LAKEPORT — Greyson Wind’s steal in the final seconds secured Clear Lake’s 49-48 victory over the Middletown Mustangs in a North Central League I varsity boys basketball thriller Saturday night in Lakeport.
Middletown (2-2 league, 6-7 overall) was trying to set up its top scorer, Nadav Dicovski (15 points), for a game-winning shot when Wind spoiled the strategy with his steal. Dicovski ended up fouling Wind to stop the clock, his fifth foul of the game. Clear Lake (4-0, 10-4) was able to inbound the ball and run off the final few seconds before the Mustangs could draw a foul.
“Greyson played probably his best game of the year,” Clear Lake head coach Mike Damiata said. “He we really good defensively and he frustrated Dicovski in the second half.”
Wind also scored eight points as part of a balanced Clear Lake attack led by freshman Jesse Hayes with 13 points, junior Cody Hayes with 12 points and junior Jake Soderquist with nine points.
“I’m proud of my guys honestly,” Middletown head coach Jake Diehl said. “Their high scorers we shut down. We did what we set out to do, we just didn’t finish the job.”
Brandon Costlow (11 points) and Wyatt Moore (10 points) joined Dicovski in double digits. Adrian Backus added seven points and 11 rebounds.
Middletown led 16-6 after one quarter and held that 10-point cushion through halftime at 28-18. Clear Lake came storming back with a 21-9 third quarter.
“We came out flat,” Damiata said of his team’s play in the first two quarters. “We had much better effort and energy in the second half. We moved the ball better and played really good defense. We didn’t do anything special, we just played better.”
“They got hot and we started rushing things again,” Diehl said of Clear Lake’s third-quarter surge.
Middletown did win the junior varsity game 57-48. Jon Hawkins and Troy Taber both scored 19 points for the Mustangs and Hawkins also had 11 rebounds.
“We were down one starter today and everyone collectively came together to make up for it,” Middletown head coach Wyatt Hall said.
Peyton Portlock’s 16 points and eight assists paced Clear Lake, Zane McAuley added 10 points and nine rebounds, and Sawyer Smith had nine points. Kaden Graham pulled down 10 rebounds.
In other NCL I boys games Saturday:
St. Helena 59, Kelseyville 58
At St. Helena, trailing by a point as the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Kelseyville Knights missed the front end of a one-and-one and three shots from the field while falling to the St. Helena Saints.
“We had a couple of opportunities to win it,” Kelseyville head coach Oscar Lopez said of his team’s first league loss. “It was a very physical game, let me tell you.”
Kelseyville (3-1, 7-6) trailed 35-22 at halftime.
“They shot lights out,” Lopez said of the Saints during the first two quarters. “We changed from a man to a zone in the second half and did much better.”
Luke Watkins (23 points) and Manny Acosta (14 points) hit a handful of 3-pointers down the stretch to get the Knights back into the game.
“Luke, Manny, Adolfo (Arias) and Kyle (Watkins) were real workhorses for us tonight,” Lopez said. “I don’t know if they ever came off the floor.”
Kyle Watkins finished with nine points and Arias had seven.
“We’ll try to bounce back and take it to Middletown on Tuesday,” Lopez said of a big week ahead for the Knights, who are also home Thursday against Clear Lake before hitting the road next Saturday to play Cloverdale.
Kelseyville won the JV game 48-37 behind 17 points from Max Hommer, 12 from Ryder Leary, eight from Sebastian Chavez and seven from Brock Barrick.
The JV Knights improved to 4-0 in league play.
Lower Lake def. RUP (forfeit)
At Santa Rosa, Roseland University Prep forfeited its home game with Lower Lake. The Trojans improve to 2-3 in league play.
Lower Lake hosts undefeated league leader Clear Lake on Tuesday.
