MIDDLETOWN — The St. Helena Saints won a hard-fought 56-50 battle with Middletown’s varsity boys basketball team on Thursday night in Middletown, handing the Mustangs their first North Central League I loss.
“They hit some big shots,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said of the Saints, who trailed by double digits in the second quarter. “They outplayed us in the fourth quarter honestly. We started rushing things and they caught fire.”
Middletown (2-1 league, 6-6 overall) opened up a 10-point lead in the second quarter but went into halftime up only 29-28.
“They got back into it at the free-throw line,” Diehl said of the Saints (2-1). “We didn’t get to the line very much.”
While Wyatt Moore finished the game with a Middletown-best 19 points, teammate Nadav Dicovski did all he could to energize the Mustangs in the second quarter when he scored nine of his 17, including a 3-pointer and pair of two-handed dunks.
“He was a momentum shifter in that second quarter,” Diehl said of Dicovski.
Adrian Backus added nine points and 18 rebounds.
St. Helena took a 46-44 lead into the fourth quarter.
Middletown plays Clear Lake (3-0) in Lakeport on Saturday as part of a four-game set between the two schools.
“I think we can take any team in this league at any time,” Diehl said of the developing NCL I race. “I don’t think anyone is going to go undefeated.”
In the junior varsity game, Middletown beat St. Helena 40-37 behind 11 points from Jon Hawkins and 10 from Anthony Bowerman.
In other boys action Thursday:
Lower Lake 48, Willits 46
At Willits, the Lower Lake Trojans picked up their first NCL I win of the season at the expense of the Willits Wolverines.
No other details were reported.
Lower Lake (1-3, 5-6) is on the road Saturday against Roseland University Prep.
Clear Lake def. RUP (forfeit)
At Lakeport, Roseland University Prep forfeited JV and varsity games with Clear Lake because it did not have enough players to field teams.
Both Clear Lake teams improve to 3-0 in league play. The varsity squad is 9-4 overall.
Clear Lake hosts Middletown on Saturday as part of a four-game set between the two schools. The JV boys play at 2:30 p.m. and the varsity is scheduled to play at 5:30 p.m.
