said. “We were up nine and I thought we were going to pull away, but things changed just like that.”
Kelseyville (4-4, 8-9) outscored Clear Lake 16-3 in the fourth quarter to stun its archrival.
“We just turned it on defensively in the second half,” Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez of the 13 points allowed by the Knights over the final two quarters. “They just wanted it more.”
Kyle Watkins hit three big buckets down the stretch — six of his eight points came in the fourth quarter — while older brother Luke Watkins “had a couple of big steals,” according to Lopez, who also praised the play of Jake Keithly, J.C. Chavez and Tyler Leary.
“Jake scored nine of his 12 points in the second half, so he carried us for a while,” Lopez said. “J.C. and Tyler, our two point guards, slowed us down and kept us composed down the stretch.”
Luke Watkins led the Knights in the scoring column with 17 points, including three 3-pointers.
“Kelseyville turned up the heat, you have to give them credit,” Damiata said. “This one stings a little out of all of our losses.”
Ethan Maize led the Cardinals (4-3, 8-7) with 11 points, Jack Daskam had 10 and Zane Robinson seven.
“I’m on high right now, I don’t want to come down,” Lopez said.
Kelseyville led 13-12 after one quarter but Clear Lake held a 29-26 advantage at the half.
Both teams return to action Sunday. Clear Lake visits Fort Bragg where the JV game begins at 1 p.m., and Kelseyville travels to Willits for a four-game set beginning with the JV girls game at 1 p.m.
In Friday’s JV game between Kelseyville and Clear Lake, the host Knights prevailed 55-37 behind 15 points each from Ryder Leary and Tyler Bryant and 13 from Max Hommer. Raul Reyes led the Cardinals with 11 points while Peyton Portlock ad Dayne Wilson had eight apiece.
Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo didn’t make it through the entire game as he picked up two technical fouls in the fourth quarter and was ejected.
“My emotions got the better of me in that fourth quarter,” Cerezo said. “I lost my cool.”
Fort Bragg 70, Lower Lake 67
At Lower Lake, Jett Guralas missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Fort Bragg Timberwolves held off the Lower Lake Trojans in NCL I action.
Lower Lake (1-8, 1-16) had three chances in the finals seconds to send the game into overtime, according to head coach Jay Jakubowski. Marquis Jones, Lower Lake’s leading scorer with 23 points, had the ball in his hands with time running out when he slipped on the floor. He had the presence of mind to tip the ball in Guralas’ direction for one last shot.
“Jett popped free, grabbed the ball and shot it all in one motion,” Jakubowski said. “It went off the rim (as the buzzer sounded).”
Guralas already had three 3-pointers in the game. He finished with 17 points as did teammate Micah Gurule.
“All in all it’s probably the best game I’ve seen these guys play,” Jakubowski said.
Lower Lake took a 33-31 lead into halftime. Fort Bragg outscored the Trojans 24-18 in the third quarter to push in front 55-51, getting a big lift from Rhett Bennett and Travis Paoli in the period, according to Jakubowski. Bennett scored nine of his team-leading 31 points in the quarter. Paoli had 22 points on the night.
“Both of those guys sparked them,” Jakubowski said of Bennett and Paoli.
Lower Lake is home Monday to play Middletown in a four-game set. The Trojans then hit the road for games Wednesday against Clear Lake in Lakeport and Thursday at St. Helena.
Lower Lake won the JV game. The final score was not reported.
Upper Lake 46, John Swett 45
At Upper Lake, Swett High School of Crockett rallied down the stretch but couldn’t catch the Upper Lake Cougars in a non-league game that pushes the Cougars above the .500 mark on the season at 10-9.
Swett banked in a 3-pointer with one second left to cut Upper Lake’s lead to one. The Cougars ran out the clock before the Warriors (5-12) could get another possession.
“We hung in there and stuck together,” Upper Lake head coach Miles Hayes said. “It was a physical game, the referees let it go.”
Kai Young led the Cougars with 20 points, Sammy Avalos added 10 and Kyle Grandi had seven.
“The three seniors stepped up,” Hayes said. “It was a great team win.”
Upper Lake suited up nine players for the first time all season, according to Hayes.
In addition to his 10 points, Avalos also had eight assists and four steals.
“He really controlled the game for us,” Hayes said. “It’s late, but we’re finally coming together as a team.”
Upper Lake plays three games next week beginning with a road contest Tuesday against Tomales.
There was no JV game.
