PETALUMA — Anthony Bowerman scored nine of his 14 points during the the third quarter as the Middletown High School junior varsity boys basketball team pulled away to beat Santa Rosa High School 56-44 in the opening round of the St. Vincent Tournament on Tuesday afternoon in Petaluma.
Middletown (6-2) plays San Rafael on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the winner’s semifinal round. The tournament runs through Thursday at St. Vincent High School.
“We just came out attacking the baskets,” Middletown head coach Wyatt Hall said of the Mustangs’ 18-9 surge in the third quarter, which increased their 29-26 halftime lead. “That and their 3s weren’t falling the third quarter.”
San Rafael scored most of its points from behind the 3-point stripe, sinking 10 treys.
Jon Hawkins, back in the lineup after missing Middletown’s two previous games because of illness, led the team with 16 points. Bowerman and Aidan Wilson (10 points) joined him in double digits.
“Everybody pitched in a little, but those three were the leaders,” Hall said of Hawkins, Bowerman and Wilson. “Jon also showed up for us on the boards. He led the team with eight rebounds.”
In another first-round game Tuesday:
Clear Lake 84, Averroes 41
In a game dominated by Clear Lake from the opening tip, the Cardinals outscored Averroes of Fremont 44-16 in the first half en route to an easy first-round victory. They’ll play a team to be determined Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the winner’s semifinals round.
“We pressed them out of the gate and they couldn’t handle the pressure,” Clear Lake head coach Shady Cerezo said. “We forced a bunch of turnovers. It was layup after layup after layup.”
Six Clear Lake players finished the game in double digits led by AJ Bruch’s 20 points. Francis Rivera added 13, Jace Beard and Zane McAuley had 11 apiece, and Peyton Portlock and Sawyer Smith each had 10.
“And AJ, Zane and Peyton played like two quarters,” Cerezo said.
Clear Lake improved to 3-2 on the season.
